RNY June 10, 2015. Any advice you would have liked to have gotten before surgery?

Hi. I'm having surgery June 10 2015. I was wondering if anyone had any advice that they wish they would have known prior to surgery?? Anything special they would have taken to the hospital or for post op??

I wish there had been more emphasis on how much my head has to do with the process not just the size of my stomach or intestinal tract.

I really feel a follow-up appointment at intervals with a therapist would have benefited.

I was thinking this as well. So I'm going to start seeing him again after surgery. I already know because of how hard the pre op diet has been for me that it's mental and emotional for me not physical hunger. I don't want to mess this opportunity up.

Congratulations! Wish I would of taken ear plugs because the IV pump made a lot of noise.

Noted. Thanks. I'm the kind of person who needs complete silence to sleep. The last couple stays in the hospital I was a mess because of all the noise.

I learned that I had to wait until it was time for a pain dose, then request it. Most of the nurses were pretty good about it, but one let me go all night and I got stuck in an awkward position in the bed and couldn't get out of it, and I'm ashamed to say I had a panic attack  I was hurting and exhausted and didn't understand why it had been ten hours between doses. I learned later he was a floater and was filling in for the night and was not used to working with patients on the surgery floor. 

Also, a cane proved very useful to me, to help get in and out of bed and walk. I borrowed one when I got home and wouldn't have regretted having it in the hospital.

You will either be sleeping/dozing or walking or sipping water. You really don't need a lot of stuff with you. I said yeah right, I am a voracious reader, and brought two paperbacks and didn't touch them!

A lot of people have very good pain tolerance, and report here that there wasn't a lot of pain. I'd never had surgery before and didn't know what to expect. It really hurt when I woke up. Just remember you need to be honest about how you feel or they can't help you :) If you feel great, hooray! I hope you do. 

When you get into "normal" sizes, it can be mind-boggling. I often find myself drifting around a store because I have no clue what to look at since there's so much choice! And sometimes when I try something on I get annoyed because it wasn't available when I was larger. It makes me really mad sometimes actually. And when you buy something that's kinda tight then try it on for weeks...then it gets too big...that's also really weird! :)

Did you not get the pain pump??? I thought we were able to administer that ourselves. Wow I better check on that. I understand the panic attack. I had an emergency gall bladder removal a few years ago. My first abdominal surgery. I was there for 6 days because of complications. At that point no one had told me walking would relieve the gas pain. The pain was so intense and it was so hot in the room that I literally had a freak out moment. That's when I decided to get up and walk. Scariest moment ever.

A cane is a good idea. Thanks. As far as clothes go I'm already lost. lol My mom says I have no fashion sense whatsoever. She doesn't realize that you wear what you can fit into. Usually it's not cute clothes. Thanks for all the info.

I had a pain pump, but my husband had surgery with the same surgeon 2 weeks later and didn't. His nurse said that doc never orders them, and she was really surprised I had one. I think they just order them on a case-by-case basis. (I had RNY while my husband had VSG, and I had a hernia repaired at the same time.)

Ok good Ill have to remind him. It's already in my paperwork Im getting one but I want to make sure. I had a double hernia repair last year and an emergency gall bladder removal the year before. I'm worried because the gall bladder surgery was so rough. The hernia surgery didn't seem that bad at all.

Sorry, I should note I had a pain pump for about the first 12 hours, then they started giving me oral doses.