Want To Hear About Your "smooth" Post-up Recovery

[bibytz 0]

Hi Everyone,

I Am Reading This Message Board For A Little While Now And Am Wondering If Any Of You Bandsters Had A Smooth Post-op Recovery Without Problems.

I Am Scheduled For Surgery On Sept. 7. I Think That It Would Creat A Balance On The Information scale To Hear About Experiences Without Complications After The Lap Band Procedure.

For Example, Any Of You Had Relatively No Pain? Any Of You Did Not Have A Feeling Of Hunger During The Recovery Phase? Did You Return To Normalcy Within A Few Days? Please Feel Free To Share What Would Be Considered Positive Experiences On This Site.

Thank You In Advance For Sharing. I Need To Read Positive Experiences Too...

Ciao... For Now.

[barbara465 2]

I woke up with a little pain, but nothing I couldn't handle. Got up, did the barium swallow, drank my Water, finally tickled, and went home. I never took any pain medication, not even Tylenol. I had some discomfort moving from position to position in a chair or when I stood. I was answering email from work that afternoon and participated in conference calls the next day. I worked from home for 4 days because I didn't want the stress of finding something to wear. I was swollen, but not uncomfortable. I was hungry from the get go so I don't think my stomach swelled much. I am an older bandster, 59, and was not expecting such a quick recovery. I have chronic fatigue and fibromalgia and I did fine.

Good luck to you.

[Teresa A 0]

I had the surgery and went home that night. I had to take one pain pill and that was because I had a headache. I had my surgery on a Monday and went back to work the next Monday with no problem. Hunger was no problem-- I stayed on liquids for about three weeks and then progressed to mushies. I can't really say I had any problems. It is the best decision I ever made. My doctor and his staff are wonderful.

[waterlily1072 5]

I went home 45 minutes after exiting surgery. I had a hiatal hernia fixed as well and was in quite a bit of pain for 3 days, after that smooth sailing. No complications whatsoever.

[Wheetsin 714]

I had surgery between 10 and 11, and was on my way home around 1. I spent all of about 45 minutes in recovery. Within my forst 10 minutes of waking up I was asking if I could leave. I had virtually no pain. When they asked me to rate my pain I remember telling them, "Maybe like a half..." (on the 1 - 10 scale). I remember the lady telling me she was going to ask my surgeon for discharge approval, and then the guy coming in to wheel my bed out saying, "Already?" and the lady answering, "Yeah, she was breathing on her own before we got her, has no pain, and is asking to see her husband." Then they told me I was their "record recovery", and wheeled me out.

I did have some recovery pain, but only when I moved my abdomen... e.g. up & down from the chair, or sitting to go the bathroom. Supporting my stomach from underneath - taking the weight off my staples - worked wonders for me.

I had one bout of hunger 3 days post-op. I think it was largely head. I had about an hour where I was almost panicky because I was *really* hungry, and worried I'd never be able to eat enough again. Weird, huh? And very unlike me. But like I said - an hour, very short-lived, and the nice thing is that do this day, my appetite has never returned. I get hunger pains, and feel hunger, but I don't really care, whereas before -- uh oh, can't let me get to the point where I'm actually hungry before I eat!

I had surgery on Wednesday. I slept most of that evening & most of the following day. Friday I was up & walking around (slowly, but only b/c I didn't want to have to walk around holding my stomach in public). Saturday we drove an hour out of town and spent the day with my parents. I didn't do as much as I normally would, and was moving a little slower, but spending the day away was no problem. Sunday I rested. Monday I could have returned to work, but I can telecommute and it just so happened that one of my incisions was right where my waistbands hit, so I telecommuted thru Wed & returned to the office Thursday after my staples were removed.

The only "complication" I had was that I'm allergic to a lot of adhesives, including the tape they used to cover my staples. Couldn't have known that before since this was my first surgery. When they pulled the tape off, a lot of my skin came with it and I ended up with some really swollen, raw areas around my incisions. But that's all about the adhesive, and has nothing to do with the band/surgery.

[Wheetsin 714]

Oh I will also add, I managed to make an ass of myself in recovery. It was ash wednesday, which to begin with, 'm not going to know that from any other day. And second of all - I had the "who cares" that comes with declining sedation. The two nurses taking care of me had the ash smudges on their foreheads.

I only remember part of this, but apparently I told the first one she looked like Charles Manson "because of that stupid swastika tattoo on your forehead". The second one (this is the part I remember) I kind of went off on, as much as you can when you're half asleep, and told her she was filthy and needed to go bathe before she touched me b/c I didn't want to get an infection, and how negligent of the hospital to let its employees come to work so dirty.

[saul 0]

I had my surgery at 9 AM was sleeping in my own bed at home at 6 PM (damn I paid to have a TV in my hospital room and didnt even watch it). I had no pain whatsover, I never even took the pain meds that were given to me. When I awoke after surgery I undressed my self to see if there were any bandages on me because I didnt feel any different. The night after my surgery I had to go to a party at my sis-in-laws house. I promised my wife (who was against my scheduled date of surgery because of the party) that I would be there and walked around the party with a very HOT cup of tea. That way I had a drink in my hand and I knew there was no way I would be swallowing too fast. I had no pain at the party, everyone commented that they were amazed at my quick recovery. I went back to work 2 days post op and have been loving my band ever since.

GOOD LUCK!

[KariK 0]

When I came out of anesthesia I was in some major pain for about an hour. It hurt to breath from the gas inside me they use to do laproscopic surgery. I wasn't expecting that really so I was super tense when I woke up and couldn't relax. They ended up giving me 3 shots of something just to make me relax. Once I quit being so tensed up it wasn't very painful at all and by the afternoon I was fine and back at my hotel room. The incisions were sore until later that evening and I had to sleep on my back kind of sitting up. But by the next morning I felt nearly normal 100%. I had traveled out of town for my surgery and so that morning I walked through 3 airports and took 2 flights home. When I got to my home town I got into my vehicle and drove myself home. Ive had no complications and was able to sleep on my sides and stomach within about a week. I really think fast recovery depends on the skill of the surgeon that you have do your surgery. My doctor was in and out and done with my procedure within 20-30 minutes. If you have someone with less experience it can take a couple hours. Which means they are in there messing with your organs and moving stuff around for longer which I think is logically going to cause more pain. Not to mention longer anesthesia. Thats just my oppinion however. But thats why I flew to where I did in order to have my procedure. Im glad I chose a VERY experienced doctor to do mine. He's done nearly 5000 lap bands. There are a lot of really experienced doc's out there so make sure to find one of them.

[Diva Girl 3]

My experience was equally good. I babied myself afterwards by staying home and lolling around but I didn't really need to. I was up and moving within 2 hours of surgery and took small pain meds for two days afterwards. No incision or port pain whatsoever but a bit of discomforting gas pain. I found that walking around really helped that. So far I haven't had an ounce of pain from the operation itself and I, too and 59 years old and by rights, should have had a harder time.

Good luck with your surgery!

[piercedqt78 658]

I had to stay the night as a precaution, but all was fine. I did my barium swallow and was on my way home. Bring a fluffy pillow to protect your incisions from the seat belt. I came home and got a good 24 hours of sleep, only getting up to potty and drink my propel. I was only in pain when climing the stairs and when my very overweight kitty hopped on my belly 3 days post-op. I did sleep in a recliner for a few nights because I am a stomach sleep and I was worried that I would roll over and it would be painful. I only took pain meds at betime. I had almost no pain, just tons of gas and my stomach made weird noises for about 4 days. I would do it again in a heart beat. ~Mandy

[Kat817 19]

I flew to Mexico for my surgery, and had no complications at all. Prior to going I had arranged more local aftercare. I was given pain medication in recovery I believe, something into my IV. After that I refused it, I did not need it. I was up and walking the hospital the afternoon of surgery, and did a lot of walking around the next day. We flew home 5 hours in the air, followed by another 5 in the car, on the 3rd day. I took one dose of liquid Tylenol on our layover, due to a headache. I had packed Gas X and never needed it. Once home I was walking Home Depot the next day, "supervising" a remodel of my DD new house!! I have been on the go ever since. I had actual stitches, that we removed ourselves. My fill Dr. was very happy with my surgical report, and my recovery, as well as my weight loss. It was without a doubt the easiest surgical procedure I have ever had. Would do it again in a heartbeat if something were to go wrong, and would recommend it to anyone! Good Luck to you!!! You have made a wise decision in my book!

Kat

[Elisabethsew 50]

I went into surgery at 4:30 PM and was home the following morning at 11:00 AM. I don't do well with anesthesia and told them that before hand. I was medicated twice for nausea and then was fine. At home, I took pain medication the first night and then liquid Tylenol for 2-3 days post-op.

I had no gas pains but the port area was very sore and I had to sleep flat on my back for a few weeks. It took a good 5 weeks before I could sleep on my left side. I felt very tired for the first 5 days but then improved quickly and went back to work after about 8 days.

[Devana 0]

Wheetsin, that's hilarious.

[Dody 0]

I was required to spend the night because Medicare requires it, but I wanted to go home. I had my surgery, woke up in recovery feeling really sore, but OK. I was on liquid pain medication in the hospital for a few hrs. and then Tylenol. I was up and around in a matter of hours.

If I didn't know I had the band and didn't have the scars I wouldn't believe it. I have absolutely no gas, and have had none in the 4 week period since my surgery, so I can't ever relate when people talk about the gas pain. I slept in my own bed when I got home, but I'm a back sleeper so it didn't bother me. I've had a wonderful recovery so far with no problems whatsoever, and I give thanks to the marvelous surgeon who did my surgery most of all, Dr. Willie Melvin at Vanderbilt. He is awesome.

[Morsaille 4]

I had no issues. I went into the hospital the night before surgery for pre-op testing and went into surgery at 6 am. I woke up a few hours later and drifted in and out most of the day. Morphine... nasty stuff.

Went to the hotel the next morning and goofed off until my flight home the next day. I was a big fan of the walking and never had gas pains.

The pain pills they gave us didn't really work, so I stopped taking them. The only pain was from the port incision and was manageable with liquid Tylenol and carefully planned movement.