Recovery Time After surgery
Hi I have been on this site for a long time but finally made the decision of what I want to do. I am trying to get my pre-reqs squared away now. I was wondering how long is the recovery time? I have heard so many different things and just wanted to get your guys point of view on the topic! How long did it take for you to feel normal after surgery? Is recovery really painful or rough? I had gallbladder surgery and it took my almost a month to feel normal again, it was painful for about a 1-2 weeks to get in and out of bed and the air they put in me from surgery was horrible for about two weeks. But all in all it made me feel a lot better! Just want to know what to expect!
Hi,
I think recovery varies a lot. My surgery was a easy. I had almost no pain from either the surgery or gas pain. I did feel like I had the flu - headache and needing to sleep all the time - for about 3 days. By day 4, I was functioning pretty well, although my energy was low for weeks. It took about 6 weeks to feel any normalcy in terms of my tummy and eating. My tummy would not hold much, and the thought for food would make me queezy for the first few weeks. I would describe the whole experience as "Not fun, but not terrible."
All and all, it was so worth it. I've been losing about 20 pounds a month since surgery, (plus 50 lbs pre-op) It is so nice to be wearing smaller clothing, and have more energy and mobility.
Best of luck with your weight loss journey.
Carol
Surgery May 1, 2013. Starting Weight 385, Surgery Weight 333, Current Weight 160. At GOAL!
Weight loss Pre-op 1-20 2-17 3-15 Post-op 1-20 2-18 3-15 4-14 5-16 6-11 7-12 8-8
9-11 10-7 11-7 12-7 13-8 14-6 15-3 16-7 17-3 18-3
Since you've already had an abdominal surgery, I would probably expect the recovery to be about the same from the VGS as from your gallbladder recovery. My VSG was my first surgery and the recovery for me sounds a lot like your gallbladder one was. I had the surgery on a Monday, came home Wednesday and felt decent enough to drive my kids to school on Friday. I wasn't on RX pain medicine after I came home from the hospital. My stomach was tender and the muscles were sore for about 3 weeks after the surgery. Every day I felt a little better from the third day on. Getting out of bed was uncomfortable, but I slept in my bed from my first night home from the hospital. I hope this answers your questions on this topic. :)
Since you've already had an abdominal surgery, I would probably expect the recovery to be about the same from the VGS as from your gallbladder recovery. My VSG was my first surgery and the recovery for me sounds a lot like your gallbladder one was. I had the surgery on a Monday, came home Wednesday and felt decent enough to drive my kids to school on Friday. I wasn't on RX pain medicine after I came home from the hospital. My stomach was tender and the muscles were sore for about 3 weeks after the surgery. Every day I felt a little better from the third day on. Getting out of bed was uncomfortable, but I slept in my bed from my first night home from the hospital. I hope this answers your questions on this topic. :)
I thought Dr Aceves kept you in the hospital for 3 days?
I've had both surgeries (just had VSG last Tuesday and gallbladder several years ago) and yes the recovery is very similar except for the food. Energy is lower for this one (due to restricted food intake I think). I was back to work in about a week for gallbladder and am planning to go back to my desk job next Tuesday. Hope this helps. I could probably stay out longer if I wanted to but don't want to burn the days (we burn 'paid time off' days first and then sick days) since i'm going on a cruise in August.
I could have gone back to work full-time (desk job) after two weeks, but I took off three weeks and that was plenty...I didn't have much pain other than a little gas pain..I also wasn't that sore in my abdominal area...I, too, have had much worse surgeries...the most difficult thing for me was being tired and lacking energy for a couple of weeks