For pre-oppers, the Pain of Surgery, the truth....

[cazbandy]

After reading Fedup's thread about pain, I think we owe it to all pre-oppers to tell them the truth about how much pain we were in after surgery.

Not to scare them but to give an accurate picture.

I will be brave and go first.

When I first woke up from the surgery, pain was bearable, I had to rate it on a 1-10 scale and it was about a 6. They gave me morphine and this reduced it to about 3. About 3 hours later it went back up to an 8, really stingy and sore and I got some more painkillers that took it back down to a 3.

I was then able to get up, go to the loo and get dressed unaided. It was difficult as it felt like I had no muscle control in my abdomen. But I coped.

When I got home in the evening I was able to sit at the computer for a couple of hours before I felt shattered. I had soluable paracetamol and diclofenic for the pain.

If I am honest it wasn't agony just very very very uncomfortable. I had to sleep propped up and even then I drifted in and out.

When rising from a chair the pain was horrible, it felt really sore. Sometime my partner would have to help me by gently pulling me up. He would help me get socks on too as there was no way I could reach my feet without feeling discomfort.

Some nights were so bad I ended up on the recliner part of the sofa.

I could not sleep on my side for about 5 weeks and even when I did I'd get sharp little jabby pains.

I'd say in all honesty it was not until week 7 or 8 until I felt normal again.

 

[Sambucca]

Brilliant idea for a thread Caz. Look forward to reading everyone elses replies too.

 

[buglady]

thanks!

thanks for that i thought i was reading an extract from a Tarantino film i cant wait that bit was right at the back of my brain im just gonna deal with it when the time arises!! lol!!!

 

[tesmaralda]

I found going to see a friend who had just had surgery helped make it more real and that this is not something to be done if you are not 100% sure and it is going to hurt.

 

[waynetta]

As soon as I woke up from surgery, I remember thinking f**k that hurts. ( I had an open bypass) The pain was truely horrid, especially getting up and out of bed for the first week it started to improve in the second week. The first couple of days are the worse and I did feel quite sorry for myself. I'm 8wks post op tomorrow and I still get some twinges, especially if I am walking or over do it. Would I do it again?.....Hell yes its the best thing I have done with my life in a long time

 

[hopelesscase]

well for me i have got to say that apart from when i first came around in recovery and i was in agony then but soon sorted. my pain was minimal felt bruised but not sore and i was sleeping on my side within a couple of days and on my belly after 2 weeks. I had laproscopic surgery and just 5 little holes/
i dont consider myself to have a high pain threshold as after giving birth once i would never ever ever do that again but would have WLS again but know i will never have too.

 

[j.u.s.t.l.i.z.]

i found my 1st band op more painfull than the second, with the 1st band i woke up in a lot of pain they gave me pain relief and it eased, i wouldnt get out of bed at 1st but they assured me it would help my recovery, it is pain full and i litrally felt like id been hit by a truck, as they days passed the pain gradually got better the more walking i did, most of the pain was from gas as they do blow you up during surgery.
my second op was a de and reband in the same op, i didnt really feel the same pain level the second time around although i did bruise badly, my scars are in my gallery if anyone wishes to have a look.

as caz says it is painfull getting up from a chair, i found sleeping in my own bed uncomftable as well so i bought lots of soft pillows and made it similar to the bed inhospital so i wasnt lay flat but elevated this helped me sleep more comfortably.

i also would say it takes approx 6 weeks to feel ok and normal again.

liz x

 

[Brunetteandred]

It's all in me blog. I can't relive it again! Noooo!

 

[tesmaralda]

And it is so worth a read whether you re pre or post op

 

[nevaehgold]

Think it must be different for all. I was lucky woke after surgery a little sore, only had to ask for painkillers once before I went home, took liquid paracetamol four hourly during the day on second day and was fine after that. I did have to sleep semi-sitting up for three nights but slept well. Reading some of the stories on here makes me feel very lucky.

 

[teen]

I was in agony for at least 3 weeks and very uncomfy up till about week 9

 

[FEDup1981]

4 days post op...

waking from the op - i screamed out in pain, and was on IV morphine all night.
Day 1 - IV tramadol, IM morphine, and i was still in agony. I did manage to get out of bed with help from hubby, and found sitting in the chair was more comfortable. Couldnt lay flat or on side at all. Couldnt even get legs on the bed without incredible pain.
Day 2 - Home from hospital, Tramadol, nefopam, and co-codomal, and in agony. The journey home was hell. I couldnt get comfy at all. In tears. The pain was awful.
Day 3- a better day, but id got into a routine with the pain killers, and was taking max on them all. Still cant bend, and need help a lot of the time.
DAy 4, today. Pain still very uncomfortable. Cant bend or lay flat. Laying on my side hurts like hell, but not as much as it did. Hurts to get up from the chair, like all the other days, and to bend to pull underwear up or stockings.

Some people dont feel pain at all, others i read was bearable, and i never ever expected it to hurt like it did. It was pure agony. The future is what spurs me on, so dont let it put you off, just be prepared! xx

 

[Perissa]

Well either I have a high pain tolerance or I had a very easy ride because I was up and about a couple of hours after getting back to my room after surgery.

It wasn't anything like as bad as I thought it was going to be. Uncomfortable yes but not painful.

Perhaps its having the band which is painful - I had a bypass.

 

[Brunetteandred]

Might depend on procedure too - keyhole or open? Some people find wind pain intolerable also.

 

[hopelesscase]

Im beginning to think i had a very easy ride op thursday, home fri, out at play session with kids sat, hoovered and did some washing sun and went on a training course tue.
hope all of you who are post op and struggling make a steady recovery it really will all be worth it.
hc

 

[shelbell]

Keyhole bypass - initial pain after surgery very bad, however this was in my back due to being on the operating table (i have fibro and arthritus). Surgery Wednesday morning. By Thursday evening I was down to just paracetemol. After discharge I had no pain relied at all.

Although keyhole, I had no wind pain at all, aside from some pouch wind for the first 24 hours. None of the shoulder/neck pain I hear about.

 

[Mrs_CakeyBun]

OK my turn

I have quite a high pain threshold to give you some idea I "had" my daughter with no drugs and a long painful complex delivery so have the t-shirt on how much pain I can handle

Gastric Band Keyhole surgery

Walked down to theatre at 6pm

Came round from surgery very confused and in considerable pain and feeling VERY nauseous i was very upset and apparently kept saying i was going to be sick and was scared about that....they gave me an anti nauseous jab and some more morphine...they kept me down in recovery for over an hour till i was less confused and they felt I wasn't going to be sick...
I went back up to my room but I don't remember leaving recovery and going to my room...I remember being so happy to see hubby and telling him I felt like I had been trampled by a horse...I started to feel sick again so they gave me another jab.....I remember my hubby hugging me and me crying saying it hurt so much but I was happy it was done....I felt so bloated (from the gas) and so so sore literally like I imagine you would feel if you had been repeatedly stabbed in the stomach....not far wrong then

That night I was on oxygen all night and had a drip for painkillers and another for fluids. I drifted in and out of sleep sucking ice chips when I was awake then drifting off into a drug induced sleep...the inflating moon boots sort of helped me drift off as they were quite hypnotic lol

The next morning they encouraged me to sip water from about 6am and then at 9.30 they helped me up to walk me across the hall into the xray suite for my band check....well standing up from the bed took some doing and I walked like a very old lady all hunched over and VERY slowly...I got to the room and they stood me against the xray screen it was at that point I got hot sweaty and faint they helped me sit down and then lay down and fanned me till I felt myself again. I then was helped up again and they did the check swallowing the disgusting liquid xray done and checked they helped me back to bed and helped me to dress I then laid on the bed till hubby came at 11 to take me home.

The car journey was only 1/2 hour but blimey are the roads in north London bumpy...I strongly recommend a pillow between you and the seatbelt to cushion any jarring.

Straight to bed and only up for the loo...our bathroom in downstairs and that in its self gave me exercise!! one of the hardest things I found was lifting my legs into bed believe it or not as that really seemed to pull. I also got the horrible pain in my left shoulder.

I suffered from a fair bit of pain controlled with Co-codamol every 3 hours and gripe water to try and rid me of killer wind pains...did this for until the Friday cutting back on the dose of pain killers on the thursday...by Sunday I was painkiller free

I had to sleep mostly sitting up for a week and it was heaven to lay down to sleep...in the last 2 days 10-12 days post op I can now sleep on my side without discomfort.

I am 2 weeks post-op today and as I sit here I have a niggly ache from my port wound now and then when just sitting and it aches with a deep ache when I get up from sitting down or sit from standing. I still have some gripey wind pain and from time to time during the day I get the horrible sharp pain in the shoulder.

At the end of the day if I had read this before the surgery would it have put me off ? No would I go through the pain again if necessary to make this work...with out a moments hesitation.

The emotionally and physical pain I have had in my life from being overweight for so many years has been far far worse than I have suffered having this surgery. If your not sure about how much it hurts and your not squeamish I can strongly recommend you take a look at one of the many videos of your type of surgery then you can see what they will do to you and why it will hurt.

GOOD LUCK XXXXX

 

[callysplace]

Woke up after the op (bypass) and first thought was what the hell have I done, was in some horrible pain, but ten mins later thanks to mr morphine the pain was under control and all negative thoughts gone! Had morphine throughout the night and was on liqued co codamol the following day and thats all I needed for the next week or two. Had a little shoulder pain but nothing that required pain killers, the only thing I really suffered with was my back, I have slipped discs and I aggrivated them by the unusual positions I had to sleep in after the op, in fact if it was not for the back pain I would have only needed pain killers for a few days.

 

[claire36uk]

This is a great thread for all of us pre ops. By reading what some of you have written it sounds very similar to the pain you get when you have your gall bladder out, as if you have done thousands of sit ups! after i had my gall bladder out i struggled to get in and out of bed, on and off the sofa and even getting up off the loo but it didnt last long, its that gas that hurt more than anything as i got it trapped in my shoulder and was very uncomfortable. I am so glad that you post ops have been honest with us pre ops as it gives us an insight on what we are letting ourselves in for, but its all going to be worth it in the end. Thank you so much for starting this thread. Good luck to you all that have had your ops and good luck to those who are still waiting. Has this thread put me off? No way its going to be so worth it in the end. X

 

[j.u.s.t.l.i.z.]

This is a great thread for all of us pre ops. By reading what some of you have written it sounds very similar to the pain you get when you have your gall bladder out, as if you have done thousands of sit ups! after i had my gall bladder out i struggled to get in and out of bed, on and off the sofa and even getting up off the loo but it didnt last long, its that gas that hurt more than anything as i got it trapped in my shoulder and was very uncomfortable. I am so glad that you post ops have been honest with us pre ops as it gives us an insight on what we are letting ourselves in for, but its all going to be worth it in the end. Thank you so much for starting this thread. Good luck to you all that have had your ops and good luck to those who are still waiting. Has this thread put me off? No way its going to be so worth it in the end. X

claire thankyou for your post !

the risks of wls is the same as a gal bladder removal, when we faced with that prospect ppl no where we worry to the same context as they do with wls, the risks are identical !
if ppl can do the gall bladder removal op and not worry about the risks involved then ppl dont need to worry so much about the risks regarding wls.

liz x