Day 2 post-op

So RNY'rs the surgery is over...i am in more pain than I thought!  Anyone have any insider tips about their recovery?  Also I am having trouble drinking, feeling full and just generally understanding my new stomach.  Any input would be lovely.

The first thing I want to say is it gets better! I'm three weeks out and feeling about 90% only problem is I'm still weak and tired more than usual. However my first week was horrible. At day 5 I started vomiting all my water and had to be readmitted for a post op ileus and got a nasogastric tube kind of horrible. I thought my recovery would be faster and smoother than it was. I had to keep telling myself to not feel bad about my recovery not going exactly like I expected it. 

My advise is take little sips at first so little that you basically just wet your mouth and do it constantly! After a while you can start trying to take slightly larger sips until you figure out how much you can sip at once. If you are still in the hospital use the pain medications offered to you and ask the nurse to call the doctor for something stronger if need be. Get up and walk. I know you are thinking but the pain. I promise if you walk around you'll feel better and you will ward off complications like blood clots. Just do one lap around the house at first. Another thing that really helped was my surgeon recommended heating pads on my left abdomen. That side hurt a lot worse for me. They help a tone and make bending to sit up feel less torturous. Take any pain meds that you go home with on a schedule like they do in the hospital. Pain medication works better that way with a steady amount vs trying to catch up to take care of an 8 out of 10 pain. I didn't really need pain meds by day 6. I just had soreness which the heating pad helps with. Also I had a lot of shoulder pain from gas in my left shoulder the first week. A heating pad helps with that as well. 

I hope this helps some. I hope you have a smooth recovery and feel better soon! 

the first week was the toughest for me.  Just do the best you can with the fluids and make sure you get lots of rest.  Don't try to be tough and forego the pain meds if you are hurting.  I got good advice from someone when they told me "there is no medal for not taking the pain meds!"  that was about having a baby, but it also applies here as well.

Good luck and keep us posted on how you're doing!

Each day gets better ... By one week out it was amazing to me I had had surgery a week ago. I was still tired a lot but feeling much better.