???Post-op expectations

rossonmarcus · March 22, 2010

I am sooo nervous. I am 38 years-old, 5'8" and weigh 218#. I am scheduled to have gastric sleeve with Dr. Gonzalez on 4/5/10. Although I am a registered nurse (emergency room), I have absolutely no idea what to expect immediately post-operative and this makes me very jittery. Can you walk me through you experience specifically surgical day, post-op day 2, 3, 4, etc and then the first couple of weeks after that. I want to know what you felt like when you woke-up, the pain involved, pain medications used, were they effective, complications, activity, diet, and so on. I am a strong believer in having all of the information possible, because knowing what to expect makes everything go much more smoothly and with a lot less anxiety. Thank you soooo much.

Tiffykins · March 22, 2010

Hi there, and welcome.

Immediately post-op, I was groggy. I felt the gas pain from the CO2 gas, but minimal discomfort from the actual surgery. I had the most discomfort/pain from the port incision from my band surgery. My abdomen was full of scar tissue and adhesions the surgeons had to take down all of it to remove my port.

I was given IV pain drugs of morphine. It managed the pain well, but walking, moving, and stretching helped with the gas pain more than the drugs. I slept a lot the first night, but walked when I could.

Day 2 post-op, I developed a leak, and a second surgery was needed to repair it. My recovery, and complications were not typical. Therefore, it's really difficult to compare my experience to other patients. I was in the hospital for 10 days. Then sent home with a TPN bag, and pic line for nutrient/calories. I had a home healthcare nurse come in every other day to change dressing, check vitals, and ensure I was recovering. I had nothing to eat or drink for 22 days. Literally, nothing crossed my lips for those days. Once I was off TPN, I started on Clear liquids for 17 days, then onto full liquids for a week, then mushies/soft solids as tolerated. It took me over 6 weeks to get to regular food and even then I relied on soft solids for most of my meals.

I was hospitalized mid-July for a week due to abscesses in my abdominal and pelvic cavity. During that time, I was on heavy antibiotics, and pain meds. I was able to eat, and the nausea was kept at bay with IV drugs. I had quite a bit of nausea as well during this time after coming home probably from the heavy antibiotic regimen I was on. Phenegran, and Reglan helped, but fatigued me severely. My surgeon switched my nausea meds to Zofran, and it was a lifesaver during that time.

I was finally fully released for full activity, and regular diet around 3 months post-op. My activity was very limited initially because of the pic line/TPN bag that I had to lug around plus the 2 drains that I had in my abdomen for those weeks really kept me sedentary. I didn't do more than walking for 3.5 months. I also had drains placed during the July hospitalization. Those were extremely painful. One of the abscesses was very low in pelvic cavity, and could not be accessed even with an interventionalist radiologist placing the drains. Luckily, it resolved with the antibiotic therapy. But, the pain from the abscesses was far worse than the surgery.

As you can see, my experience is not typical. But, it's what I went through and just to give you an idea of what I consider to be worse case scenario.

I know several of the members here will share their experience, and you'll get a wide range of experiences.

Best wishes on your surgery. Even with all of my complications, and struggles, I would do it all over again. Life with the sleeve is truly fabulous, and I have zero regrets.

Keep us posted on your progress ! ! !

suryfer · March 22, 2010

Hello Rossonmarcus!

I was very nervous as well. Before my sleeve I had never had a surgery before so the anesthesia was freaking me out (I'm a nurse to, but for animals! hehehe...also in an ER).

The day of my surgery I had to arrive at 6 am so they can put my IV in and prep me. I was moved to the pre-op area around 11 am and there they gave me an IV drug that they told me was going to relax me, but funny thing is that next thing I know I was waking up in recovery wondering what the hell had happened and asking for pain meds! hehehe....mind you, I have very low tolerance for pain. But like Tiffy mentioned above, the pain was most from gas. That same night after surgery, the nurses had me up and walking, because it's the best to relieve a lot of the gas discomfort. The pain in my abdomen, was more soreness. It felt like I had done 1 million sit-ups!! LOL...I was in the hospital for 2 days, on the first day I had a morphine drip and the second day they were giving me oral Vicaden (sp?) I know it's Hydrocodone with Tynenol (best sleep ever...hehe). After I was discharged I was on a full liquid diet for 2 weeks, then on to mushie stage for another 2 weeks. I could eat more normal food now, but at times some foods don't go down too well, so I go back to mushie, which I don't mind.

Now I'm about 6 weeks post-op and I feel great, I went through a little stall with weight loss but started loosing again.

Good Luck with your procedure and pre-op diet...you'll do great!

rossonmarcus · March 23, 2010

What do you mean by "....but at times some foods don't go down too well, so I go back to mushie...."? Does this happen because of nausea or pain from swallowing or something else all together??? THanks!!!!!!!!!

Hello Rossonmarcus!
I was very nervous as well. Before my sleeve I had never had a surgery before so the anesthesia was freaking me out (I'm a nurse to, but for animals! hehehe...also in an ER).

The day of my surgery I had to arrive at 6 am so they can put my IV in and prep me. I was moved to the pre-op area around 11 am and there they gave me an IV drug that they told me was going to relax me, but funny thing is that next thing I know I was waking up in recovery wondering what the hell had happened and asking for pain meds! hehehe....mind you, I have very low tolerance for pain. But like Tiffy mentioned above, the pain was most from gas. That same night after surgery, the nurses had me up and walking, because it's the best to relieve a lot of the gas discomfort. The pain in my abdomen, was more soreness. It felt like I had done 1 million sit-ups!! LOL...I was in the hospital for 2 days, on the first day I had a morphine drip and the second day they were giving me oral Vicaden (sp?) I know it's Hydrocodone with Tynenol (best sleep ever...hehe). After I was discharged I was on a full liquid diet for 2 weeks, then on to mushie stage for another 2 weeks. I could eat more normal food now, but at times some foods don't go down too well, so I go back to mushie, which I don't mind.

Now I'm about 6 weeks post-op and I feel great, I went through a little stall with weight loss but started loosing again.

Good Luck with your procedure and pre-op diet...you'll do great!

suryfer · March 23, 2010

Don't know how to exactly explain it, but sometimes the food's consistency isn't right. For example, the other day I made a tuna steak in the oven and I guess it came out a little too dry, so when I ate it, it felt rough/heavy going down my esophagus. It's not a painful feeling, just uncomfortable. I'm assuming this will go away with time. So when this happens to me, then I know I'm not ready yet to eat that type of food and I eat something "mushier".

Hope this helps and hopefully other sleevers can relate and explain their experiences.

BonitaChica · March 23, 2010

Hello,

I have to say I was totally caught off guard with how little pain I had from the procedure itself. I have fibro so was expecting gobs of pain. I had to be at the hospital at 6am day of surgery and was scheduled for surgery at 7:30. My veins never cooperate so getting an IV started was really difficult. It took 7 pokes. This was one of my more painful memories of the experience. They took me back to surgery and I am told I was in the OR for about 90 minutes. I don't do well with anesthesia so it made me really nauseous post-op. They gave me lots of phenergin (sp?) but that only helps mildly. I was in recovery for about an hour until they moved me to my room. I have a morphine sensitivity (itching & hallucinations) so I'm not sure what they gave me for pain. I didn't have much anyway besides the gas pain and was fortunate to only have one small incision site above my belly button. About 3pm the nurses came in and made me walk laps around our ward. I was exhausted afterward and slept most of the rest of the day. I was on a vitals check every 4 hours which was very annoying.

I spent 1 night in the hospital and was released at noon the next day feeling great with no pain. I was to be on a clear liquid diet for two weeks.

The day I came home from the hospital I sipped my Isopure and Water like a champ and got in all 60 grams Protein and 64 ounces of Water. My stomach started to feel a bit weird though, not pain just strange. This was a Friday. I also walked a bit. Saturday was the same but I started to have a bit of pain on the right side under my ribs. I thought it was gas pain b/c I hadn't been passing much gas and I was told that I would be. Sunday I had extreme pain in my right side, a fever of 101, and a pulse of 165. My bp was normal. I was really freaked out that I had a leak so I went to the ER.

I also had really frequent diarrhea.

Well it turns out that I had caught a CDIFF infection and all of this had nothing to do with the sleeve or my fibro. Had it not been for that I would have been able to return to work on the Monday following my Thursday procedure.

I spent 3 days in the hospital for the CDIFF getting IV fluids and antibiotics.

I continued my original two weeks on Clear Liquids and then transitions to pureed foods. After this I get to enjoy soft foods for two weeks. During the process I learned that I do not do well with whey and it gives me stomach cramps. I can do dairy fine, just not whey. The nutritionist with my surgeon's office recommended I switch to a egg white Protein in the place of whey.

I was sleeved on March 4, 2010 and have lost 17 pounds so far. I couldn't be happier with my decision!