Surgery Biggest Mistake Of Life!

[Shelby21 2]

i am nearly two weeks out from having surgery and I'm so incredibly unhappy!! I'll be the first to say I was one of the ones who scoffed at the posts where people seemed unhappy....surely this wouldn't happen to me! Surely I would be in the more populus group of those thrilled with surgery. I am on e the smaller side when it comes to bariatric patients so I thought I'd recover easily and would be on my way to skinnyville.....ummmm no... After surgery pain was excruciating...I mean I have dealt with pain in my life....but this is a new level. The pain management people came in time and again asking me on a scale of one to ten and my answer was always the same 10+++++. The pain medication got stronger and even morphine and other drugs couldn't even take the edge off. I was in pain like this for 3 days!! I could barely get a sim of Water in and I was dry heaving constantly. It was horrible! Finally the pain subsided from the surgery but now I have this constant pain in my back...upper to righthand side. Feels almost like food is stuck there. Went down wrong hole and I desperately wanna wash that chunk of food down....but guess what? I didn't eat any food and drinking makes that pain worse. Please anyone know what this pain is? Will it ever go away and will I be in pain every time i eat for the rest of my life? Sorry to be so dramatic, but it seriously doesn't feel like it's ever going to go away. I am soooooooooo tired. Exhausted beyond belief....no matter how much Protein or Vitamins nothing helps...I have a business and I really need some energy. My business is suffering. And to top it all off i lost 20 lbs in 4 days, great right? Well I honestly believe most of this was just water weight and weight dropping off from my last meal or two....I have not dropped a single lb in over a week now. My stomach is swelled and I'm not even eating...only liquids....sugar free high protein liquids. I even gained a lb! I used to eatbso much food, I'm talking 5000 a day and my weight went up a lb a month maybe...now I'm drinking 300 calories a day and nothing!! I'm going crazy!! This is like a nightmare I can't wake from!! I keep hoping I will wake up....have money in my bank account, be able to eat food...cause man the cravings don't go away and they are horrible!! I MAY NOT BE HUNGRY BUT MY MIND WANTS FOOD MORE THAN I HAVE EVER BEFORE....IF YOU USE FOOD FOR PLEASURE AND IT IS MORE OF A MENTAL THING FOR YOU...THIS SURGERY MAY NOT HELP U AT ALL! I just want my body back and I know I never can! It's so weird knowing life will never be the same.

[LindaS 316]

You need to call your surgeon. You should not be in pain. I can think of two possibilities:

After surgery, I was told gas pain might be in my shoulder area (front or back). If you are having pain in your upper back area, it could be gas pain. You need to burp or fart to get rid of it.

If you aren't eating and drinking like you should, you might also be dehydrated. You may be to the point where you need to be hooked up to an IV.

Good luck! It will get better.

[mellifrits 25]

I felt like that too and it was over a month before I even tried to eat normal food that was softer. I was totally out of it from pain for the first week. It got better but very very slowly. I had the super sleeve so they didn't even remove half my stomach and I was still in pain. Give it until your 3 months post op before you hate your stomach all together.

[Wheetsin 714]

First, do call your surgeon. Persistent pain is not OK, I'm surprised they discharged you at a 10+ pain rating. If you're in that much pain, it is not appropriate to expect you will just "deal with it" - your surgeon and/or their team need to help you.

Now just to clarify... burping/farting can get rid of gas inside your gastro tract. It won't help with the gas outside of your tract, which is what causes the shoulder/neck/etc. pain. That comes form the CO2 they pump inside if you (you are pumped full of gas during surgery so that there's room to move/see, roughly speaking). That gas unfortunately, just has to kind if dissipate out, or your surgeon can do a great job of removing it before you're closed up - usually it's a combination of the two. (I would hate to see you running to get something like Gasx, which won't help with surgical gas, and could upset your stomach, ir straining yourself trying to burp, which simply isn't going to help a pain in your shoulder).

Other than upper right, where is the pain? Is it near a shoulderblade? Shoulder? Esophagus? Boob? Is it constant, or does it come and go? Post-op pains can often be referred pains... like the "surgical gas" pain I mentioned above isn't the actual gas in the shoulder causing the pain, but more likely a phrenic nerve irritation near the esophagus that you "feel" in the neck/shoulder area where the nerve starts to end.

[Shelby21 2]

Thank you for your comments. I thought the pain might be gas...I cant burp or fart lol...it hurts to try and I don't feel gasey in those areas...I tried tums, but it didnt work...need to wait a week or two before I can try prilosec...which people say works. It's such a weird place for pain and it really ruins my day when I wake up and that pain is immediately there all the time.

[101driver 46]

It sounds like you're experiencing gas pain still. Two weeks out seems early still. Check with your doctor. I'm so sorry you're feeling this way, both physically and emotionally. All I can say is that, it get so much better. Hang in there and keep the faith. I remember thinking I wouldn't evaluate anything until I hit the 3 month out target. I'm at 9 weeks and I feel so good, I feel confident in saying this was a wonderful, life saving decision. But I sure didn't feel that way at two weeks out! It was about week 4 that I started feeling somewhat "normal" again.

[Shelby21 2]

I just read that last comment and it makes sense what u are saying. The pain is in my lower right shoulder blade....feels exactly like I swolled a piece of half chewed food and it got stuck....but I haven't. At first it was only when I drank (for first couple days I started drinking anything)... Now it is constant and only laying in hot bath makes it better....I only submerge half my body... Not my surgical wounds.... Are you saying this will get better on it's own or do I need to talk to my doctor about it?

[Jeni Martin 26]

Talk to the doctor if in pain... Also WALK WALK WALK, if it is the gas it will help your body absorb it

[Wheetsin 714]

If it's from surgical gas, you pretty much have to wait it out. I've never had it feel like stuck food, though. For me it's usually an ache at the top of my shoulder, or something that feels like a pinched nerve between my shoulder and neck. (My sleeve is the only surgery I've had where I didn't get this pain).

Lower shoulder blades is a fairly common place to get a referred pain from the more central esophagus area. Referred pains can be really weird. When I had my lapband and would get food stuck, the pain generated in my esophagus would refer to my hips, shoot out to either side of my belly button, and then "work up" to my shoulder blades.

"They say" the gas should be gone within 24 hours, but I've definitely felt it more 1 - 3 weeks post-op that immediately after. I should look into why that is one of these days.

Not to be personal, but have you pooped yet? Constipation cal also cause a referred pain, and lots of the pain meds we get can cause constipation.

You might to try a heating pad on front & back of the shoulder that's hurting. There's also a resting position that might help (have to look it up rq):

Position yourself on your side if you have shoulder pain caused by the carbon dioxide irritating the diaphragm. Bring your knees to your chest and hold this position for 5 to 15 minutes, recommends the University of Wisconsin Hospital. Another helpful position for shoulder pain is lying on your back with your hips elevated on several pillows.

Don't be afraid to take your pain meds if you need some help. But please do still call your surgeon. I'm not a surgeon and this is all just my best guess.

[HadToDoIt40 34]

I just read that last comment and it makes sense what u are saying. The pain is in my lower right shoulder blade....feels exactly like I swolled a piece of half chewed food and it got stuck....but I haven't. At first it was only when I drank (for first couple days I started drinking anything)... Now it is constant and only laying in hot bath makes it better....I only submerge half my body... Not my surgical wounds.... Are you saying this will get better on it's own or do I need to talk to my doctor about it?

I can totally relate to what you are going through! I am just 5 days post op and have the same pain in the lower right portion of my back. It feels like someone is stabbing me in the back and is so severe it takes my breath away sometimes. It used to only happen when I drank something but now when I lie down, I feel it the most. I found that if I lean to the left or lean to the right, it subsides a bit. I said all of that to say that I am almost sure it is gas. I hope so at least. As far as pain after surgery, I can relate to that too...today is my first day of virtually no pain. All we can do is be confident in our decision and move forward. There is no turning back, no matter what we do. I am still in the process of accepting these facts myself. But when I think about how my great grandmother, both grandfathers died of heart attacks/strokes and my mother having had two strokes at only 59 years old...and her quality of life now...all most likely attributed to being overweight.... I am hopeful that I have given myself a chance at not ending up that way. I know it WILL get better!Good luck in your journey Shelby21

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

For whatever reason, I was expecting the worse (death...lol) and so even though I was pretty miserable the first 3-4 weeks I felt happy about it.

Your level of pain sounds really high, but everything else you describe sounds pretty familiar. I was dog tired until probably 5-6 weeks post op. It was kind of depressing to be that tired. I felt strange combinations of not wanting to eat, being hungry, being worried about being hungry, everything tasting funny and just generally feeling weird and totally not myself. I went back to work after 3 weeks and even though I have a desk job, I was so fatigued I couldn't work a full day.

All I can say is that things even out. Stalls come and go, but, all in all, the weight just keeps coming off and I don't get stressed over the little ups and downs. BTW, it seems impossible since you are eating so little, but nearly everyone hits a big ole stall 2-3 weeks out from surgery. It made me question what the heck I had done, but it passed and weight loss continues. Here is an easy to read explanation of it: http://www.dsfacts.c...or-plateau.html

My doc also had me taking prosilec from the beginning. He prescribed the capsule, which I opened and had the little pellets inside on apple sauce or somethign liquidy like. He views that as a good preventive measure and I think you may want to look to getting on an acid med sooner then later.

The only words of encouragement I can give you is that now that I am months out from surgery, this is my experience:

-losing weight and clothing sizes so fast that I can barely keep up

-working out at the gym 3-4 days a week, feel like I am finally back to strength

-riding my horse, working around my yard and property with full energy

-no big hunger problems. sometimes I do "want" to eat, but I am getting better at distinguishing the mental desire to eat from the physical hunger.

-my tastes are still "off" but it is getting better. I most regret that my favorite beverage - Water - still tastes funky to me but that seems a small price to pay for the weight loss

-the thing I hate the most - all the Vitamins I have to take. I know it is for my LONG TERM health, so I am doing it, but I hate it.

I feel like this surgery has "freed" me from that near constant hunger. People (well therapists anyway) always seem to say that food drive is in your head but my experience is that it is a physical drive to eat. That overwhelming drive is just gone - and I hope stays away!

You do make a great point that surgery doesn't eliminate the emotional comfort people get from food. It doesn't really solve anything in life except help you to eat less.

[PdxMan 4,292]

I just want to re-iterate one point made above. When we're talking about gas pain being normal, we're not talking about intestinal gas (but there is some), but surgical gas.

When they are in there working, some air does go into the body cavity. They do try to 'squeeze' it out, but there is no way they are going to get it all. This air is trapped inside your body. The only way to get rid of it is for the body to absorb it. To aid in this effort, they recommend moving. Walking or whatever. It is painful and it will absorb eventually. How long will it take? It depends on the amount of air that was left. If the surgeon didn't do a good job of squeezing it out, then you may have more, hence, more pain longer.

Try to get walking and get your liquids in to help transport the air out of your system.

Let us know how it goes and good luck.

I know you've heard it, but it will get better.

[Bedhead 158]

I can't understand why you aren't on a PPI already!! I started mine immediately when I got home 20mg of Prilosec 2x a day. That could be a lot of the pain you're still feeling.

I'm so sorry you're feeling regret. I was in your shoes not too long ago- I had some complications and spent a good but of Feb in the hospital- but I'm 2 months out today and life is back to normal!! Just a few weeks ago I was sobbing in my husbands arms because I had ruined my life and now my brother saw me for the first time since before surgery and he told me "OHMYGOD!! You have lost so much weight!" and he has no idea that I had surgery.

[Lisa's Hope 421]

I felt like that too and it was over a month before I even tried to eat normal food that was softer. I was totally out of it from pain for the first week. It got better but very very slowly. I had the super sleeve so they didn't even remove half my stomach and I was still in pain. Give it until your 3 months post op before you hate your stomach all together.

What is the "super sleeve"? I assume that it is bigger than most?

BTW, you look amazing!

[gramaof4 58]

Thank you for your comments. I thought the pain might be gas...I cant burp or fart lol...it hurts to try and I don't feel gasey in those areas...I tried tums, but it didnt work...need to wait a week or two before I can try prilosec...which people say works. It's such a weird place for pain and it really ruins my day when I wake up and that pain is immediately there all the time.

I was given prilosec to take immediately after surgery...I took 2 capsules and emptied them into a spoon and took them with a sip of Water the little granuales go down with no troubles...works well for me...

I on the other hand had Zip ZERO pain period with my surgery...I had my surgery in Mexico and had some great docs....and if any of the girls had concerns or needed extra time they kept them there at the hospital,,,,even did extra leak testing just to ease the mind of one gal. I would say call your surgeon and do not settle for anything less than satisfaction and pain relief.