Home from hospital and wow, I was surprised by the pain

Scoot on over....I'm on the loser's bench now!! Surgery went well. No issues. However, I was really hoping I would be one of the lucky ones who did not have much pain, but it's not to be. Lordy, lordy, pain in my left side, which my surgeon says is normal. Taking my pain meds faithfully. It will all be worth it! :)

Congrats, yeah I'm not looking forward to the pain either... hope you feel better soon.

You might not have it. I did not, my husband did not.

Congratulations! The pain on my left side went away after a week.

OMG Tell me about it !!! I got home last Friday, and could BARELY get out of bed until Tuesday. Such an enormous amount of pain on the left side. The worst was getting out of bed. I would have  8 yr old daughter help me up into a seated position, and I would literally be losing my breath from the pain. I would sit there for like 30 seconds before trying to stand up. It got the TINIEST bit better each day, but I finally noticed a real difference on Wednesday (so 7 days after surgery). Now I'm still in pain but it is SO MUCH MORE BEARABLE !! Although, I had my 1st post-op apt on Thurs (yesterday), and was feeling pretty damn good so I decided to do some grocery shopping & carry some bags from the car to the house. Big Mistake. I definitely pushed myself too far too fast. So even when you start to feel better, don't push yourself too much, or you'll feel it !! Everyone is telling the truth when they say you'll be feeling better in no time. Congrats on the surgery :)

When they told me it felt like getting kicked in the stomach by a horse I didn't realize it would be this bad! The left side pain is the worst by far! POD 4 and I can get myself in and out of bed alone without too much pain. That's a huge victory for me. Trust people when they say you will feel a tiny bit better each day. Don't push yourself, let your body rest and heal. Celebrate the small victories you have each day because that's what is going to keep you motivated. Pretty soon this will all be a distant memory.

I have also found that a heating pad to my left side helps with the pain. The heat increases blood flow which speeds up healing.  Just make sure its not too hot or directly on your skin and only use it for about 20 mins at a time

Thanks for the encouragement from all of you! I used to tolerate pain pretty well....up until now. lol Maybe it's because I'm 10 years older than the last time I had a major surgery! :D In any case, I'm plugging away and know it will all be worth it!

Keep in mind that, depending on what your last major surgery was, the surgeon probably did more internal work for your RNY... Creating the pouch, two areas of intestinal cutting, reattaching, etc..  The small lap incisions hide the major amount of work done on the inside!  (I had open RNY, so my 8-in*****ision was by far the most painful aspect. I barely noticed the internal pain at all.)

Yep, just hang in there.  It will be better soon and eventually you won't even remember the pain except as a faint memory of having had pain.

Lora

Excellent point, Lora! Last surgery was an open hysterectomy. I suppose it was a bit less complicated.