How bad is post-op pain?

[missthaaaang 9]

I am pre-op for Lap Band and need some advice about preparing for post op. I am a stay-at-home-mom with 2 young children: ages 1 & 3. The 3-year-old is at school from 7 AM - 3 PM during the week. My husband isn't going to be able to help me with the kids much after my op.

We're hiring someone to help me from 3-7 every day the first week. She'll just make dinner, pick up the house a little, bathe my kids, etc. My kids know this woman well and adore her.

I wanted to get someone all day but my husband says I won't need it. He's saying Lap-Band surgery isn't as bad as a c-section. I've had 2 c-sections and was shopping, driving and at the park pushing my (then) 2-year old on the swings less than a week after the c-section.

I keep reading about Lap-Band and wonder what it will be like. Most of the people on here seem to be people who have older children or teens and who work outside the home.

[drivera 0]

My surgery was Lapband on 8/31/10. First know that everyone is different on how they feel. For me, the first few hours after surgery were very painful. I HAD TO HAVE DRUGS! By the evening, I still had pain, but it was tolerable. The next day, I felt 70% better. I drove to the store just fine. Within a week I felt pretty good. You cannot lift more than ten pounds!!! You do need to rest and heal.

[Guest gen259]

I think having help for just the week will be fine. I was banded on Friday 9/10 and I did a full day of errands on 9/11. I was out and about from about noon to 7 pm. I was taking OTC liquid tylenol. The help would be nice because you are kind of restricted as far as a lot of bending and stretching. And I did notice that I tire out a lot quicker.

[pickles123 0]

I think you are going to need more help. It is not the pain as much as the lifting. You are not going to be able to lift those children for probably 4- 6 weeks. At least that was my doctors restriction.

Also you are very tired. It is not so much the surgery, it is that you can't eat much for a while and you have no energy.

Tell your husband (Oh well, you better not tell him that)

But you are going to need help.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

[CantB2noty 0]

I had a c-section, hysterectomy, appendectomy and abdominal scar tissue removal in my life. This surgery is nothing compared to those. Right when I first woke up from surgery all I could think was that everyone lied when they said this felt like doing 10,000 ab crunches. I hurt, and was ssooooo nauseated!! They gave me something for my upset tummy and some morphine, took about a 2 hr nap, and then it did feel like all those ab crunches. It wasnt so much pain as more like soreness and tenderness. I did still take the pain meds to help sleep and rest and what not. Personally, the gas pains were far worse than the incision pain..

[nkl1201 0]

I was banded yesterday morning (9-13-10) and have been banded just under 24 hours at this point. I was in quite a bit of pain immediately after the procedure and I was nauseated. I was given 3 doses of Dilaudid (hydromorphone) and Reglan (for the nausea). I have not been nauseated since immediately after the procedure (I have a scopolamine patch behind my ear for the next 2 days).

The 1 hr drive home was rather uneventful (I was just DYING to suck on some ice cubes-we stopped at McD and got a large, unsweetened iced tea and I sucked on the small cubes and took a tiny sip of two of the iced tea).

I have been taking 2 tsp of liquid Vicodin (7.5mg/500mg) at the prescribed intervals as well as 2 tablets of ibuprofen. from time to time to help with inflammation. I have been having pain from the gas used and I feel it in my shoulders. Having my husband massage my shoulders helps. I had a SILS procedure (single-incision laparoscopic surgery), so most of the tools and even my port was put in under my navel, so that is where I am most tender. I also had a hiatal hernia repaired.

Taking deep breaths is painful-they gave me a spirometry device to take home and do about 10 deep breaths per hour with it. It is a bit challenging to breathe this deep, but I know it is good for me. My throat is rather sore, though what was just a little sore from the intubation became much more sore because I have been so chatty!

I was very talkative yesterday (probably b/c of the drugs-usually happens to me), and pretty much walked around the house or leaned against a counter all day. Sitting was/is difficult (though easiest on a firm chair-I can get up without a ton of assistance, though yesterday I needed help getting up period).

Laying down is the hardest. I can't yet sleep or even lie down in our bed, but luckily we have an adjustable mattress in the guest room so I tried to sleep with my head elevated. It feels like I can't breathe well if I lay down, plus my incision areas are tender. I am normally a 7-8 hr sleeper, but last night probably only got 4 hours-I've been up today since 3:50 am :thumbup:

The only other thing (not painful), is it is a wee bit difficult to urinate:eek: When my surgeon called to check on me last night, I mentioned this, and he called it "anesthesia lazy bladder" and it should be better by today. It already is, I just have to "push" a tiny bit, but I can completely expel my bladder-it just takes a bit longer to "start" going.

I would definitely think lifting your small children will be out of the question for a little while. I can't even lift my 5lb dogs or push my 15lb cat off the bed, or even bend over in any way without being in pain (around the incisions). I hope you can find some assistance.

All in all, I feel pretty good. Yes, there have been some painful moments, but I have felt much much worse before (broken my back twice-now that was something to compain about).

As long as you try and get some assistance caring for your kids, you should be fine. Mothers have told me childbirth is much more difficult that this procedure, but it's great to hear that you're going through with this. Best of luck and please don't be put off by my honesty-I'd do this procedure again in a heart beat!!

-Nora:thumbup:

[jingleboob 5]

I had help the first few days... our girls are 6 and 11 so they don't need as much from me as a 3 year old! I was banded on a friday, and my mom stayed with us until Monday. Hubby off on Mon and Tues, by Wed I was OK to be alone with the girls. I could handle minor things with them, making lunch, settling fights, etc. I wasn't doing dishes or housework at that point and we ordered pizza more than once for dinner that week for them! Like others have said, the first few hours after surgery were the worst- I woke up thinking something had gone wrong during surgery because of the pain. But once I had a few doses of morphine and git up and walked around I wasn't as bad. I was a 10 when I woke up and a 7 by the time I left the hospital that evening. The next 2 days were between a 4-7 depending on how much I did or if I was due for meds. And really, after 4 or 5 days I was only on Tylenol and just sore.

I was expecting the worst as far as pain goes... I was in pain for 2 weeks after my gallbladder and feared the same with this, but it was only pain for a couple of days.

Definetly have help when it's available! But you should be OK after that!!! Good luck!

[missthaaaang 9]

Thanks for the all the details & info you guys!!!

I plan to spend the weekend lying in bed and taking walks. :smile: I should be fine.

Being banded a week from tomorrow! :thumbup:

[dar36 5]

I had two c-sections as well and I can tell you that the lapband surgery is NOTHING compared to the c-sections. My husband took the day of and the day after my surgery off and that was it. I was on my own on day three with a five year old and a three year old.

The most difficult part wasn't the pain, it was the exhaustion. You will be very tired and the pain is very tolerable. I know that everyone experiences pain differently, but it wasn't bad at all. You will be sore, but you will be just fine. The one thing I can tell you is to be very careful lifting things and doing housework. You may think you feel great after the first week and start to do things, but you will quickly realize that the doctor tells you to take it easy for a reason.

If you can get help, I recommed it because it will certainly be helpful. In regards to pain, it won't be as bad as you think.

Take Care and my best to you.

[Jachut 487]

Csections are much harder, and I didnt even think a csection was much at all, so that makes the lapband surgery a piece of cake.

The worst part is simply recovering from the anaesthetic - the groggy feeling, sore throat, sleepiness and for me, I get a bit teary and emotional for a day or two. Physically this surgery is easy.

However, help would be wonderful, you should take your time to recover and having support makes that much easier - that dinner/bath/bed time (arsenic hour I like to call it) is horrendous on the best of days, if you can get help during that time, that's wondeful. But you should be right during the day with a 1 year old given your other little one is at school.

Edited September 17, 2010 by Jachut

[missthaaaang 9]

I was able to "re-negotiate" my post-op help with my husband thanks to all your input. I showed my husband all your responses and was able to convince him I need more help. I now have someone staying in our house 24/7 the first three days post-op and then just coming from 3-7 the week after that.

I'm getting banded this Friday - 9/24/2010!!! Yay!

Thanks you guys!

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Edited September 19, 2010 by missthaaaang