Surgery in January-How much pain?

[Diane]

:-h Hello all -

I am having surgery Jan. 19th. Starting to want to know more things as the date gets closer. How much pain after surgery? How long does it last? What kind of pain do you have?

Any info will be appreciated. Also, where do you all find the information about all the food you will never be able to eat or drink?

Thanks,

Diane

[Canada Julie]

:-h Hello all -

I am having surgery Jan. 19th. Starting to want to know more things as the date gets closer. How much pain after surgery? How long does it last? What kind of pain do you have?

Any info will be appreciated. Also, where do you all find the information about all the food you will never be able to eat or drink?

Thanks,

Diane

Diane,

The pain really depends on many things. I had a giant hiatal hernia that was repaired at the same time (no extra cost ). Dr. Martinez said the lap band was placed in about 15 minutes and they spent more than 30 minutes repairing the hernia. I think if I had just had the band it would have been a very short procedure and the recovery very short. Just to give you an idea about the pain, the gal in the room beside me was sleeping on her stomach at the clinic less than 12 hours after surgery. She had very little pain. The pain that I mostly experienced was from the hernia repair because my diaphragm was very irritated and swollen. Dr. Martinez was great about giving me pain medication to take with me and following up with my concerns. If I had not had the hernia repair I would not have needed any pain medication.

There is a kind of pulling feeling that you get at the port site. It is not a constant pain, it is just that the stitches pull if you move in a certain way. Over time, the stitches heal and the port is more stable and I am finding that it does not hurt as much when I move.

I am only 2 months post op, so I am really still healing completely. At this point, my incisions are almost not noticable to touch. If you look they are still red. The larger incision where the port is still has a bit of a bump, but over time I am sure it will go away too.

Good luck with your procedure. I am sure everything will go well. The clinic staff is wonderful and it is really like a nice hotel, just with a bit of a medical theme.

Julie C

Nov 6/06

[Bandiva]

Hi. I had pain in my shoulder for a couple of days. Nothing terrible, just like I slept on it wrong or something. I think this is from the gas that they use to inflate your stomach from what I understand. Not everyone gets it. Other than that, somedays my incisions were a little tender, and sometimes my port 'pulls' but nothing that I can complain about. It was much less painful than I had anticipated. Best of luck to you!

Victoria.

[Kellie/Iowa]

Hi, well I just had surgery on thursday w/ Dr. Ortiz, it is now sunday and I have had no pain. I didn't have the gas pains in the shoulder or back or anything. The only thing I can say is my port sight is a little uncomfortable at times, but I do have a cold and have been coughing so that doesn't help. But, I am happy to report I am one of the lucky ones who has not been in pain. If it weren't for the 5 incisions in my stomach and the little bit of uncomfortableness every once in a while I would say I never had surgery. BUT, I did make sure to walk around the clinic alot after surgery, I walked when I got back to the hotel and I walked the airport when waiting between flights. I think that helped alot. Good luck

Kellie/Iowa

[BSN]

:-h Hello all -

I am having surgery Jan. 19th. Starting to want to know more things as the date gets closer. How much pain after surgery? How long does it last? What kind of pain do you have?

Any info will be appreciated. Also, where do you all find the information about all the food you will never be able to eat or drink?

Thanks,

Diane

My doc doesn't even give narcotics because you don't need them. The first day I was given non-narcotic IV meds in the hospital. The 2nd day of hospitalization I could request Tylenol. I did ask for it twice. When I got home I think I took Tylenol x1. It's not what you might think, it's actually pretty easy and I had a hiatal hernia repair as well.

A good surgeon will typically do the procedure (not including things like hernia repairs) in about 30 minutes.

[biggin]

I had mine done in Chicago in September, and I had 0 pain for the first two days, but that didn't stop me from hitting the morphine button once every hour or so . Just make sure to get out and walk REALLY far at a decent pace whenever you get home, for about the first 3-4 days. Helps get rid of the gas pain right away.

[kym828]

i had surgery in nov 2006 with dr ortiz and the only pain i had was terrible gas pains in my stomach for about 1 week. my port and the incisions have never bothered me and i have always been a stomach sleeper - i was sleeping on my stomach again 3 days after surgery.

kim

[barbflorida]

I was a November patient too, banded on 11/30, I had to fly back to Florida on Sat. 12/2, rested a little on Sunday and was back at work on Monday without missing a beat. Basically had no real pain at all. I'm about 6 wks post op now, just had my first fill and I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made.