the almighty "drain"

so i have been reading about this drain that some get during surgery.  it has scared the living he** out of me!  I asked my surgeon about it during my pre-op appointment  Tuesday and to my relief, he doesnt use a drain for the VSG!!!

So now i am curious to see if there are others that did not get a drain during surgery and for those that didnt, if there were any complications because of not having it.

I know this probably sounds a little crazy since i was so scared to have the drain and now that i probably wont have one, i am scared of any complications for not having one. I cant wait to have my very own sleeve, but i still can't stop my mind from going a 100 miles a minute about what all could go wrong......

I had the drain for 10 days after surgery.  The only thing it is, is a pain in the butt!!!  I wore a robe and just kept it in my pocket. 

The great thing about the drain is peace of mind...if you develop a leak, the drain will let you know even BEFORE you have symptoms.  You just empty it a couple times a day.  No big deal...really.   I am glad my doctor used the drain.  Many doctors don't, but my doctor is conservative, which is what I liked when I decided to go with him.

I had a drain for the three days I was in the hospital.  They took it out the morning I was discharged.  The drain didn't hurt at all, either while it was in or when they took it out, although it was a bit of an "odd" feeling when they took it out.  Not painful at all, but strange.

They performed three leak tests while I was in the hospital.  One was an air test while still on the operating table.  One was a contrast X-ray on the third day.  And on the second day the leak test used the drain - I drank this blue stuff and they looked during the day to see if any blue stuff came out into the drain bag.  None did, thankfully!

Nope, no drain... and no complications.  Put that worry out of your mind! 

 I had the drain and it was kept in for a week. (Removed yesterday). My surgeon sometimes removes it before people leave the hospital, but for whatever reason I was one he wanted to keep it a bit longer. I was told that if there is no drain a buildup of fluid can happen under the skin. 

Honestly, I don't know all the pros and cons. I was relieved to have it gone, because as a previous poster said it is annoying. My biggest concern was one of my dogs would see it and think it was a chew toy.  But at the same time, I can't say it was really that bad. 

I heard they are VERY common among plastic surgeons, so if you avoid it this time, you may still have one or more to look forward to then, and I would say it is not worthy of too much dread.