Truth! What's the pain really like?

[Xena1968 3]

Hi

I had a sleeve on 7/22. So, I'm about 2 months postop now. I am down 57 odd pounds! It is a great feeling. Postop, I can tell you I had no "pain". I just had a "full" feeling in my stomach. Which, I later decided was prohibiting me from drinking, so I did choose to take pain medicine but only to help me drink. I had pain between two of my incisions, near my belly button, but it felt like I did too many crunches. Not excruciating. Minimal nausea, but that is common with sleeves. The Zofran and/or anti nausea med took that away quite well. I admit, I did not feel like drinking, at all. I had to push that and even now I'm sometimes lagging behind. But, I finally found a shake that I will drink so that gives me a boost when I need it. My Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) level was low, so I've had 2 shots so far and one more in early Oct. Thiamine is crucial to healing so make sure your B Complex has Thiamine! Mind did NOT, I had to swap it out. Overall, I will say the first postop month is rough - no energy, pushing and keeping track of fluid/protein intake....it can get overwhelming. BUT, my story from a pain perspective - I would say on scale of 1 to 10, 10 being absolute worst pain, I only had a 0.5-1 MAYBE! Its not that bad, I think it was much worse in my head! :-) Even the drain coming out did not "hurt", it felt weird.

You will do great! Good luck.

Xena

[Rovobay 920]

pretty easy recovery for me. I went back to work 10 days later. very active and on my feet. barely took pain meds. slept in a chaise lounge for first week as I could not be too comfortable totally flat on my back. hindsight for most, that the small amount of time in pain is well worth reaching your goal weight and a fresh lease on life!

[BeagleLover 1,020]

Your responses have been very helpful in knowing what to expect tomorrow. Thanks!

Edited September 25, 2014 by BeagleLover

[bikrchk 1,313]

Can you feel your stomach afterwards? It didn't feel that different. Sore, absolutely, swollen, but not that different.

Can you feel the staples? I couldn't feel the staples

Does it hurt to take your first drink? Yep, a bit, it did. For about the first week it was a little uncomfortable with every sip, but got better each day.

They tried to give me a dose of hydrocodone in the hospital, (which I don't tolerate well on a GOOD day) and this was not a good day! It came right back up. I never took narcotic pain meds after that and was FINE. That was my ONE bout with nausea as well. I took Tylenol Jr when I got home the next day which was enough to take the edge off.

Pain on a scale from 1-10? Five

Gas Pain? Not that I remember. I did get up and walk as instructed as much as possible.

All in all not as bad as I expected. At All.

[LadyHershey 4]

Hello MaggieMayUK and everyone who replied to my post.

Tomorrow it will be 1 week post op. I am better today and the pain has lessoned each day. Thank God. Drugs on my release from hospital was a Syrup (narcotic) for pain, Prilosec, and a 10 day blood thinner injection. I've reduced using the syrup to just nights now, so I'm not so out of it everyday.

I've continued to read everyone's comments on their journey and the tips they've so kindly shared. Some tips have been of a great help, such as drinking more, heating pad (never could get out to get one, but my portable heater helped), plus helped with the chills I've also been experiencing.

Honestly, I must say I've re-read my own post and could tell from the writing how much pain I was in at that time. Thankfully, you all read past my poor writing on that day. That was day 2 after discharge. Any bending, I had to hold my stomach, or twisting, standing, climbing stairs just impossible, even in sitting, it was best to lay down; plus sometimes it would be better other times just sharp pains on the left. My pain ranged from 5 to 10. I think it was a couple of '10' episodes when I could even speak that prompted me to log in for help.

Now... I can walk a little longer, stand or sit longer; still have tenderness, at every scope spot.

I know I'm guilty of needing more patience with myself, thank you for that gentle reminder.

I'm so much better today.

I'm thinking of weighing in tomorrow as a post op 1 week from weight.

Good luck to us all on our new adventure!

[Rovobay 920]

@@BeagleLover Best of luck tomorrow. excited for you!!!

[BeagleLover 1,020]

@@BeagleLover Best of luck tomorrow. excited for you!!!

Thanks so much!

[steph2014mass 4]

I genuinely had no pain that was any worse than a period cramp since 3 days post op I've had nooo pain meds and when I had it was baby paracetamol xx

[maggiemayuk 106]

LadyHershey - so glad to hear that things are getting better. Same for me too - 8 days from op. Pain definitely lessening but if I do something stupid like turn quickly or bend down too far, I soon know it. Funny you mentioned the chills. I'm normally a very hot person but yesterday afternoon/evening felt freezing and even put the heating on!

Had a follow up call from one of the surgical team today and that was reassuring to chat through how I was coping. I do need to get myself more mobile now so that I don't have to keep wearing the surgical socks!

Good luck with your weigh-in tomorrow. I was weighed once in hospital and appeared to have lost a lot but that was only wearing a gown and whilst only having had sips of Water. I have weighed twice since being home fully clothed and shod because that's how I normally weigh myself and I put on a pound between my weighings. However, I'm not disappointed because I know the recent weight loss since on the pre and post op diet will be mainly Water and so not 'real' and there will be a period of adjustment while my glycogen levels (and associated water) levels rise again - but there's fat burning going on in the background. At some point I'll get to the 'real' weight loss stage and will monitor from there, but not too often.

[Tammylb 174]

For me the first two days where the worst I was nauseous from dehydration . Your stomach is swollen and not many fluids can go down. It's wasn't until I forced sips in every few minutes that I felt better. I have 5 small incisions that I can just barely see now at 6 months. The pain on the side they took stomach out hurt for 3 weeks but not excoriating . The more you walk and sip the better you will be. Each day was always better then the previous . I was also scared of pain before surgery but that was 60 pounds ago! Glad I did it:)have pillows , gas strips, and different flavored drinks & heat pad on hand.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Tammylb

[VSG_lauren 104]

Pain has a lot to do with the individual and their own thresholds. For me I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but this is still a major surgery. The worst pain for me was the drain being pulled out and gas pains that were in my back. However, the pain meds made me so sick so I stopped them after the second day. Even with anti-nausea medication, the nausea was bad. I ended up vomiting twice. Once from the meds and once right after the barium swallow test. The pain from vomiting wasn't from my stomach, it was from the drain moving. Ouch! Once I stopped the meds and they got out of my system I started feeling better other than the back pain from gas. I walked and walked but the only thing that helped my back was time and my hubby was nice enough to rub my back a couple times... but time is what made it better. I never had neck or shoulder pain as other describe. Today is my 4th post op day.. and I'm feeling great considering a huge part of my stomach was cut off 4 days ago lol. The first two days were hell in terms of how I felt overall. I had thoughts of regret big time, but I just kept reminding myself why I decided to make this decision and how so many have gone through the same thing. Don't preoccupy yourself with nervousness just keep the thoughts of positivity in your mind!

[BeagleLover 1,020]

I just got home from surgery Friday morning. For me, the first 24 hours were rough, but I did get pain meds. Also had a few bouts of nausea. I had trouble getting any sips in and wound up staying an extra night (2 total) so I would get hydration from the IV. I feel fine today. So, not too bad. I don't need any pain meds. I feel normal.

Edited September 28, 2014 by BeagleLover

[CarolinaCutie 30]

For me, pain level was about a 9 when I woke up from surgery. It was worse than my c-sections and hysterectomy put together! But the good thing is that it quickly subsided with pain medication. I was pushing that pain button a lot