PRE OPS: Never had surgery? Here's what to expect!

I have purposely removed the content of this and my other posts on this thread.

Thanks so much! I'm going in Monday and this is extremely helpful.

Thanks. I'm also having my surgery on Monday. I'm having the band and its same day surgery and I go home but this info was helpful!

Great post Elizabeth!
Elizabeth really covered all of it in a nutshell (about what happens and how it feels). I will add this.
I am a pretty tough person. I can usually handle pain pretty well...I had a hysterectomy when I was only 29 due to Ovarian cancer (and that surgery was a piece of cake!)

But having my RNY was THE singular most PAINFUL surgery I have ever had in my life! (I am also ex-military). On a scale of 1-10, that first day/night was a 10+ WITH the morphine (which didn't help much and made me nauseous). It was all the gas inside my gut causing the excrutiating pain.

I got up and walked and did what they wanted, but man, did it hurt! Day 2 it hurt a lot less..
I had the laproscopic proceedure and everyone is different. By Day 4 (at home) I could sleep on my side, be pretty comfortable and everything.

Also, do NOT be afraid to use your pain meds to help any pain and to get good rest! Remember when you are given permission to sip, sip, sip lots of water and stay hydrated. And walk, walk walk! Yes, you had major surgery, but the quicker you get up and shuffle around, even if it is just to your driveway and back..You will begin to feel better.

The first couple days it will hurt bad to lay down "flat"...Sleep in a recliner or a wedge or lots of pillows to prop you up! Don;t bring anything to the hospital other than yourself. I was to "out of it" to do anything but sleep and be miserable. Thankfully I only had to spend 1 night and was discharged the next day!

As you are having someone drive you home, bring a pillow with you! (Use one at the hospital too!) whenever you get up to pee, or cough or walk or anything, use the pillow to "hold your guts in." It really helps and you'll need it.

By day 5, you WILL begin to feel much better and not have "buyers remorse". (Yes for many of us, for the first 3 days or so after surgery we scream, cry and moan and wonder "What on God's green Earth did we DO to ourselves!?!" and wish we would have never had the surgery...)

Then the FUN starts as you begin to really feel better and more ACTIVE! :)
Warmly,
Jackie

Some stuff:
1. If your veins are crap and have "closed" before during lesser surgeries, put your foot down and demand a PICC line so the IV team doesn't have to find a new vein every 24-48 hours.
2. If you are severely ticklish in your abdomen, this could end up exceptionally painful. I had about six "fits" in the first four days where someone would be prepping my tummy or side for an injection or checking my scars or listening to my bowel sounds, and my tickle reflex kicked in. End result- about 60-90 seconds of pure pain while my abdomen seized up (as it always does when I'm tickled), pulling at the muscular surgical sites. This will NOT damage your surgery, but it is ******g BRUTAL and no one seemed to understand why my being ticklish was an issue. *******s.
3. Your pee may be green. Just sayin'.
4. Don't be afraid to speak up in the hospital for what you need, especially if you're there more than a few days. I had asked for a shower on day 4 of 7 but never DEMANDED one, so it wasn't provided. When I got home, my scalp had broken out painfully because it was so filthy.
5. You should not be in pain. If you are in pain, tell people. Repeatedly. Make them fix it. This also goes for things going into your IV. If your veins burn, complain until someone fixes it. Potassium can be a ***** in an IV, and these people know damned well how to dilute it down to make it hurt less - but it takes more time, so they won't always do it at first.