Congratulations! I was sleeved on 7/2! You journey sounds much better than mine!! I am still a hard 8-9 on the pain scale of 1-10. My pain meds aren't working, even though I am walking my rear off. I had a pain ball placed during surgery which numbed everything except for the other drain. Oh my gosh...that is the most painful thing ever! I had my IV blow once while I was in the hospital. Also with the drain, the nurse had "milked" the fluid out and the suction was so hard that it took my breath away from me. They had to rush pain meds so I could breathe. I don't think I will ever forget the nurses saying..."wow that was a close one, at least your lips aren't blue anymore".... At that point I was done. wondered what I had gotten myself into and hoping that it would be worth it. It really scared me.

Other than that, I'm just waiting for monday to have this drain removed. I think my healing will be much faster once it is gone.

I agree with you! My advice to anyone would be walk walk walk! I did 4-5 laps before letting myself get back into bed. Best of luck with your journey! Can't wait to hear updates!!!!!

Oh my. It does sound like you had an ordeal. I didn't have any drains. Did you have an open procedure or a laproscopic one? I had the lap and I just have 5 or 6 incisions that are taped up. I also was adament about not having a cath long term. As soon as I was awake I requested that it be taken out ASAP. They did. I did have a catch in my chest for the 1st two days, but it was from the hiatal hernia repair they did. I haven't seen the pics of what they took out yet, but my husband and mom said it was creepy. My husband said my stomach was 17 inches by 7 inches! I'm going to see for myself this coming Thursday.

I know I was traumatized by the EGD they did in May when they showed me the hernia, bleeding ulcers and the gastritis,so these post-op pics should be gnarly.

Prayers for you overcoming those obstacles and yes....WALK ON! I look forward to your updates too. How are you doing with the hunger? Are you feeling any cravings at all? Mine are absent? Wonder if/when it'll kick back in? (Not that I"m wanting it to, just curious if it'll come back on strong....)

I am 3 days post op and I have to tell you it was no walk in the park. First, I had so much scar tissues the doctor told me the scar tissues from my band removal a year ago had begun to encase and grow over my liver. It took 4 hours to cut the scar tissue from my liver and stomach and other organs. Next, I was in so much pain from the gas I couldn't bear it. One nice nurse made me some homemade heating pads. However, the rest of the nurses did not want to assist with the water heating pads but some did with attitiudes. I decided to write a list of what you really need pre op and post op from the hospital.

2 heating pads = 1 for your stomach and 1 for your back ( get the kind you have to plug in) the wireless ones don't heat well and it was hard to keep getting up and charging the batteries. Not to mention they only use rechargeable batteries.

1 shushi massager ( I think it spelled right)= to massage the gas from your back, side, and stomach

1 Coco butter oil only it helps if you have someone to rub you down and it helps

bath & body works = eucalyptus spearmint stress relief aromatherapy. lotion and spray for the pillow it really, really helps.

I walked, walked , and walked and it didn't really help but the heating pads and massager did the trick. Thank goodness for these little items that I never saw listed. OMG ! I couldn't be more thankful. The gas is moving , moving , and moving, while I walked as much as I could. The heating pads saved me.

Mimi's journey: I had my surgery the same day as u at Fremont kaiser. It went the same way except no problems with the veins. But I walked, walked, walked too! I've lost 22 lbs since the surgery. I'm still walking everyday. No pain for about 8 days now. I feel awesome. I'm here in Stockton, ca where are u at.

I'm in Texas, just outside of Houston. I'm doing well, the weigh has finally started coming off and I've lost 9 lbs since surgery, 22lbs in total. I think I'm going to be a slow sleever as they call it. I've been working out daily, but decided Sunday will be my off day going forward. No true hunger pains, but mind hunger is something else.

Just got clearance to drive so I went all out yesterday and just drove all around town with my radio blasting. I had a good time!