Only 3-day post-op and really struggling.

The first 3 days are the WORSE. The first week is pretty bad. Hang in there. I was in AGONY for the first three days after my facial PS. I do not know why I didn't jump out of a window. Percosets do fu&(* NOTHING. I had no pain relief for 3 days and then the edge was taken off. For my UBL, I made sure I had decent pain mgt. I had liquid oxy, liquid tylenol, and valiium tablet - one every 2 hours as needed. So I never had to wait that long to take something. Call surgeon and insist on a different pain regime - tell him to meet you at the emergency room because you are going there.

The long term results are a worth the pain (at least for my body work - my facial guy was a total ass and I should have had better pain magt). The results are even worth the **** you are taking from you parents. Clearly, they were not prepared for the needs of someone who has just been through 8+ hours of surgery. WLS recovery is a picnic compared the the long PS operations.

You need to be helpless at this point so that you have good outcomes with your scars.Please continue to suck up the nonsence from the parent units. (Sorry your paretns are not able to fill the care taker role very well.) Can you get someone else to help? I paid a neighbor $15 a hour and her come in for an hour in the Am and an hour in the pm. That made all the difference for the first week. Then she only had to come in in the morning. Best $250 I ever spent.

Sharon your response made my morning! it made me laugh because you captured the feeling so well; it really is agonizing. I should've known it would be extra difficult for someone like me who is physically and emotionally sensitive. My surgeon is apathetic and doesn't give a crap about me but I did not read his character well enough during our first consultation. I should've looked into other surgeons. now it's the 6th day and the pain has gotten manageable but my constipation issues (sorry to be TMI) has been the worst. I finally went today and you would think I was giving birth.

As for the long term results, I hope it'll feel worth it because I took my bandages off to shower recently and my stomach is puffy near the scar line. The surgeon had told me right before the surgery he was going to try to get it tightened "as much as he can" but he didn't sound optimistic. I was annoyed he had not spoken about it this way the day of our consultation. I don't think he had dealt with someone who had lost over 100 lbs before. I did do research and people seemed to love his work. I also knew someone who got work done with him and since his price was decent, I thought it'd be okay. When I called and asked about the puffy look he said it's hard to determine what I will look like because I could be swelling so now I'm worried I won't even have a flat stomach after all this pain!

As for my parents taking care of me, I thought they'd be less insulting and dramatic about it but I should've known. Their treatment is inconsistent and ranges from affectionate, to insulting and complaining. For now I'm just going to deal with them and ignore it because I'm used to their personalities but if I ever get plastics again I will hire someone to care for me for sure!

I hope it has gotten a little better with the passage of time. You may or may not have a perfectly flat stomache, but as compared to your before photos, there will prob be a dramatic improvement.

Until you mentioned it, I forgot that I had to put benefiber in my yogurt the whole time I had pain rx. it was a problem and the last thing you want to do in strain post surgery.

My facial PS was the worse and I was so careful to fully interview the UBL surgeons in regards to pain that the one I went with thought I was a junkie until I showed him my facial post op photos and they he understood why I was taking NO CHANCES.

For what it's worth, it will take time for you to know what your stomach will look like because there is a LOT of swelling post op. Patience is hard - my abdomen looks all lumpy and bumpy right now :P But I know it'll pass!

You need stronger pain killers or a better plan for them. Also try icing.

In addition to the stool softener, add Miralax to your protein shakes.

Do you have a friend you can call on to help you out and give you a break from your parents?