drehn88

Glad you are doing well. I read somewhere that 3 to 4 days post op the swelling may be at it's worst. I think that was me yesterday (3 days post op). Today it was early severe nausea. Hopefully you will be able to drink soon and be on your way to a full recovery.

Welcome to the "other side". There are a lot of May banders on 2 other topics, "May banders" and "First one for May?". I think they are on the Pre surgery forum. We would love to hear your story.

I haven't heard that about salad, but it makes total sense. Once this post op gas is gone I don't want to eat anything that can cause gas too soon.

Thanks for the tip. I don't want that! I googled trapped gas and came up with a lot dealing with gallbladder surgery. A couples things mentioned: lay on the floor and bring each leg up to chest one at a time. I tried that. Not sure if it helped, but it was dang hard to get on the floor and hard to get back up. Probably won't do it again. The other tip was to lay down and sit up over again. What I've noticed is when I'm in a half laying position and then I get up I can feel the gas move up my esophagus. It's a bit painful, but maybe that is what it takes to get out.

I was banded on Monday too. So sorry to hear you had such problems. The gas didn't bother me until today and it's very worrisome. I'm having a hard time swallowing water even. Walking helps me a bit too, but you can't walk all day. Hope you get some relief.

It's been quiet in my house too! I'm always the one who prepares dinner and/or picks up dinner for the family. I feel bad for my kids because so far my husband hasn't picked up the slack in that department. How do I feel? This gas is really bothering me today. It's hard to swallow...even Water. I wonder if the gas is pushing into my esophagus? Creekwood, I know what you mean about the BM. I was really worried about the first time. I also wondered if my abdominal cramps were from that. Glad to hear you're doing well. Singer, I hope the shoulder pain goes away. It can be intense!

The pain meds didn't help my shoulder pain at all. The heating pad is what helped. I'm finding that every time I "walk out" my gas my shoulder starts hurting. I hope that mean the shoulder is the last stop before it gets completely out of the body. Who knows!

I wanted to get some advice from those that have been through the post op process. My surgery was Monday. Today, I'm having a hard time swallowing (but I can get liquids down) and my chest hurts. It hurts to take deep breaths (in the area of my diaphragm) and at times I get a sharp pain in the middle of my chest. Is this trapped gas? I went for a walk which made my shoulder hurt. Is this the process of getting the gas out? Thanks!

No, I didn't have a hernia repair. Kind of feels like I did though!

I am right there with you! Today (3 days post op) I'm having a hard time taking deep breaths. There is a "heaviness" in my chest and I'm having a harder time swallowing today than any other day. I'm really hoping it's gas and will be gone tomorrow. I'm still not eating (drinking) very much at all. I'm a little concerned I won't heal as fast without the nutrients from food. Hang in there. Thank goodness for LBT. Just knowing someone else is going through the same thing helps tremendously.

My back hurt yesterday (2 day post op) also. It hurt much worse than shoulder pain. A heating pad didn't help either. Today I haven't had any back pain. Hope that's the same for you.

Two days post op and I'm feeling much better. This morning was rough. I think the swelling is worse in the morning because it was hard to get liquids down to take my pain meds. I really want to stop taking the medicine, but I'm pretty sure that's what keeps me from feeling bad. Pain is still in the left side of my abdomen (like a pulled muscle), but I think the gas pain is pretty much over. I hope this helps those of you not banded yet. I know it makes me feel better when I hear other people feel the same way post op.

Thanks for the advice!

Sorry your shoulder hurts, and at work no less! Can you take a heating pad to work? I thought I would be ready to work 4 days post op, but I don't see that happening. Glad I got things done at work through Friday so I can wait until Monday to go back. Hope you start feeling better!

I'm the same as you. I've only drank a few ounces of liquid (apple juice, broth) every time I take my pain medicine. I tried a 16 oz Protein shake today and got maybe 4 oz down. I start feeling nauseous if I drink too much. I guess I'll drink on that all day. Unfortunately that will only be 20 g of protein. I'm afraid I'm not healing as fast without the protein. Hopefully I'll feel stronger tomorrow and can "eat" more protein.

I didn't have a hernia repair, but the left side of my abdomen feels like I have a pulled muscle. The pain can be pretty intense without the pain meds. My shoulder hurts once in awhile and putting the heating pad on it really works. I keep the heating pad on my abdomen (trying to not put it on my incisions) throughout the day, taking it off every once in awhile. I'm really hoping I wake up tomorrow or Friday with less pain. I hope you do too.

Sharon Osborne (sp?) has the band. She's had it forever.

I had my surgery yesterday and since the first moment my stomach muscles feel like they've been cut up and sewn back together. It's not the incisions on the skin level. It's a deep pain that really hurts when I use my ab muscles to get up, etc. I know there was a lot of internal work done, but I haven't read anything on these forums yet about this type of pain. Thanks!

I heard that on the news today. I was glad to hear it.

I posted this on another topic. I bought a bunch of chicken broth and it tastes gross. My suggestion is to get regular cans of soup and drain the liquid. Much better tasting. You will waste a lot of noodles, but it's worth it to me. I finally bought some Muscle Milk chocolate. Wow, that tastes a lot better than other protein shakes. It has more carbs and calories, but during the post op stage you won't be taking in very many calories anyway. Good luck!

I'm one day post op. My suggestion is not to buy broth, but to buy the real stuff and strain it. You will probably need to "eat" something with the pain meds. I tried the broth last night and it was disgusting. As little as we will eat, throwing out most of a can of chicken noodle Soup to get the broth is worth it to me. Actually, I'm saving it in the fridge for my husband. Good luck!

Thanks everyone. It makes me feel better to know other people have felt the same way. I guess it's like childbirth...you forget the pain after awhile! Sorry creekwood, I know you can't relate.

One more thing I forgot. As they were rolling me to my room I got VERY nauseous. Luckily I was able to keep it from coming all the way up. I wanted to vomit so bad because the compulsion was so bad, but I'm glad I didn't. Then in the last 5 mins. on the ride home home (it was a 45 min drive) it happened again. I was able to stop it again. My trick? I kept swallowing and told myself "you are not going to puke". Maybe it was mind over matter!

Well May banders, here is my experience post-op. The first 30ish minutes of recovery were worse than I thought. It was hard to breathe because of the gas on my chest and you can't get up and walk in recovery. My throat was so dry it was hard to swallow, but ice chips cured that. My advice, ask for ice chips right away. The worst is the pain in my abdomen near my port (I think). It feels like a really bad pulled muscle. I'm assuming that's because they have to cut into the muscle to add the port. At least I'm hoping that's what it is. I'm not hungry, but very thirsty. With all that said, I'm so glad I did this. Fellow newly banders, please let me know if you are feeling the same type of pain in your abdomen.

To all those May banders on the pre-op diet...Are you having trouble with constipation? I knew this would happen with so much protein and so little carbs/fiber. This is one of my biggest fears about getting banded. The other more invasive WLS I hear have the opposite problem. I've taken Miralax the last 3 days to no avail. Does anything work for you? Thanks!