after you wake up from surgery

[Nina35 5]

So I am having surgery this Friday tell me what should I expect when I wake up

[CK77 30]

I am wondering same thing.

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[NP_WIP 274]

I had surgery before 1pm, and my surgeon was done within 40 min or so. After the surgery they take you to recovery. I may have been opening and closing my eyes before but when I was finally able to speak it was 2:30 according to the clock on the wall, my first question was if it was done because all I remember was being told to move to a table and waking up lol and they will ask you how are you doing, I was nauseous so they provided me with Zofran. She then told me we were waiting for my room.

A few minutes later I was being dragged, which was closer to 3:30pm. I was in and out of sleep for the next 3 hours. Nurses will come in and provide medicine, do labs, vitals etc and you have the compression things on your legs. By 6 I was able to go to the bathroom and grab my phone. My nurse reminded me about the walking so off I went for 15min the first time, then 30 min and so on. You will barely sleep on your stay, they are checking on you constantly, so I just went to walk every time they came into the room since I couldn't remove the compression things by myself.

Honestly, overall, it was easy. We tend to overthink it and over prepare for it, but there is not much you need, you are out within 24hrs and any pain is well controlled with the nurses. I was able to shower the next day, go to pharmacy for my prescriptions and I went to have surgery by myself in a different town and took a flight back home 48hrs later.

Good luck to both of you.

[CK77 30]

Awesome! Thank you so much for the feedback. Makes me full much better!

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[Smanky 747]

I've had three big surgeries and one endoscopy under general, and with the exception of the first back in 2001 (knee reconstruction), I just wake up in recovery feeling dopey but ok. I woke up after my bypass in considerable pain, but I had had a surprise hiatal hernia repair as well as my bypass, so I really felt like I'd been hit by a truck. The nurse asked if I was in pain and gave me some morphine. I was then wheeled back to my room. It's all very hazy as they're very intense drugs. Just let the nurses know your pain levels and you'll be fine. Well... sore but fine.

[Bettyboop56 33]

Ditto above. I took oxygen and muscle cramp meds every 4 hours for 4 days. Day 4 I didn't need anything ...and nothing from that point. Had an issue in bumping my belly, invision locations, against table for next few weeks. Lol. Fairly mild gas pains. Easy peezy. Patience.

[Jeanniebug 473]

5 hours ago, Nina35 said:

So I am having surgery this Friday tell me what should I expect when I wake up

Have you ever been under anesthesia? If not, it's hard to say what your experience will be. Everyone reacts differently.

Typically, you'll be very groggy and sleepy. You'll probably be going in and out of consciousness. You abdomen will be sore, you'll probably be thirsty, and your throat might hurt. You'll have an IV and probably some special pressure devices on your legs. If you're prone to nausea, make sure you tell your team - they'll put a patch behind your ear. Vomiting after abdominal surgery is the last thing you want to do.

Your nurses will be trying to make you drink Water, as soon as you're alert enough. This was no problem for me, but for some people drinking hurts.

[qtdoll 535]

Waking up from surgery was a very peaceful thing for me. It was quiet, I had no pain, I was covered up & very warm. I had a scratchy throat from a tube they inserted but that was it. However my good experience was due to the fact that I react very well to anesthesia. That'll help determine how you feel

[Tomo 1,193]

I woke up but just temporarily before going right back to sleep. My throat hurt from the tube too. Like a mild sore throat, dry. That lasted for a day or two. No pain, just really sleepy, groggy, didn't want to be disturbed by the nurses lol.

[liveaboard15 1,293]

mine is probably not typical and dont meant to scare you at all but after surgery i was taken to a observation room where they woke me up. I could not breath on my own after i was woken up. They had to give me a second dose of the anti paralytic (they paralyze you during surgery and put a breathing tube down your throat. But after that it was not horrible. Yea it sucked, i was coughing a lot and that hurt like hell. but most of the time i was in a chair (could not lay down) and walking around the hallways a lot.

[NovaLuna 710]

When I first woke up it felt like I got hit by a bus. I also vomited old blood for the first two days (but only 4 times in total) and that was worse than the initial pain after waking up. I'd do it all over again though, so it's very much worth it.

[The Greater Fool 2,039]

I woke up to someone calling my name and telling me to wake up. This happened about three times but finally I stayed awake. My first words were "I've changed my mind." The nurse replied with an exaggerated "oops." When they were happy that I was mostly alive and mostly well I got wheeled to my room, which I slept through. sleep is good.

Good luck,

Tek

[summerseeker 2,169]

I open my eyes in a single room and flew off the bed because I had diarrhoea. I didn't realise I had a drip stand up and had to race around the other side off my bed to get it. I made the loo in time. Two seconds later, I realised I had the surgery done. The nurse came to ask what the clatter was and found me. In my rush I ripped out my drain but it didn't impede my recovery.

I have never heard of anyone else having my problem so don't let that worry you.

[Nina35 5]

18 hours ago, NP_WIP said:

I had surgery before 1pm, and my surgeon was done within 40 min or so. After the surgery they take you to recovery. I may have been opening and closing my eyes before but when I was finally able to speak it was 2:30 according to the clock on the wall, my first question was if it was done because all I remember was being told to move to a table and waking up lol and they will ask you how are you doing, I was nauseous so they provided me with Zofran. She then told me we were waiting for my room.

A few minutes later I was being dragged, which was closer to 3:30pm. I was in and out of sleep for the next 3 hours. Nurses will come in and provide medicine, do labs, vitals etc and you have the compression things on your legs. By 6 I was able to go to the bathroom and grab my phone. My nurse reminded me about the walking so off I went for 15min the first time, then 30 min and so on. You will barely sleep on your stay, they are checking on you constantly, so I just went to walk every time they came into the room since I couldn't remove the compression things by myself.

Honestly, overall, it was easy. We tend to overthink it and over prepare for it, but there is not much you need, you are out within 24hrs and any pain is well controlled with the nurses. I was able to shower the next day, go to pharmacy for my prescriptions and I went to have surgery by myself in a different town and took a flight back home 48hrs later.

Good luck to both of you.

thank you for your feedback I have been going overboard lol

[BigSue 1,389]

My surgery was 2.5 years ago, so it's sort of a distant memory at this point... I don't mean to scare anyone -- I actually hope it will be reassuring to know that (at least for me) waking up from surgery was the worst part.

I remember being in the bed in the waiting area before surgery with an IV, and then nothing until I woke up. A lot of people remember being in the operating room, having to move themselves from the bed to the table, but I don't remember any of that. I woke up in a lot of pain and for some reason, I had it in my head that something went wrong and they didn't complete the bypass. When I was able to speak, I asked, "What happened?" I guess the nurses thought I was disoriented and explained that I was in the hospital and I just had gastric bypass surgery. I felt intense regret, wondering why I did this to myself.

I could barely move, but I remember looking around and seeing the monitor showing my vitals. I had a blood pressure cuff on my arm that periodically ran, and it was a lot higher than normal, but nobody seemed concerned. I didn't really feel the incisions, but I had a lot of pain that I assumed was gas pain, based on what I had read before surgery, and I knew that I was supposed to walk to help with the gas pain. I kept asking to get up and walk, and the nurses told me I had to wait until they took me to my recovery room.

I stayed in the hospital for one long, rough night. I was trying to walk as much as possible, up and down the halls. I made the mistake of walking at dinner time, and the non-bariatric patients had actual food, and the smell nauseated me. I got a meal tray with a Protein Shake, Water, apple juice, coffee, and fruit cocktail (it was supposed to be sugar-free Jello, but apparently they were out and decided that fruit cocktail was the next best thing, LOL... The bariatric nurse was very upset that they had given me something that I shouldn't eat, but of course I knew better and did not eat it). Between walking, I tried to sip as much as possible, and it was very difficult. Fortunately, I had IV fluids, so plenty of hydration (and I had to pee very frequently).

After the first few hours, I had very little pain and did not need to take any pain medication. I did have discomfort in my stomach, like cramping/spasms, so they gave me anti-spasm and anti-nausea medication. I had leg compression machines on my legs while I slept. The nurses came in to check on me periodically. My surgeon came in once. Once the anesthesia wore off and I was fully awake, I was eager to get out of the hospital and go home, and I felt like I had to wait forever. In hindsight, I'm glad they kept me for longer than I wanted because while I was there, I was getting hydrated with IV fluids, which was good because it was so hard to drink fluids those first few days.

Once I got home, the first few days were not pleasant, but I had very little pain and recovered quickly. So if you feel completely miserable when you wake up, just know that you will get through it and things will likely improve very quickly.