What was it like after surgery?

I was talking to a friend that had WLS a few years ago. She was telling me about how bad it was going to be the first few weeks after surgery. I would like to hear from other people what it was like for them during the first few weeks. I know that this friend is only telling me what her experience was, but it scared me.  

 I think the hardest thing for me is not being able to eat the way I was used to. I seem to be struggling the most with being on a full liquid diet for two weeks. I am only 8 days post op and a lot of times I feel like I would kill for some "real" food. 

Ive read a lot of post where people had to do liquid diets two weeks before surgery, but my surgeon doesn't require that, I don't know how I would have managed then! 

I wish you the best of luck!! I will tell you as my support system tells me, don't let yourself get discouraged just keep the end result in mind!! You will be healthier!!!! 

Well....

I expected having to sip liquids. I was able to drink them without issues

I expected pain, but the only pain I had was the incisions. No pain in my innards.

I hoped to NOT dump, but I do, and I found out while in the hospital. Since only 3 out of 10, I hoped I'd be lucky.

I expected to have shoulder pain related to teh GAS they pump into the abdominal cavity to make viewing easy during the operation, and I pledged to walk walk walk (and chew GasX) in order to defeat this sensation, but I never had it.

I expected generalized pain and exhaustion, but I had very little pain. I was off pain meds in 6 days.

I didn't expect to have an allergic reaction to the steristrips. If I did not have that, I would have returned to work 10 days postop. As it is, I was back full time as a high school teacher 14 days postop.

I expected eating to be difficult, and sticking to the plan to be hard, it wasn't.

In many ways it was a bit of an anti-climax. I truly wondered if the surgeon did anything other than poking holes in my side.

I expected that my 8 month period of preparation here on OH would prepare me for how it IS to have an altered stomach --- I honestly realize now that it is IMPOSSIBLE to understand how WLS changes things that are impossible to comprehend. It is a very impossible to understand change in one's body.

I did not have (other than teh allergic reaction) a BAD experience.

Everyone is different.  I had my surgery March 30th, and I was so afraid because like you I had a friend who told me that the first few weeks after surgery were bad.  I had a very easy time with surgery.  I however made myself get up and walk ALOT.  I walked a mile over the three days I was in the hospital and continued when I got home.  Before my one week post - op appointment I walked 3.25 miles. 

I had planned all along to go back to work after two weeks, and was warned that I will be exhausted, and not able to do it.  Well I ended up going back to work this past week, one week post op, no exhaustion, nothing.  I average 3 miles a day walking, 5 days a week.

So don't listen to anyone, some people like me have it easy, others have it hard.  All I can suggest though is get up and walk as much as possible.

Hi, May I ask how much you weighed at your surgery?  I hope to have my surg in Sept and walking 3.25 miles now would be a stretch !

Hi, I am 5'4" and when I started weighing myself I was 275.9.  Morning of surgery 259.4.  Today two weeks out 252.4.

I have always been a walker.  I have a very athletic skinny friend that would get me out walking once a week.  I have to be honest I didn't do much more then that, but I am also a very competitive person.  I didn't plan on walking a mile around the nurses station in the hospital, but on my first time around, they had a sign that said "27 laps equals a mile, Can you do it" and as soon as I saw that sign I knew I wouldn't be happy with myself if I didn't complete those 27 laps before I was discharged.  So I started out 2 at a time and built up to four by the second night there.  

You don't have to walk fast or long, but just keep doing it and you will be able to go further and further before you know it.  

I hope when you do have your surgery, I hope it goes well.  But don't wait for the nurses to get you up walking, I really truly believe that helped me have an easier time of it.  

I am 3 weeks post-op. I have to say that my experience hasn't been too bad at all. During the first week I really didn't want to eat, so the liquid thing didn't bother me at all. I did have times when I just wanted to chew something so I ate ice.

My pain didn't last long either. By the third of fourth day after surgery, I had very, very little pain but everyone is different. I know that I had this surgery to get healthy and that's what I am aiming for.

I think that it's cool that you're trying to get all aspects of this surgery as you can because it is a life altering decision and you have to be dedicated to follow through.


Best wishes to you!!

I woke up feeling very tired and out of sorts. I don't really remember much of my hospital stay, except for the nasty swallow-test, and that I was surprised at how much they let me lie around. Everyone here told me I'd be walking a lot, but really, none of my nurses urged me to. I finally got up on my second day and did some walking and it felt fine.

Oh, the vomiting. I spent the first day dry-heaving constantly. Big, painful attempts to vomit, but there was nothing TO vomit. It hurt so badly, and it would go on for half an hour at a time. They kept giving me anti-nausea medication, but it didn't work. And my mother kept pumping my morphine button, until I yelled at her that it's the morphine making me sick, knock it off! So they switched my pain meds, and I felt loads better.

I don't remember being hungry at the hospital, or feeling much of anything, as far as food goes. They gave me cream of wheat the morning after my surgery, which also surprised me, because I thought I'd be on clear liquids. I took a few bites, felt fine. But I wasn't hungry, so I let it sit.

I went home on purees. I was tender on the ride home, and braced with a pillow. I also had a JP drain in, so that bounced around and pinched a little. Mostly, I was just tired.

Got home, and my mom asked me if I wanted her to stay the night. I didn't feel it was necessary. I never did take any of the Percocet they sent me home with for pain. Not until I pulled my back out, but that wasn't surgery related. I felt pretty good. I did, however, have a really itchy allergic reaction to the steri-strip glue. So I ripped those suckers off as soon as I could. The rashes didn't go away for WEEKS.

I ate a LOT of tomato soup with Unjury protein powder. That was my mainstay for the first week. I didn't feel hungry, and was surprised at how easily everything went down. I had to be very careful because, since my pouch is a happy one, and allows a lot, I have to be super careful to measure and watch my portions. I went from soup to mashed potatoes, to yogurt, to refried beans. Everything was fine. Felt good.

I had my drain pulled a week out. It felt funny, but didn't hurt. It did, however, loosen a surgical gas bubble, which flew up to my chest and knocked the breath out of me. My ribs and left shoulder hurt for a few days after, but nothing too terrible.

So far, I've had one stuck episode (a piece of omelet) but all I did was sip, walk, and let it pass. I've had one dumping episode (desserts on Passover), and again, I just had to sit, sip water, and let it pass. Neither episode was anything traumatic, just uncomfortable. I am 2 months out, and I feel hunger and fullness fairly normally. The hunger feels like a small growling, and fullness feels....well, my appetite just shuts off. I notice a very distinct sensation of, "Meh, I don't want to eat anymore." It's funny, because I feel so very, very NORMAL. I don't feel like I had surgery most of the time. It's easy to forget. And then something will come along and remind me. :)

I haven't had many bad side effects. I got the mood swings and the occasional light breakouts on my face from the hormone release. But my hair's not falling out, I'm not tired, my skin isn't dry, and I'm certainly not cold. In fact, I'm usually hot.

All in all, I feel pretty darn good.

 I had never had surgery using general anesthesia.

Immediately post-op:

-didn't like the dry heaves
-didn't like not knowing how to work the bed to get comfortable
-didn't like the way my arm felt one (1) day after receiving the pneumonia vaccine
-didn't like feeling like a human dirigible due to the air injected into the abdomen so the surgeons could work

-LOVED the pain pump

At home:

-the first BM was heavenly, the others for three days after were awful...diarrhea-like
-taking in the sheer volume of fluids was a little daunting, but got used to it....

 +10 points for using the phrase "human dirigible".  
That's a phrase one doesn't see used in conversation NEARLY enough.