Help - post operative pain

December 3, 2005

Hi everyone, I'm quite new to this (first forum I've ever used), so forgive me if I'm in the wrong section or something. I'm hoping someone else has experienced what I'm going through and can help me identify the problem. It's only been 2 weeks since the lap-band surgery (11/18). Everything was going well until this past Monday when I began to experience some acute, intense pain in my left side. I notice that the pain has something to do with eating, as it recurs or intensifies every time I eat something. This, of course, causes me not to want to eat anything and I feel like I'm slowly starving to death - hungry all the time, but scared to eat. Warm Clear Liquids seem to be best, but anything creamy or slightly solid (applesauce) just causes more pain. I use a heating pad on the side to help with the pain, but that only reduces it for awhile. The pain is so acute, I'm unable to sleep on either side. Any suggestions? I would be very grateful!

Karen

my_genre · December 4, 2005

Karen,

Sorry to hear that, I have started to do the same exact thing since yesterday. It kills me to bend over to pick something up. I was feeling really good until then. I will let you know if I find out anything, best of luck to you.

-Debra

chichigirl · December 4, 2005

Karen and Debra,

Sorry to hear that you are both experiencing pain with your new bands. As everyone is different, the way we all heal is different, as are the instructions our doctor's give us is different from surgeon to surgeon.

I believe the average person is put on liquids for the first two weeks post-op, then moves on to mushies for another two weeks, then real food as tolerated. I say the average as this is the most common information I have read about on this site. It is also about two weeks for some people to have the swelling and irritation subside in the stoma(area where your band is) but it may take a little longer than that for others. Try staying on liquid Proteins and other liquids for a few more days and when you start to introduce mushies, do it slowly, carefully and try things one at a time. It is usually found that warm liquids are more comfortable, such as broth, Soups that are pureed, tea, cocoa, things like that.

The pain is letting you know that you may not be quite ready for mushies or solids yet, and don't worry, you probably aren't starving yourself literally, though it must feel like it, I'm sure. If you are truly concerned about you're not getting enough nutrients, get yourself some liquid vitiamins. It couldn't hurt to add some at this point.

As for the pain when bending, you're muscles are slower to heal and depending where your port was put in, it's usually in a muscle and that does take a little while to hear for most people. Be careful not to lift anything heavy or push things a lot, like when you vacuum. Remember, this was surgery and your body needs time to heal. As a general rule of thumb, you're probably not going to be back 100% for about 4 to 6 weeks.

Of course, this goes without saying, if the pains increase in intensity or are still bothering you after attempts to baby things along, call your doctor. They are there to help us and most of us are afraid of bothering them, but the truth be known, most of them would prefer to catch something if there is something wrong, sooner rather than later.

Hope this helps! Keep us posted on how you are doing and welcome to bandland, trust me it will get easier.

Happy Holidays,

Cindy