Sept 15th Sleeve....feeling all the feels

[Shevonb]

feeling all the feels and wondering about pain afterwards

 

[WazzuCoug]

It's hard to give a frame of reference for the pain. Everyone experiences it a little bit differently. Have you had any other surgeries in the abdominal region before, or is this your first? If you've had open surgery, I can unequivocally say that a laparoscopic procedure is less painful, as I have experienced both. If you haven't had abdominal surgery before, then it's a bit hard to describe, but most people are up and walking around within a few hours of surgery (with nurse assistance at first).

In my experience with three different abdominal surgeries, I am also confident that getting up and walking as often as possible will help minimize the pain faster. It won't necessarily feel like it the first day, but I didn't follow the walking advice for one of my surgeries and I had pain issues for much longer than the surgeries where I forced myself to walk a lot a the hospital and then often after I got home.

Walking also helps get rid of the CO2 gas from your body faster. The CO2 gas only escapes from one area, and that is from around your shoulders. You have to be upright and moving to really get that worked out quickly. Hot pads or a heating pad across your shoulders will assist in drawing out the CO2 and reduce pain. I felt my gas pain was a non-issue, but I know others who experience more pain from that.

I would say my abdominal pain after surgery was about a 7 on a 1-10 scale for about a day, a 6 for a couple of days, then it reduced dramatically. By the end of the first week, I would say I rated my pain about a 3, and by the end of the second week, it was completely gone.

You will experience things differently than I did, but the pain really isn't something to be concerned about. There is much worse pain for other surgeries and this will dissipate quickly as long as there are no complications. I always recommend walking as much in the hospital as they will allow you to do, and then start doing the same thing at home, working up a bit further each day (again, check with you doctor for recommendations, I'm not a medical professional, but that is what I did with my support staff's blessing). You don't need to push hard like it's exercise, just take it slow. My support team wanted me to be walking at least 30 min a day by the 3-week post-op, although I got up to 60 mins by that time.

The bottom line: there will be some pain. It probably won't be the worse pain you've ever faced or ever will face, but it will be there and hang with you for a week or two, but it gets better every day, especially if you follow your doctor's recommendations on walking and self-care after surgery.

 

[Shevonb]

This is invaluable information. I delivered my daughter but have never been under the knife. I'm not a chicken, I just do better when I know what to expect. I
Thank you so much.

 

[WazzuCoug]

This is invaluable information. I delivered my daughter but have never been under the knife. I'm not a chicken, I just do better when I know what to expect. I
Thank you so much.

You bet. I was sure you weren't a "chicken" as you probably wouldn't be doing something like this in the first place if that was the case. I obviously can't compare it to birthing a child, but I suspect there are some women on here who can.

 

[missyinacage]

WELL .. it's certainly not as bad as giving birth by any stretch of the imagination! I had the bypass on June 22nd. I am a chicken when it comes to pain. I was literally in the bed pre-op thinking about getting out and leaving I was so worried about pain. It was not bad at all. Of course I had built it up to this horrible thing in my head so I think it was mostly just relief that I was dying of pain I was on narcotic pain meds for 24 hours and just Tylenol after that. I was actually pretty sore for probably about a week. Mostly when I got into/out of bed it would strain my abdomen. The abdominal binder is a HUGE help with this. Walking should definitely be top priority. Best of luck!

 

[Tokash]

I have had two csectiins and now this. The pain is different. I didnt have much gas pain at all with this compared to my csections. I wasn't up walking very fas after this either. I have it done at 730 am and probably didn't walk until close to 630 in the evening. Drugs are hard on me and I didnt do much but sleep the whole day. It hurts the most for me right under my boobs and even so I think the highest I rated my pain was a 4-5. The pain from surgery is bad. I have more pain swallowing.

 

[Shawna0530]

WELL .. it's certainly not as bad as giving birth by any stretch of the imagination! I had the bypass on June 22nd. I am a chicken when it comes to pain. I was literally in the bed pre-op thinking about getting out and leaving I was so worried about pain. It was not bad at all. Of course I had built it up to this horrible thing in my head so I think it was mostly just relief that I was dying of pain I was on narcotic pain meds for 24 hours and just Tylenol after that. I was actually pretty sore for probably about a week. Mostly when I got into/out of bed it would strain my abdomen. The abdominal binder is a HUGE help with this. Walking should definitely be top priority. Best of luck!

My surgery is on Wednesday, Sept 16th and binder has been purchased and will take with me to the hospital.