I had my surgery on Friday (thanks to those of you who sent me emails and/or prayed for me; it was greatly appreciated).  Friday I was really drowsy and slept most of the day away.  Saturday I was up doing laps around the ward every half hour for and sucking on my ice chips until late afternoon when I started dry-heaving. Go**** was so painful, I thought my staples would burst!  The doctor assured me that vomiting would not hurt the staples.

Yesterday I was discharged.  I still had gas pains.  And all day yesterday and today, it's been a bit painful to drink.  I'm only taking a sip every 3-5 minutes, but sometimes it feels like it's not going down right.  It might be more gas.  I keep walking around, but it's still there.  It's also very painful to get up from sitting or lying down position, and I can't sleep on my side.

Is this all normal?  How long did it take you all to feel okay?  To be able to get up without feeling so much pain?  To drink without dealing with the pain of it going down?  To be able to take more than one sip at a time?

I haven't regretted getting the procedure done.  Not once have I thought, "Why did I do this to myself?" but I do continue to be nervous that my staples will give.  Too much anxiety.  Help!

Audra

Sounds pretty normal. I had a super easy recovery and never threw up but did feel pretty sore and beat down. My gas pain hit at about a week out and was really bad. Give it a lil time sweetie It'll get better quickly.

yes this i also had alot of gas for the first wk i am now at 3 wks and i can drink well and i will be trying food today let see what happens

Heck yeah normal !!! Didn't they give you some liquid pain medication ? Take it !! I took liquid Norco for a couple weeks post op. First week, I took it around the clock. Then I switched to liquid tylenol during the day, and the narcotic to help me sleep at night. YOU HAD MAJOR SURGERY. Your body hurts, and it is in shock.

For me, days two and three were the WORST. By day 4 I felt like I might be a candidate for the human race again....but only MIGHT. By the end of the week, I was feeling much better, but still couldn't sleep on my side, or move much at night without waking myself up in pain. Give yourself time to heal.

Sip. Rest. Walk. Repeat.

Yes! Take your pain meds!  I was about 5 days post op the first time I tried to go to tylenol and it went OK.  By a week I was mostly pain free minus the incisions and minor pain that I was able to tolerate fine.

Yes, it is normatl. You need to be walking around 45 mins. a day. This will help with the  gas so much. I used gas x too. It took me a week and I was doing so much better that i was ready to drive and move around better. You won't be back 100% just yet. Take time to know you had major surgery. This will get better and sips are ok now. You take your time, slow down on healing so fast. You just did a major job on your tummy. I am a month post op and still have days I need to slow down . You are just excited and ready to start slinging clothes off and living!
It will happen. Just remember one day at a time. The pounds will come off we have no choice now but to get healthier.
Smile more!

I had surgery last Tuesday, so I'm a few days ahead of you.  The soreness is going to be there a while from what everyone says, but it does get a little better every day.  Today I'm standing up and sitting down with significantly less pain than two or three days ago, so give it a little time.

As far as the sipping goes, I'm doing okay.  I started out sipping once every 15 minutes my first day home (Friday) and then realized there was no way I would come close to getting all my fluids/protein in that way.  The next day I upped the pace to a tiny sip every five minutes or so.  Everyone is different so you have to find your groove and stay in touch with your surgeon's office about that.  I found that giving myself a juice glass full of ice chips in the morning was the way to start.  It'd take me a long while to get through the glass, but I think the cooler temperature helped soothe my sleeve.

I'm not allowed to lie down for six weeks and as much as that sucks, I can't imagine trying to get up from lying down - super OUCH!!

Oh, and relax about your staples...like your surgeon assured you, they're not going to pop unless you doing something really stupid like go to a drive thru and eat a burger.  Actually, they may not bust even then, but you'll end up in the hospital having surgery to get the food unstuck!  Actually, that's a true story that came from my surgeon.  A woman was discharged a few days post-op, left the hospital and drove across the street to a fast food joint for a burger and ofcourse landed herself in the ER.  They had to open up her tummy, remove the obstruction and re-close.  What a dummy! 

Trust me, sweetie, you'll be fine.  Keep walking as much as you can, sip, sip, sip, and keep in touch with your surgeon's office.

Hi I'm kind of new to this site but it's a Godsend.  Congrats on having the surgery and being on your way to a new healthier you.  I was just curious as to why you can't lie down, Have you found that to be a common part of recovery?

Way to go in getting through your first week!!

I am almost a week out from surgery.. and I am still having these pains as well.. I can lay on my side as long as I have a pillow kind of propped up against my tummy.. I am getting weird pains every once in a while which I am attributing to gas.. because eventually I burp or bust a little toot and it feels better.. I havent been taken the pain meds sent home with me because in the hospital it made me dry heave every time they gave it to me. until I finally told them NO MORE of that.. dilaudad was the culprit.. and the sad part is thats what they sent home with me.. I have just gotten off the phone with the Dr office to find out about something else.. because I do not want to take that med.

I also have pain upon rising or sitting.. or laying on my side to long.. I know I have had major surgery and know its going to take a while before I feel 100% myself.. I am not rushing anything and taking slow walks through the house.  I am drinking my water, protein shakes, eating greek yogurt, strained soups, sugar free pudding, and sugar free popsicles and not having much difficulty actually taking an almost normal drink.. more like a big sip.. but swallowing slowly.  I dont really have pain with liquids/pudding/yogurt going down.. but I do get a feeling like I need to burp pain sometimes.. I guess we all have to kind of play it by ear and ask on here if anyone else has been through it to know.. I have gained an enormous amount of info via this forum and am sooooo appreciative.. I am very grateful to my OH family..

Just keep in mind that healing is going to take a while.. it was major surgery.. and eventually the pains will go away like they say..

Acid/gas was my killer. Once the prilosec kicked in I felt like a different person.