male only Pain?

[michael1220 0]

I am 27 years old 6 foot and 400lbs. My surgery is coming up in a couple months since I have 6 months of NUT. This will be my first surgery so I am not sure what to expect. Any insight and experience will be helpful.

[JDHoward 3]

it will be a life changing experience for you man, you and I are close I was 6'2" 354. Had my surgery on the 4th of December, still fighting the trials and tribulations of learning this new lifestyle so im not sure how much help I can be. I will say follow the pre op diet stuff close and find some good Protein options long before so it is not so difficult after. good luck.

[JDHoward 3]

pain is not so bad I was off pain meds at day 8

[michael1220 0]

Thanks JD. How was the pain for the 1st week? I know this can vary person to person, but wondering what I should expect.

I am very excited about the life changing change.

[JDHoward 3]

id say it was normally a 3 or a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. worse when u tried to move the ab muscles I got very dependant on my arms but im at day 11 now and hardly have any pain at all.

[michael1220 0]

That is good to hear. I have to admit, I am a total whimp when it comes to pain.

[4dogcrazy 6]

I have had several surgery and my best advise is walk. I was sleeved on Friday and because I was in pain coming out of it the nurse dosed me up on the pain meds which made me sick to my stomach and extremely tired. They would not let me walk or even get out of bed without someone in the room to help me because I was a fall risk. I had my gallbladder out about 13 years ago and it helped so much to walk and walk and walk. I never started walking till 4.30 in the morning and it helped but that is where alot of my pain is from the gas and my stomach is puffy from the gas. It will hurt I'm not going to lie but it is manageable.

[michael1220 0]

I continue to remind myself that i will be in the hospital and know they will give me as much pain meds as I need. I recently went to the ER due to a severe stomach bug and they gave me 4 weeks of pain meds. LOL....I will need to remind myself of this.

[familyguy 147]

Michael -- I was sleeved on Nov 25th. The first two days I definitely had some pain, but nothing that the narcotics they gave me couldn't sort out. By day 3 I was off the narcotics and onto just Tylenol and I dropped that just a few days later. All in all, it wasn't really that bad.

Agree with others about walking. I was out of bed and walking around the hospital floor a few hours after surgery and every couple hours would do a few laps. I had no gas pain in the shoulders, etc. Might have been lucky, but I think the walking helped.

Good luck!

[Carlotta1 401]

Not much pain at all. I stopped taking the pain meds I was prescribed 2 days after I got home. I might have had little bit of discomfort but those pain slow my healing after previous surgeries. Walk several times during the day.. It will help with a quicker recovery.

[Bob Barnett 34]

It has been very easy for me so far. I'm 6 weeks post op and have zero issues. No side effects at all. My actual surgery was also fairly easy. I didn't like being tired so I stopped pain meds on day 2. They did give me some light pills similar to Tylenol. But I never had pain over a 3 or 4.

One thing that helped me was the 2 week preop diet. It was so hard at first but really prepared me for after surgery. Now things are simple. I eat a Protein shake or bar for Breakfast, something like 3oz tuna for lunch, a Protein snack, then a small dinner. Low sugar Greek yogurt has been good. It's easy to eat and has lots of protein. I'm getting around 600-800 calories and feel flipping fantastic. Have tons of energy and don't have food very often.

Good luck! It's an adventure for sure but I think it's a great decision for most of us.

[michael1220 0]

Thanks everyone. This is helpful and reassuring. I still have a couple months left of NUT, but getting very excited about the changes.

[Butterthebean 8,146]

Good luck on your upcoming surgery Michael. I have to say after day 3 it was a cake walk. Those first few days were not fun but not so much because of pain. More so because you can't eat or drink much....your body has to adjust to that. I felt weak, but only need pain medication once. I will say, if you need it.....take it. Better to keep the pain at bay than try to tough it out. There is no need to do that. But honestly it's not that bad for most guys.

[cubbies76 132]

Couldn't agree with Butter more. I took pain meds for 3 days and could have stopped at 2, but my thought was better safe than sorry. I was sore but after a week I was able to walk 4 miles at once at a slow pace (3 mph). We are lucky, we tend to have it easier when it comes to recovery. The worst part was the gas pain in my shoulder that started on day 4 and lasted until day 7 or 8. That pain in my left shoulder is the same feeling I get when I'm full now, two months post op. Not so much pain but similar feeling in same spot.

Edited December 22, 2013 by cubbies76

[MegaBob 46]

Sleeved 12-23-13. I had no pain except when I had to lay on my side for the suppository. each day post surgery I waited and thought "today is the day I will feel like I was hit by a bus", but it never came. I hit the gym hard leading up to surgery trying to get the heart working good. I also knew I would use my arms and shoulders frequently to stand up and adjust my position, so I worked on those muscle groups. At the hospital I walked as much as I could tolerate. The nurses all said I walked more than anyone else. I think it really helped with recovery and for expelling the gas so my shoulder/back would not hurt. Once I got home I kept moving every hour. three weeks post surgery I feel great. I did not need any pain pills at home.

the issues with surgery and coping with the liquids pre and post surgery are just short term hurdles to long term health. the time will fly!