Worried about post op PAIN?

The one that lives out at Cleveland - Andrew McNeil.  He has rooms somewhere at Logan that he attends I think once a week.  Otherwise, he comes to you or does it on the phone.  He knows his stuff, but has got a very conservative approach.

WondaWendy...we have the same surgeon! Which dietician did you go with? How did you find dr greenslade? I was having a hard time deciding btwn him and Hatzifidos but the decider was that he will let me do it at 34bmi. Hatz won't do it until I'm 35 (I said are you suggesting I go and eat 4 cheesecakes and then come back?!) but go figure! Greenslades receptionist Brenda is also really lovely and helpful and full of info seeing as she is 3 yrs post op. Ok. I'm feeling more positive already! Thanks everyone!

Hi LaLoopsy,


I really didn't have much pain after the operation. Just shoulder tip pain from the gas that was helped by hot packs. I stopped pressing the pain button after the first few tries as it made me sick. My main problem was I just felt miserable from nausea for the first two - three days. After I left the hospital I didn't have to take any pain killers at all. I couldn't believe how much better I felt on the fourth day. But as everyone has said we all react differently to anaesthetic and surgery so it's hard to guess how you will feel. 


A lot of people feel "Sleever's Remorse" for the first few days until they pick up and start to get into a routine with their eating. There is a lot to get used to in a short time so just be patient with yourself.


cheers Nini

Hi Laloopsy, as the others have said it's quite an individual thing. I've had a c-section and umbilical hernia repair so thought I was prepared for the sleeve, thought I would be in a lot of pain, would have difficulty swinging out of bed, would need loads of rest time... nope. I was on only paracetamol after a couple of days and have had very little pain, more a deep ache feeling if I do a bit too much (I'm 2.5 weeks post-op).

Like Dayle, the first two days were crap for me. Shaking off the anesthetic I vomited a couple of times the first night but they shoved meds into me and that stopped it and I've had no problems since. I slept a lot and felt horrible the first two days but each day after that just got better and better.

Read all the stories and be informed but go in with a positive attitude and believe that you will be fine. I do believe your frame of mind really helps.

I was also given a sheet of dietitians and just chose the one that I thought was easiest to get to (Margaret Riedy at Ipswich) and she is great. They will be on the list because they are experienced with bariatric surgery patients. I wasn't sure how helpful it would be to see one but I've really found it invaluable. She is guiding me through each phase. I saw her twice pre-op - once for the pre-op diet instructions and once to check how that was going and for the immediate post-op instructions. Then I saw her 10 days post-op to see how I was going with fluids and to go over the puree and soft foods stage and will see her again as I begin soft foods. I assume I'll then see her after I start normal food and not sure how often I'll need her after that.

Hi LaLoopsy,  My surgeon (Dr Greenslade) doesn't have a team either.  He gave me a list of dieticians and I rang the one closest to me.  He said he did a 5 visit package (with could include in person, over the phone or I could travel to his clinic).  I have had 2 in persons and a phone consult with him - he pretty much does each one of these just before you enter a new phase of eating, ie; pre-op, liquids, puree...  I think he is very knowledgeable, even if he doesn't cater exactly to my being a non-meateater by giving lots of meaty examples, lol.  However, he still has plenty of info that I use all the time and I would use him again if starting from scratch. 

Your question "How much support do you need from them post-op" - I would say my two consults related to post op eating have been excellent and I'm really glad that I have the 5 visit package deal that he does.  He really puts me on the right path for eating, even if I don't enjoy some of it (ie; still have some Optiyuck every day), and he always explains why/how etc. that different sizes and types of foods that are suitable.

2 months sounds like it should be long enough recovery time for you to be able to enjoy a wine at Christmas, but I don't really know.  I would focus more on how much better and healthier you will feel having lost a nice whack of weight in that 2 months, and how good you are gonna look on Christmas day in some nice outfit! LOL!

Thanks so much guys. It's one of those things, you read so many positive things, but then one or two ppl that have had negative experiences and those damn ones are the ones that stick with you! My surgeon doesn't have a 'team' working with him, he's just given me a list of about 20 dieticians to contact. Has anyone else had that? How do you know which one to choose? How much support do
You think you need from them post op? I'm not doing a pre op diet due to my bmi being just under 35, but over heard it's pretty tough at first? I'm booked in 2 months before Xmas...scared of not being able to celebrate Xmas dinner with wine?! How stupid. You are all right though, think 6mo ahead. Not immediate. Thanks again.

Hi Laloopsie
A girlfriend of mine tried the gastric balloons a couple of years ago ( she has since been sleeved), she didn't loose a lot of weight loss… about 10kg. The downsides for her were that the balloons could only be left in for 6 months, then have to be removed and replaced if you want. She said she constantly felt full and she couldn't do a lot of exercise… anything that involved bouncing even running was out. She also got a lot of reflux.
As i said she has now been sleeved and is so happy, lost 30kg and no problems.
Hope this helps
Gab

Hi laloopsy

Every experience is different, if you follow your dietician and surgeons advice your off to a good start.

I'm currently seven months out, I had no pain post surgery only pushed the pain button twice when I was getting out of bed.  The first few days I felt a bit tragic but no real pain.

I have had no nausea, reflux, vomiting or the dreaded constipation.  Basically no side effects at all unless I eat too much or too fast.

I'm now 50.5kg down and very close to my healthy weight range.  It's the best decision I have ever made.

The only downside is the amount of money I have had to spend on clothes to keep up with my shrinking body lol.

Don't dwell on the immediate post-op phase, cast you mind six months further on when you'll be feeling fabulous.

Jodie

Hey Laloopsy,

Everyone is so different with the pain/nausea etc that they experience.   I didn't have any pain, from day 1.  Don't get me wrong, I felt like absolute crap for the first 2 or 3 days (this is normal), but no pain.  I had panadol in my drip for the entire 3 days I was in hospital.  After I left, I was given endone and some nausea wafer things but didn't use any pain medication after leaving hospital.  I was pretty fortunate that way.  The only pain I had was about a week after with my stitches pulling at an incision site when I moved, but that was minimal.  And these days pain just comes when I eat too much/too fast.

Worst thing for me?  In hospital on the first day, coming out of the anaesthetic vomiting for a few hours.  That was definitely the worst.  I haven't vomited since day 1...but I still remember it well. 

There is no way of knowing how you and your body will react to the surgery/experience pain, but try not to worry too much (I know, easier said than done), your surgical team and nurses will make sure that whatever you are feeling will be helped along with some pain relief if needed.

Cheers, Dayle

PS have never heard or read about the orb era or endobarrier

Hey Laloopsy,  I have had 7 surgeries including the sleeve a week and a bit ago.  Pain wise, it was not that bad for me.  I did use some pain medication (mostly liquid panadol) but compared to knee and shoulder surgeries it was a walk in the park in that respect - I still have half my Endone left as I didn't really need them much at home (I was lucky that I did not get the possible referred shoulder tip pain that some get from a little trapped air though).  However, my biggest problem was reaching (which is classed as nausea I guess, except it just came on suddenly without much nausea before to warn me). It wasn't that I was vomiting, as there was nothing to bring up bar a few bubbles or some spit, but I hated it!!!  I have to be honest and say that was pretty awful and I remember thinking "I don't know if I could have done this if I'd known" LOL! but its now day 10 and I haven't had any reaching in about 4 or 5 days, and before that it happened petered down to once a day - taking the anti-nausea seemed to help (wish I'd realised that sooner as I kept thinking, but I don't get nausea first).  Now that it's past, of course I would do it again, lol.

Post op diet is a bit frustrating, and/or boring, and/or hard to stomach taste wise, but hey, it's only a few more days on liquids and then I'm expecting to quite enjoy the puree stage as it is pretty much just normal food squelched into oblivion.

I looked at those devices when I was doing my research, but felt they wouldn't work for me as they did not have the potential to take away the hunger hormone grehlin which the sleeve does.  I eat pretty good food, just get hungry way too often so eat to much.  It always frustrated me that I would still feel like I could still eat a bit more even though I knew I'd had plenty, or that I would get hungry again an hour or so after dinner.  That was what I most wanted changed by the sleeve. 

Best wishes,

Hi Laloopsy

I am just over 2 weeks out from the surgery and for the time in hospital, apart from whatever they pumped into me I mostly had Panadol liquid as a painkiller and did not take much of that at home.

From my experience and from all I have read you will be well looked after in terms of pain control so please don't let that freak you out too much.

So far for me the worst part of the surgery was the nausea that I had the first night and day after the surgery, but that was just me, I react badly to anaesthetics and morphine medications. Others have no problem with it at all.

So far I don't have any regrets I am happy with me progress and am looking forward to moving on with my life and having my health improve.

I did consider the Endobarrier, for the very reason it wasn't as invasive, however I was told it was not covered by health funds so would cost me $8,000 out of pocket and more if there were any issues. Also it is only in there for 12 months so although I figured I would lose weight I would still have a large amount to lose after the 12mths. Don't know about the orb era but I wanted something permanent and proven and even if something much easier comes up in the future I didn't want to wait any longer for the help I needed.

It is only natural to be scared, but you need to go back to why you made the decision to have this surgery.
I am sure that others will add their comments as well.

Hi there, I'm getting increasingly panicky about my upcoming surgery. I've had 3 Caesarian sections but for some reason am petrified of this... Go figure. What is the post op pain like? What is the worst thing about the surgery? What are your regrets? Would you do it again the same way or would you did things differently? Did anyone contemplate having the orb era or endobarrier because it was less invasive? ....so stressed right now!