Average Recovery Time?

Wombat,
As long as I plan ahead, I feel better. Have to have contingency plans for all these folks I will be vacationing with, as I don't want to feel left out. I just hope my wounds are healed to enjoy the swimming pool down there. But only time will tell with that. I will just have to dangle my feet for awhile.
I think I have put more thought into what I am eating for the rest of my life, than I have the past 50 years. LOL
Hugs,
Oma

Oma, it seems that so many people in the US do fly home from Mexico within a few days of surgery, so I am sure (from reading all the responses here) that 3 weeks post surgery, you will be quite comfortable to fly and enjoy your holiday.

Wombat,
I had a surgery date in mind, as I have to go to MX for a month. Then doc put it later than I thought would be good, as it only gave me a month to heal before leaving the country for a month. Then the surgeon bumped me back a week due to his schedule demands. So now I only have 3 weeks to recover before flying 6 hours. But I will make it work. I am not giving up my trip and not giving up my surgery. My husband works in London and flys back and forth. He was not happy in the date I was given, but I told him I wasn't waiting, I wanted it done now before anything else comes up. The military health care system could shut down this service easily without notice. So I pushed for full steam ahead for surgery and will deal with the rest.
I have my foods to take with me all picked out for checked luggage. I plan to carry my envelopes of protein and vitamins and meds and check a bag with liquid proteins. So I am all set. And figured I could just do baby food if I had too for pureed food as there is a Walmart store there and they will have that. So once I figured it all out ahead of time, I stopped worrying. And I had to laugh when I posted my concerns, someone wrote, most people fly to mexico for surgery and then home, you are doing the opposite. Now no worries...

Oma

Well our house hasn't sold yet, and settlements are usually 8 weeks plus, so hopefully I will get my appointment date on Monday, and it will be within the month time frame the receptionist quoted me, so I should have 4 weeks at least to recover.

I know moving house is stressful, however I will not change my surgery or moving as I need both equally as much. We have already packed alot of our stuff, and I am going to start packing more that we can do without now.

I know its not going to be easy, but it will be worth it in the end:)

I had allot of pain due to two long drains that were left in for 4 days.

It was bad, to the point I wouldn't move out of the lounge room all day, then sleep 13 hours just so I didn't have to move around much.

Once the drains were out everything improved quickly on a daily basis.

I was back at work a week after surgury, I was still hurting, but it wasn't too bad unless I coughed/bent over/laughed.

4 weeks out and I was back to normal.

Well, I expected to be a lot better post op than I was!
Day one, I felt totally disgusting with a really low blood pressure and was shockingly dehydrated. It wasn't til day 4 I felt half human.

I was pathetically grateful that I had 3 weeks off. Week 2, I went for a half hour walk and it nearly killed me... I haven't done any exercise since cos energy levels so low!! Though I think I am ready for some now!

I went back to work week 4, but was really, really vague and exhausted.

Week 5, and my head started improving and my energy levels improved, though I often got tired about 6.30pm at night.
Week 6 - started feeling good!
That's me!
Sophia

Wombat, I was pretty gung-ho about the WLS because I've had 4 c-sections and pulled up really well after each one but it was a bit different. Physically I recovered really well but I think the greatly reduced food intake does affect your energy levels and, as a couple of the others have also said, I felt emotionally flat and pretty grumpy about weeks 3 and 4. According to the surgeon this was all really normal and now 6 weeks down the track I am feeling good and better than "normal".

Don't they say that moving house is right up there on the list of high stress events - second only to divorce I believe! So please give yourself time and space to recover. - you have a lot on your plate.

Mama

I seriously cannot think of anything else but getting my sleeve. OK so I gotta get a date first, but still:) Hopefully the timing will be right so that I can recover properly before moving house.

Its my One Week Surgiversay today !! ... and i feel grrrrrrrrrrreat !

My surgery was mid morning... had a few troubles with positional movement pain...and vomiting overnight...but no shoulder tip pain or nausea after that night......had a grabbing pain along under "the girls" just where the top incision was made.....as thats where they put the retractor to hold the liver back with....it came in little waves.......but is quite bearable and about panadol level in pain relief needs.

The girl in the bed next to me had no discomfort whatsoever ....except for the grabbing pain along under "the girls".....and was the energetic social butterfly of the ward and even went home a day early !

The next day after the op I was well able to walk to the bathroom myself and do a lap or two of ward floor every few hours - walking is great for feeling good......i waited until visiting hours started for my partner to help me have a shower......more because you have to get a t-shirt/nightie/pyjama top off yourself and up & over the drip attached to your arm and i was feeling a little weak from vomiting and the pain of the day/night before...

Having said that....each passing hour made a huge difference and the body recovers really well...i did 2-3 laps of the floor every few hours and packed my own bags for home etc.....my first day out of hospital i had a 2 hour drive home plus several hours shopping at the supermarket and Chemist and felt none the worse for it.

I have only done light housework, washing up, laundry each day since leaving hospital....but feel i could possibly have done a bit more....but i wouldnt want to do lifting or pushing eg. heavy sweeping or vacuuming.

Today i went for my first walk with my partner and puppy dogs of about 1/4 klm...couldnt do any more....but i probably couldnt before the surgery either !

As good as you feel though and as energetic as i do feel..... i know i couldnt last for long at an activity......the amount of fuel and nutrients etc going into our bodies as been drastically reduced....the body has only so much energy to burn until it gets used to this new level........

Movign to the country..........sigh ! its a great life isnt it ? Totally different......

~hugs & best wishes for your Seachange~

I could have done aerobics after my op I felt soooo good.

I went in at 9.30 am and was up and about going to the loo dragging my chirstmas tree of drips and stuff around by about 6.30 - 7pm that night and drinking water aswell.

The only thing I had was I was really tired.

Moving about my hospital room on the day of the op. Able to shower alone the next day.
Didn't do laps of the ward because I felt chained to my room with the drip and drain. Also got nauseas every time I looked at the goo in my drain- what a woos!
Drain and drip removed morning of day 3 then they couldn't hold me down. Lots of bog laps around the ward.
Home early AM of day 4 (ie 3 night stay). Drove me and my dog home from my sister's house that day.
Live by myself and have a Belgian Shepherd who needs exercise so was walking at the park on day 5 (very gingerly and carefully). I drove to the park and didn't put a lead on her for at least 10 days because I didn't want her to pull on the lead and hurt me. Walking just got better and better and easier after that first day.
Once home was doing washing and looking after myself in general but needed at least one sleep a day.
Surgeon said I was OK to go to the gym at my 2 week consultation. Went to book personal training but the exercise physiologists wouldn't let me start until week 4. Did first workout exactly 4 weeks post-surgery and have been fine working out since.

I had a bit of a rough time in hospital (mainly due to 4 large drains hanging out of me), but once I was home I felt so much better.
I would say that around the 2 week mark I started feeling normal, and by the end of that week I couldnt believe that I had just had major surgery.

I have a toddler so it was a bit difficult getting her to understand why Mummy couldnt pick her up, but I just explained to her that I had "ouchies" and she seemed ok with that.

I was sitting out of bed about 2 hours after I returned to my room, which was in fact ICU. I was able to with somebody to steady me get into the chair. I did my first walk the next morning. I had my galbaldder out at the same time as my sleeve. I also have MS and had a bit of a problem with the MS losing the vision in my left eye for a few days which effected my blance which was not a problem but did have a carry on effect of pretty rotton nausea. This took about a week to control fully. Once I got home and had a few hours sleep in my own bed I felt amazing. I could get myself easily in and out of our water bed and in and out of chairs and the couch by then. Week 3 was a little bit of a set back as I felt rather run down and horrible I put this down to not going to the bathroom and the fact I felt good enough to do as much as I wanted, which was to much *LOL*

The general rule tho is to treat it like you had a c-section no heavy lifting for 6 weeks etc. You will find dozens of sites out there with all the rules of what you should and should not do after a c-section.

My husband was not only out of bed but showered himself within 2 hours of surgery. He was walking the halls after that. He returned to work after 2 weeks doing a physical job, he thinks he should have taken another week. But if it was office work etc it would have been fine.

applesauce

LOL yep it would be great, but I am thinking that it would be easier to have the surgery before we move (course i don't know when that will be), and I think I would want at least 3-4 weeks recovery before moving.

Hubby has a serious medical condition that is made worse by stress, I would be less stressed about him up here in Perth than if we had moved already.

Its all speculation at this point, but it would be nice to start my new life in the country at the same time as starting my new life sleeved:)

Now Wombat

That may be just a little TOO much to do - but selling with a 7 day settlement would be great, wouldn't it.

Good luck
Caz

Caz, sounds like you have had a great recovery (and congrats on your new sleeve, lucky thing!)

I did have c-sections with my kids, so have some experience with abdo surgery. I can just see me coming out of hospital, the house selling with a 7 day settlement and having to pack and move house, husband, kids, dogs, cats, chickens, two horses, two rabbits and a pet sheep 3.5 hours south of Perth.

LOL at least I would have my sleeve though;)

Well my (fairly recent) experience is as follows.

Could walk the night after the operation - went to the loo with my drip thingy in tow. I felt a little stiff but not really sore.

Was pretty good in hospital, then rested for a couple of days after I got home. Then I was fine to walk around the house, go out to the shops (short trips) and potter quietly. Didn't try any housework (yick indeed).

The thing I found hardest was wearing a bra as it pushed on my abdomen, but I could cope for a short while.

My hubby went away on the weekend, so I then had most of a week at home by myself before going back to work. I went out, drove OK, got my food together etc. No problems.

Back at work after 2 weeks (not a physical job though) and no problems so far! Felt great in fact. I've now been back at work for over a week and except for a few experiments with food that backfired (so to speak), I haven't had any issues at all.

I'm sure others will give you their stories as well.

Good luck
Caz

I know that this will differ from person to person, and obviously if there are complications, but I would love to hear about recovery times, how long till you could walk around comfortably, how long before you could do housework (yick!), how long before you returned to work, how long before lifting heavy items, returning to excercise etc?

Seriously, I don't think I personally care how long it takes, however, we are selling our house and moving to a country town so I need to take that into consideration (I also have kids, dogs, horses and chickens to look after. LOL and a husband).

I have just printed the APRA release forms now and will get the ball rolling (have previously seen surgeon and had endoscopy dietician and physician review last year) but have no idea what time frame I am looking at for a surgery date at this stage.

wombat