Lapband post-op Question

Do you recall by any chance if your next day after surgery was more difficult than the actual day of surgery? Someone just told me that often the next day is harder because of the gas pains and because some local anesthesia is wearing off. Or was your first day (day of surgery) the hardest? What was your experience?

 I was sleepy as hell and doped up, so I don't remember much.

Def, the next day. I had left shoulder gas pains. All in all it was not any worse than when I had my gallbladder removed.

I remember being very sleepy my first day. 2nd day their was a little gas, but no big deal. I'm thinking the gas lasted a wk. or so, but it was never bad. It was actually a very uneventful recovery.

My doctor told my husband to drive me home the afternoon of my surgery (100 miles) because the next day would be worse.  I had a little discomfort, but had liquid pain medication which I took.  The gas pain is relieved by walking.  I spent most of the day sleeping which the doctor said was fine.  It was worse the day after surgery, but the whole process was not bad.

thank you, ladies! I'm just nervous - the surgery is scheduled for next week...

For me it was the whole first week. Especially the gas pains and the incision site where my port was. They will give you one of those little things to help you do breathing exercises and my advice to you is to DO THEM! It's a pain in the ass but very important for your lungs. I believe I had to use that thing for 2 weeks and I just made it a part of my daily routine. My surgeon had me on liquid pain meds. which helped A LOT, but if I didn't take it with food I would feel nauseous. I made sure to ask for anti-nausea meds. to take for my pain meds in case this happened. I have to say that I drank so many "Muscle Milk  Lights" that first week, that the thought of them makes me sick. So my advice in that department would be to stock up on a lot of different protein shakes for those first two weeks for variety. Hope this helped. Best of luck to you on your journey!

Jen-

Had surgery on Wednesday. I have a headache that pain medication is not helping. The gas pains in the shoulder were bad the first day but that went away. When the headache goes away I should feel good. Anyone else have headache post op?

Everyone is different ...I got severe nausea from the pain medication so the day of was hell.... went home on the second day the gas/shoulder pain was bad (pain just felt like I wa*****hed in the stomach no pain meds) and I had my mom drive me to show two homes on the third day..........very tired though and yucky feeling.

A pillow for my stomach on the ride home was a big help......pressed it against it under the seatbelt.

Good luck...........

I was great the first day (well, until the middle of the night when pain meds had worn off), the second day was ok as long as I kept up on the pain meds, but third day was the worst for me. It all hit me like a ton of bricks. I think that was the point where my initial excitement wore off and reality set in. Plus I was up and around the house more. This didn't last more than a day and from there every day got better. My surgery was on Tues. and by the end of the week I was taking 20-30 minute walks with the dog. I was just tired easily. The following week I was working in my garden and loving it.

My advice is to not fear the process. There is much you can do for discomfort, and for me it was a small price to pay.

You will be fine.