Post op at home help

[Fat-2-Phat 1]

I'm curious as to how much post-op help you needed at home during your recovery. I'm single (my family all live on the opposite coast) and I have friends that are willing to help out in my recovery, but I don't know what to tell them to expect. Would I need 24x7 assistance? If so, for how long? What will they do to help? Any info is greatly appreciated.

Peg

[Humming Bird 275]

The hospital where I had my out-patient surgery made my husband swear he would not leave me alone for the first 24 hours. I didn't really need him to "do" anything. I was able to get up, go to the bathroom, get something to drink .......

[Corrigan 75]

You probably won't be able to drive for a few days so be sure

to have all your meds and Vitamins, and you should have your

diet stuff on hand. I didn't have any problems getting around, but

not everyone is so lucky. I doubt you'll have any problems, but

you should probably have someone to help, just in case.

Good luck and heal fast.

[kll724 3,055]

I think that the 1st 24 hours most hospitals and surgeons require someone in attendance. I know that when my son had his surgery in August that was what they told us. I just had a revision done, and welcomed thwe fast that I knew I had someone around in case I needed help. 24 hours should be plenty, but maybe you can get a friend to spend the weekend. Good luck Karen

[Fat-2-Phat 1]

Thanks for the info. It helps. I'll plan to have someone with me the first 24 hrs post-op, then have the others on stand-by in the event I may need something from the store or if I run into complications. I had already planned to stock up on all the meds, Vitamins, shakes, foods, and other misc. aid items that I've read about on these forums. Appreciate your support and encouragement.

Peg

[bromo 17]

I live alone and although I was in the hospital overnight, I was out in less than 18 hours after surgery. My daughter brought me home, got me settled and went back to work. I did have everything I needed for aftercare here until I could drive. Although all my kids checked on me by phone, I was alone for recovery at home and did just fine. For me, it made me get up and move around more since I had no one to bring things to me.

[Fat-2-Phat 1]

Bromo--Your post-op process sounds similar to what I'll do. Thank you for sharing.

[FLORIDAYS 3,040]

Like others have said its not that you really need someone to do anything for you...its just nice to have someone there in case you need it. My Dr actually told my husband post op that he didnt want him to so much as get me a glass of Water... because he wanted me up and walking.

Mostly you need to have someone drive you home from the hospital then back to the Dr for your post op visit a few days later.

[xavier 153]

I got all my meds the night before and stayed in a hotel. I had my surgery in an outpatient place so I didnt stay overnight. I took a cab back to the hotel and I was fine on my own.

[hightower 1]

I had a friend stay with me the night before and the night of my surgery .I've got school age kids and went to the hospital at 5:30am. She helped out with them, but as for me I was just able to nap and relax. It is nice to have someone there for the 24 hours. One thing I did was stock up on movies and DVR shows. I was to groggy and hazy to read, but watching my favorite shows was nice.

[formykids2 4]

I had to have help for the first 3 days with everything! I still cant do too much, but can do things for myself, but not taking care of my kiddos and family type things. Everyone is different so hope for the easy recovery, but be prepared just in case you need a few days of hands on help.

[KK150 0]

I was in a similar situation to you whereby my whole family lives far away (Europe!) and I did not feel comfortable advertising to the whole world that I'm having lap band surgery. i actually went to the hospital and came home by myself. I've been told that 99% of people recover incredibly quickly (you even surprise yourself!) so I'm sure you'll be fine as well. I would strongly suggest staying in hospital overnight as having nurses and doctors around you would give you some reassurance that if something goes wrong they are there to assist. Once you are past 24hr (i.e. 24hrs post surgery) you'll probably feel no worse then when you are recovering from a cold. By 3rd day you can pretty much do your usual things (go to shop, go for a walk, have a shower, clean your house, etc.) but you might get tired quicker then usual and that shoulder pain might still bother you. In my personal experience having moral support for the the first 12-24hrs would really help. I had my surgery on Sat afternoon @ 1pm and stayed at hospital until tomorrow morning 10am. The day of the surgery was horrible - pain, discomfort, incisions hurt, unbearable shoulder pain (from gasses pumped into you during surgery) grogginess from anesthesia, and in my case a major dose of self-pity why/how did I allow myself to get to this point, why am I inflicting myself so much pain, I want all of this to disappear, etc. Luckily you start feeling much better 6-9 hours post surgery so these thoughts disappear. Woman next door had a friend with her most of the time who provided moral support throughout the evening and that really helped. Even listening (really eavesdropping) on their conversation helped me. By 9-10pm, I was off IVs and started feeling generally better. I started walking a few steps around 9pm and by 11pm I was doing laps around the hospital ward. No major problems sleeping, particularly if you get painkiller for shoulder pain. By 9am tomorrow morning I was itching to go home. I live in New York City so @ 10am I was already in taxi on the way home. Once at home I went for @ 2hrs nap and then for 2hrs slow walk along the Central Park. Interestingly enough you feel minor pain around your incisions (particularly when you stretch or when you are getting in and out of bed) but you don't feel pain of the band, no pain walking around the town, etc. They don't recommend lifting anything >10lb (even if you feel you can do it easily like I did). I stocked up on Protein Shakes but forgot Water and Multivitamins so I had to go out and buy some. I carried about a gallon of water and 2-3lb of various multivitamins home with no issues. Having friends stop by or call for moral support worked wonders. On Monday afternoon (surgery was on Saturday) I went back to hospital to pick up liquid painkiller and on a way back found myself in a subway station with 6 long flights of stairs to climb in order to get out (escalators broke down). While I was able to get to the top OK I felt a real shortness of breath when I got to the top but no pain. (Anesthesia and hospital stay really affect how much you can breath in the days after surgery!) Once I recover my breath (I had to sit down for 3-4 min) I realized that I climbed equivalent of 5-6th building floors 48hrs after the surgery. From that point I new I'd be good as long as I take it easy and do what I can. Hope this helps. Any queries just let me know. Good luck! PS. All my self-doubt and despair about the surgery disappeared within 24hrs. While the day of the surgery was horrible I would still recommend it to anyone needing it.

[Poodlelover56 2]

I am 7 days post op today! Yay! I would recommend that you not be alone the first 24 hrs after surgery. My hospital does not typically keep lap bands overnight. However, they were in no rush to send me home until i could stand fairly steady, and go to the bathroom( urinate). You will be groggy from anesthesia and pain med. Everyone' s recovery time is different. Go easy on yourself. Dont feel that you should be in the mall or grocery store by day 2 or 3. I have had a lot of gas pain in my left shoulder that you hear so much about. I hadn't been taking anything but Tylenol , which didn't help. My nurse practioner yest suggested percocette. I took one and it made a huge difference. So listen to your body and good luck! When is your surgery?

Arlene