My surgery experience

[shriner37 249]

I know many pre-op patients have questions about the process. Each one of us is different but I thought I'd share my experience around the surgery and recovery in case it is beneficial to anyone preparing to undergo VSG.

Based on my BMI, my doctor put me on a one-week pre-op liquid Protein diet. This consisted of three Protein shakes a day and otherwise Clear liquids. The first couple of days were tough, but by day 3-4 my system had gotten over its carb withdrawal and I tolerated the diet fairly well. I also used this time to wean off of caffeine since my surgeon didn't allow any for 8 weeks post surgery. During the pre-op diet phase I dropped 8 pounts, from 285 to 277.

On my surgery day, I arrived at the hospital fairly early. The nursing staff prepared me (IV, gown, support stockings, etc.) and I met briefly with the surgeon and anesthesiologist. I was wheeled into the very cold operating room. Shortly thereafter I was given the IV anesthetic and was fast asleep.

I woke up in the recovery area. This was easily the most uncomfortable part of the process as I was coming out of general anesthesia, hooked up to everything and now had a wonderful (not!) urine catheter placed. As I came out of the fog, I remember trying unsuccessfully to negotiate with the nurse to remove the catheter as it was very uncomfortable. After 20-30 minutes in this area I was moved to a wheelchair (a surprisingly challenging endeavor) and was wheeled to my room.

Once in the room the PCA pump was attached. This helped greatly with my comfort level. I was also allowed to start sucking on ice chips. I did experience some gas pains but they were manageable. The nursing staff got me up to walk within a couple of hours.

My particular facility was absolutely wonderful. It is a small satellite surgery facility of a large hospital and is in the same building as the surgical practice. I think most of the patients are part of the weight loss surgery program. On my particular surgery day I think my nurse had two patients, so I was able to get as much attention as I needed.

One key item they were monitoring was my blood sugar which was running low. This was surprising as prior to surgery I was a Type-II diabetic with a normal glucose of 115-120. They gave me IV glucose a couple of times and were monitoring it closely.

I progressively felt better throughout the day and evening and walked a few more times. There wasn't much sleeping as it seemed like every 10 minutes someone was in the room to do something. The day shift nurse had been bringing me ice chips in a small medicine cup. The night shift nurse brought a large cup of them with a spoon (what an angel!)

By about 3am I was able to get myself out of bed and move to a nearby chair, managing all of the lines and connections carefully. I found that the more mobile I was the better I felt.

At 5am I was told that we needed to begin preparing for my discharge. This involved giving me a glass of ice Water which I sipped on. It also involved removal of the catheter and the surgical drain, both of which were momentarily painful. I did feel better after that though. One more walk, a visit from the surgeon and his assistant, and I was discharged a little more than 24 hours after arrival. We stopped at the downstairs pharmacy for the liquid narcotic pain medication.

At home, day 1 post-op involved mostly sleeping and relaxing. I had to sleep in a recliner for a couple of days to limit suture pain. I used the narcotic pain med a couple times that day. I began sipping and walking, encountering a little pain but nothing unbearable.

By day 2 post-op I was feeling much better. On day 2 I stopped the narcotic pain meds and switched to liquid Tylenol. I had been told I could drive as soon as I was off the narcotics, so switching to liquid Tylenol meant I wasn't tied to the house. By that evening I felt well enough to drive myself to a meeting of an organization I'm involved with. Moving slowly but without much pain, it was nice to get out a little.

I noticed I had real challenges with capacity of my new stomach for the first couple of days. It seemed like it would only hold a couple of sips or maybe a teaspoon of broth. On day 3 this got better, and by day 4 I was able to drink liquids and even broth and Soup without much restriction. I think this was the post-op swelling going down a little.

My surgery was on a Tuesday and I came home Wednesday morning. My first venture out was Thursday evening. I returned to work the following Monday without any real issues but I have a fairly sedentary office job.

I have to say that my recovery was quicker than I expected with relatively few issues and no complications. I know this isn't the rule for everyone. I think it helped that despite weight and Type-II Diabetes I was in generally good physical condition which probably made things easier.

I'm now about 10 weeks post surgery. I successfully transitioned diet from liquid to pureed to soft foods and then to regular foods. I've experienced two stalls (one early and one now). I've dropped two shirt and pant sizes and am almost ready for a third. I'm still learning how to manage my weight loss and diet while traveling extensively for business. I have yet to get locked into an aggressive exercise regimen but am trying to do so. But overall this has been a totally positive experience and a decision I am 100% happy with.

Edited December 6, 2015 by shriner37

[animallover1247 249]

Thanks for posting your experience. Were you on any diabetic medications prior to surgery? If so, were you taken off of them before you went home?

[HoustonNewbie 0]

Yay! Happy to hear this, and thank you so much for the information!

[shriner37 249]

Thanks for posting your experience. Were you on any diabetic medications prior to surgery? If so, were you taken off of them before you went home?

Yes, I was on both Metformin and Invokana. They discontinued both of them when I started the pre-op diet and told me I would not need them after surgery. Since then I've never had fasting glucose over 99 so I guess they were correct.

[DaisyAmy 561]

Thanks so much for sharing your story! I'm finding myself addicted to this site with my surgery just a week away!!

[candy32980 9]

Just wondering. Were you able to sleep in the bed after surgery? I've been sleeping in a recliner for 6 days, but wondering if I'm able / ready to try to sleep in my comfy bed.

[rking 484]

Thank you for sharing! It is amazing how different doctors do things. May I ask how much you have lost? I have lost 17 lbs since surgery and I am three weeks out tomorrow. Good loss, but I'm not down a size yet. About how much is lost to drop a size? I'm sure it differs but I'm anxious to drop a size, or four hahah

[shriner37 249]

Just wondering. Were you able to sleep in the bed after surgery? I've been sleeping in a recliner for 6 days, but wondering if I'm able / ready to try to sleep in my comfy bed.

I slept in the recliner for two nights. After that it was the bed, but I struggled for the first two or three nights to stay comfortable as I normally sleep on my left side and that is where the largest incision was. By the fifth night or so I was able to carefully sleep on my side without much issue.

[shriner37 249]

Thank you for sharing! It is amazing how different doctors do things. May I ask how much you have lost? I have lost 17 lbs since surgery and I am three weeks out tomorrow. Good loss, but I'm not down a size yet. About how much is lost to drop a size? I'm sure it differs but I'm anxious to drop a size, or four hahah

Of course we're all different. I've lost about 41 pounds since I started the pre-op diet. I know that a lot of folks have had a better rate of loss in ten weeks but I'm generally happy with my results. I had a stall the first week, and have had another the past two weeks that I'm just starting to come out of. It hasn't helped that I've had to travel extensively for business the past four weeks so staying true to my eating program has been challenging. I've only lost six pounds in that time frame. I guess this should be considered success since before surgery I would have probably gained 4-5 pounds in that same period with all of the travel and restaurant meals.

Correlating weight loss to clothing sizes is tough. For me it seems like I've dropped a clothing size (men's sizes) for about each 20 pounds of weight loss. Maybe a little faster than that. At 41 pounds I'm down two sizes and feel like by the time I hit 50 pound loss will be able to drop another.

Good luck with your journey!