4 weeks post op, still painful

[lompocbander 1]

I'm four weeks post op but still in quite a bit of pain. By now I am supposed to be able to eat scrambled eggs and tuna, etc. but even though I eat very, very slowly it really hurts and gets stuck, so I'm sticking with liquids for now. Even yogurt can get stuck! I had an hiatal hernia that was fixed at the time the band was installed. I was up and walking around as soon as I got to my room after surgery, but they kept me overnight as my "vitals" didn't look good. I was planning on taking a week off work, but the pain was so bad that three weeks later I was still not able to do much but walk, sip fluids and sleep. Now I am off pain meds but still wake up really sore, and can't quite get anything much down. My doctor says the pain is because the hernia repair involves a lot of stitching of the muscle tissue. Normally I heal incredibly fast, so this has been a real surprise for me. I insisted on getting an upper GI, and everything looked textbook--restriction right where the band is supposed to be, and no hernia.

Anyone else here had a hernia repair and had pain for so long after the band was installed? I just want to start feeling good again! I'm beginning to wonder if I will always have this pain?

[lompocbander 1]

Thanks, Jack. I just keep thinking that if I wait, it will get better. And it is getting a little better every day. Last night I slept from 10pm to 6am, the first night I've slept through, and woke up in only moderate pain. Maybe I really am on the mend.

Reading other posts, it looks like there are some people that never quite have smooth sailing with the band but keep it anyway.

[north2008 0]

Hi, I thought i was going crazy as my surgery was 2/27/09 and here is is March 20th and I have an appt for the exact same reason today. I don't have problems swallowing but the pain is similar to a hot knife. How long before your pain resolved as I need to get back to work? Could youlet me know if there was specific testing done? Just curious and hope you are doing great.

Karen

[lompocbander 1]

By fifth week post-op I was finally feeling fairly good--not great, but much better. I still have no idea what was wrong or why it took so long, I may just be more sensitive than other people, or perhaps there was something else going on, but in any case I was able to begin working again productively about 5 weeks after the surgery. Now it is three months and there is no pain at all, though I can say that I do feel the band there; again, I might just be very sensitive. But if I lie on my side, I can feel the band "digging in" against my stomach, and when I am hungry I can really feel it (I know exactly where it is, can feel how it is attached, how it goes around my stomach).

My doctor, who is a great surgeon but has very poor "bedside manners", didn't think there was any additional testing needed (after the upper-GI). So I didn't press it. I trust his opinion (and more importantly, his statistics.)

Good luck, I hope you start to feel better soon. Let me know how you do!