Pain

I'm finally home from surgery! I ended up staying two nights because my pain was still severe last night...it actually had me in tears. I'm moving around a little better today, and since day1 I haven't had any issues walking or drinking. But the pain surrounding my entire abdomen is going to be enough to drive me crazy.

Do you guys remember how long your pain lasted right after surgery? I understand that my body has been through trauma and there are a lot of different things going on inside there, but I need some reassurance that this is all temporary!

No pain meds?

Honestly my gallbladder surgery hurt more than the RNY but I do recall day 2 and 3 being the worst. You could have some residual CO2 in you. Or is it more from the incisions?

Oh yeah, I have pain meds! But they don't seem to do anything when I want to get up and walk. When I am sedentary I feel great while I'm on them.

Did you have lap or open surgery?

I know it's counter-intuitive, but the more you move the faster you will feel better. It's important to get up and walk every hour at minimum. If you had lap surgery -- that gas is trapped and can be very painful. The only way to get it out is by moving.

It does get better -- soon it will be a small blip in your memory -- replaced by all the good things to come!

Thanks, Kat!

I had Laproscopic. The nurses wanted me to walk every 4 hours which I thought was crazy. I was walking every hour-2 hours!

Thank you for the reassurance!

Sure!

It's so hard to remember the pain now -- but I do remember it did hurt. Are you feeling a bit better today?

If it helps, I swear to you, I would do it again every year of my life for the benefits I got from the surgery.

It's THAT worth it.

The gas pains are less frequent, but the stinging and burning at the incision sites are still pretty painful. It's only been three days though so I'm not expecting anything less. But last night and all today I have felt nauseous. It's been much harder to get my walks and fluids in but I've been powering through it. I requested a script for zofran so my surgeons office is working on that. I do think the discomfort overall has gotten a bit better though.

I had some nausea on the 4th day -- I remember that -- be sure that you keep drinking. Dehydration causes nausea and then you don't want to drink because you feel sick -- and then you get sick because you are ....

you get the idea.

Keep drinking, keep walking ... it will keep getting better. I had stinging and burning at the incision sites too -- especially one on the left of my lower stomach. It was a nerve that had been cut -- so it was especially painful. I remember laying on my side was IMPOSSIBLE because the weight of my swollen stomach would pull. Argh. I'd totally forgotten that!

I I am a side sleeper too so having to sleep in one position all night, and on my back at that has been terrible!

Tiredness was more of an issue and lasted longer than pain for me with pain never exceeding a level five. Wearing an abdominal binder provided security and especially helpful when going from laying to sitting or sitting to standing. If a binder doesn't interest you, try holding a pillow firmly against your middle when straining your midsection.