Question:
How bad is the pain with LAP RNY after waking up?
Also, when they make you get out of bed on the first day, is the pain tolerable, or excruciating? — Jackie S. (posted on July 15, 2003)
July 15, 2003
pain is relative... the morophine helps, but in my opinion... pull a
watermelon out of your nose... that's how much it hurts! LOL!! Remember, no
matter how much or how little pain you are in, it DOES go away fast! Expect
the worst pain possible and you will be suprised at how little it
reallydoes hurt! :~) I hurt for a long time, but everyone is different!
:~) If you hurt and the morophine isn't helping, TELL THE NURSE!! She will
piggy back another pain killer on top of the morophine or increase your
morophine drip. Okay! Don't fret!! It's a small price to pay for th
ebenefits you get! :~)
— Sharon M. B.
July 15, 2003
I had very little pain. Mostly in the left side because of the JP drain.
I was able to walk just fine. On a scale of 1-10 my pain was a 4. LAP RNY
6-23-03
— Kelly P.
July 15, 2003
I'm 6 days post-op. The pain was not as bad as I was expecting it to be.
They keep the drugs coming pretty good. I would call it more discomfort
than pain, but I guess it's all so individual. As far as getting out of
bed to walk after surgery - again, not too bad. I was kind of dizzy, and
of course, it hurts to sit up since the incisions are still so fresh.
Don't worry about it. For me, the pain was not a big deal. Good luck to
you!!
— Stamper B.
July 15, 2003
The pain was very minimal. I had an epidural, and when I awoke the nurse
asked how much pain I was in on a scale of 1- 10. I said 3 or 4. Getting up
was not painful for me either, more uncomfortable than painful. Good luck
with you WLS. Kelly Lap RNY 4-21-03 ~ 263/211/?
— plsmom
July 15, 2003
HI, my surgery was two months ago. I think the pain was tolerable with the
medication. I was just really sore. Some one described it as if your
stomach was used as a punching bag, and I felt after the surgery that was
right on the button. Also, a lot of your discomfort is from the gas they
use to fill your abdomen during surgery.
— Robin T.
July 15, 2003
Right after surgery the pain was tolerable due to the morphine pump...It
felt like muscle crampiness,more so when getting up and down and moving
around...After they removed the pump the pain was alot worse but mainly due
to the gas pressure from having it done lap.But I'm 5 weeks out now and I
would do it again in a minute even with a repeat visit to the hospital
because of 2 strictures.The pain is alot like child birth as in...you are
so excited about the pounds dropping that you start to forget the pain.
— jennifer A.
July 15, 2003
The lap RNY pain, itself, was tolerable. They didn't get me out of bed
until the 3rd day, because they screwed up. However, I walked all over the
3rd day to convince them to let me leave the hospital! The problem I had
was with excruciating back pain. I had a problematic back, to begin with.
And all that time on the table during the operation gave me severe back
pain. If it hadn't been for my back, I would say the operation was almost
a "no brainer". Now I did stay quite sore for about a month, but
it was soreness - not pain.
— Kathy J.
July 15, 2003
Jackie, the amount of pain you have may also depend on how much
manipulation and restraction they have to do. I had very little pain -
had to feel around in the recovery room to make sure they did surgery! My
husband also had little pain. In fact, when they took him to his room, he
decided he wanted to get up and walk. Needless to say, he went home the
next day. (I stayed two days). Now, on the flip side, I just talked to
someone yesterday who had lap RNY by the same surgeon we had, and she is 20
years younger than me. She stayed 5 days and wasn't even out of bed until
day 3. She had a LOT of pain. She said it felt (and still feels) like she
is ripping apart inside when she moves. This lady said the surgeon told
her he had to do a lot of retracting to move her organs around to do the
surgery and it took him a longer than usual time to complete her surgery. I
don't want to scare you - just let you know that everyone is different and
there are variables that will affect the amount of pain you have. By the
way, the first time I got out of bed, it wasn't bad - they came to get me
for my leak test and I got myself out of bed and into the wheelchair
unassisted. Good luck!
— koogy
July 16, 2003
Maybe I am the exception here, but I had a lot more pain than I thought I
would. I would not describe it as discomfort, it was pain. The nurses had
to tell me to quit pushing the button for my morphine pump as you can only
have it once every 10 minutes (I think they said that I pushed my button 78
times the first day and only got 30 doses of medicine). Sorry if this
isn't the answer you were looking for, but it just shows that everyone is
different in how they tolerate pain.
— Dawn P.
July 16, 2003
As a previous poster said expect the worst and it won't be so bad. My
friend Carol told me the same thing. My surgery was on a Monday, I was
getting shots for pain and by Tuesday night I didn't need them anymore! I
was more uncomfortable than in pain. Good Luck LAPRNY 6/16/03 -44
— Carrie-Ann B.
July 16, 2003
I wouldn't call the pain excruciating at all; I expected it to be much
worse than it was. When I first woke up in the recovery room, I don't
remember feeling any pain in my stomach at all, but I complained that my
back hurt from laying on the operating table and gurney for so long!
I mostly felt stiff and sore rather than pain. Getting up was difficult,
as if you'd done 300 situps after not exercising for years! But walking
wasn't very hard once I got myself up, I was doing that the first night.
But everyone has a different experience and different pain thresholds.
You're best off expecting the worst and being pleasantly surprise. I just
felt sore and kind of crappy in a non specific way - and lots of us have
nausea the first day from the anesthesia.
— sandsonik
July 17, 2003
As a friend of my said, she felt like a mac truck hit her after surgery, I
would agree, but there must have been a whole fleet of them backing up the
rear of the one that hit me. Truthfully, I immediately began to regret
having the surgery at that moment and for a few days there after. Now that
I am 8 days post op, I am not such a drama queen and am adjusting
emotionally. I can't say that I would do it again 100%, but I don't regret
it as much. As the days go by the post op first few days of pain, are but
a memory. Alas, everyone experiences a different level of pain, so try not
focus on the physical pain to come if at all possible.
— Rosa F.
Click Here to Return