Just Had My Consultation

Hi there! I'm Eva. I just had my consultation with Dr. Hess at the Boston Medical Center. I feel really comfortable about having the surgery, and I'm looking forward to it. But I'm scared at the same time. Petrified. I just had my first child last April, and in the past year have gained over 60 pounds. I weighed in today at 312, and I'm only 5'5"... I don't feel like I look that big, but I feel the weight. If you know what I mean. I had some questions about the pain that you're in after and what it could be compared to. I had a c-section for my son, and I was up and walking around that night (he was born at 3:11am)... Is the pain worse than that? I know it's all a matter of opinion. I'm not going to chicken out. I guess I just want to gauge what I should be feeling. I don't think I feel pain the way a 'normal' person should. I'm having the surgery because I'm morbidly obese, and I just want to be able to play with my son, and take him for walks, without feeling like I'm going to keel over and die part way through. Any insight would be wonderful.

What kind of surgery are you having?

that might have been helpful to include. I'm having laproscopic RNY.

Thanks, if you go on the RNY web site then lap-band you will see there is a world of difference in the operation part. Lap-band most people go home that day and are in surgery about 45 minutes and on shakes when they go home with jello's ect. A RNY your in operating room 3 to 4 hours without complications one gentlemen was in for 6.5 hours and it is major surgery cutting the stomach out and stapling what is left and rerouting the rest of the plumbing. The band is put in and is reversible if needed to be but needs to be adjusted or get a fill to feel the full effects of the banding. If pain is your concern then your doing the wrong procedure for the same results. Especially when you add dumping. Good luck and do more research on lap-band

Hi Eva, If you want to chat in more detail, please feel free to email me and I will be more than happy to chat with you and make you feel more at ease. Lisa J

Hi Eva- I had a lap RNY in January and I have to say I was anticipating more pain than I had. This is only the second surgery I've ever had (had tonsils out at the age of 6) so I was imagining all kinds of things. I had mine done at MGH and they used a PCA pain pump where you can hit the button every so many minutes and give yourself a little pain med. I was very liberal with mine (they program it so you can't go overboard) and I really wasn't that uncomfortable. It was tough to readjust in the bed because my stomach muscles were useless, and getting in and out of bed was tough but other than that it really wasn't that painful at all and I was off all pain meds in less than a week. Good luck! Eileen

Hey Eva, I had a Open RNY 2/13/06 and I really didn't have any pain even close to what I thought. As there is pain with any surgery and the healing process, by the 2nd or 3rd day, you don't even really remember. I came off the morphine "clicker" on Tues. afternoon. The Lap RNY has a few small incisions so the pain is probably less. None the less, every one is different. So just don't be so focused on the pain and focus more on the end result. That is what I did. I am 3 months out and down 60 lbs. So ANY pain I had was well worth it. Good luck and God Bless. Stephanie

Hi, I had RNY in February, the pain was not as bad as I was expecting. I had knee surgery 2 years ago (ACL) and that pain was worse than the open RNY! I was up walking around the day after surgery, I was to high to have gotten out of bed the day of surgery. I was off the percosets 2 days after I came home. Coughing, laughing, sneezing, was tender for the first few weeks. For me, walking made the pain tolerable. When I was just lying down or sitting I was uncomfortable, but walking helped a lot! Also I wore elastic pants for the first month. The button on pants would irratate my incision, but that's fine now too. Good luck.