Sept 15th Sleeve....feeling all the feels
- Thread starter Shevonb
- Start date
WazzuCoug
Member
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.
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.
dianeseattle
Member
Ryan is absolutely right about pain being unique to each person. It's really impossible to give you a rating without knowing how you handle pain in the first place. But a lot our members have identical experiences and share them here. It's a hot topic for the laparoscopic procedure and I don't think anyone besides me had an open procedure. That was 13 years ago.
But I had a tubal ligation in 1989 with a tiny tiny little incision and they just blew me full of gas so they could operate laparoscopically. I was in so much pain, I had to call in sick for a week and just moaned and cried in bed. It literally did feel like someone was stabbing me with a knife. But that was my perception, not anyone's standard level of pain.
I didn't suffer at all postoperatively when I had my open RYGB. The constipation from opiates was the worst thing that felt and it was epic. My open procedure post-op pain was minor and completely comprehensible. And it went away very quickly.
So it really is impossible to give you an idea of how much pain you will be in but as it is frequently mentioned here, it is the gas trying to get out of your body through your skin.
And realize that everyone here who is post-op, all survived very well, whether they had sleeve or RYGB.
Someone here mentioned having a laparoscopic procedure where the surgeon squeezed the gas out through the abdominal incisions before they were stitched. She was in much less pain because of that.
In either event, you are not going to feel like you're going to die and it might not even be worse than a bad toothache. And then there are the people here who will tell you they had no pain at all, even though they had the gas pumped into their stomachs.
No one suggested a heating pad back in 1989 to me, but other members here swear by it. It just soothes the pain.
And we talk a lot about moving and walking as soon as you can after surgery. This is the best advice you can get. I've been reflecting on it since reading a lot of postings where people say how incredibly tired they are and how achy they feel. I believe that if you are in distress from the surgical procedure, you are going to recover much more quickly if you get up and walk. If you lay there, it will just stay bad. Movement is really necessary after surgery and the only situation where you should not be walking is if you find yourself feeling dizzy when you do. In that case, you need to call your doctor right away.
Welcome to the group Shevon. I hope you will find out everything you need to know here. If you don't hear it on a forum currently, go up to the right hand corner and do a search by keyword through our thousands and thousands of postings.
But I had a tubal ligation in 1989 with a tiny tiny little incision and they just blew me full of gas so they could operate laparoscopically. I was in so much pain, I had to call in sick for a week and just moaned and cried in bed. It literally did feel like someone was stabbing me with a knife. But that was my perception, not anyone's standard level of pain.
I didn't suffer at all postoperatively when I had my open RYGB. The constipation from opiates was the worst thing that felt and it was epic. My open procedure post-op pain was minor and completely comprehensible. And it went away very quickly.
So it really is impossible to give you an idea of how much pain you will be in but as it is frequently mentioned here, it is the gas trying to get out of your body through your skin.
And realize that everyone here who is post-op, all survived very well, whether they had sleeve or RYGB.
Someone here mentioned having a laparoscopic procedure where the surgeon squeezed the gas out through the abdominal incisions before they were stitched. She was in much less pain because of that.
In either event, you are not going to feel like you're going to die and it might not even be worse than a bad toothache. And then there are the people here who will tell you they had no pain at all, even though they had the gas pumped into their stomachs.
No one suggested a heating pad back in 1989 to me, but other members here swear by it. It just soothes the pain.
And we talk a lot about moving and walking as soon as you can after surgery. This is the best advice you can get. I've been reflecting on it since reading a lot of postings where people say how incredibly tired they are and how achy they feel. I believe that if you are in distress from the surgical procedure, you are going to recover much more quickly if you get up and walk. If you lay there, it will just stay bad. Movement is really necessary after surgery and the only situation where you should not be walking is if you find yourself feeling dizzy when you do. In that case, you need to call your doctor right away.
Welcome to the group Shevon. I hope you will find out everything you need to know here. If you don't hear it on a forum currently, go up to the right hand corner and do a search by keyword through our thousands and thousands of postings.
WazzuCoug
Member
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
Member
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!
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
Member
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
Member
My surgery is on Wednesday, Sept 16th and binder has been purchased and will take with me to the hospital.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
dianeseattle
Member
So smart, Shawna. I'll bet you're really nervous and excited. Once you get through the brief post-op discomfort oh, you are going to be so glad you did this so now. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had this option available to me.
I just found another historically fat picture of me but I was barely on my way up. I probably didn't weigh 190 lb in this photo. My highest recorded weight was 247. Notice how much whipped cream I had on my tiny little piece of pumpkin pie!
I just found another historically fat picture of me but I was barely on my way up. I probably didn't weigh 190 lb in this photo. My highest recorded weight was 247. Notice how much whipped cream I had on my tiny little piece of pumpkin pie!