I am not going to type much because I have had better days. But I wanted to say thank you so very much for the well wishes and comments. I got to the hospital at 11am on Monday and because of the weather I waited in the paper gown until 7:30pm to be put under. My surgery took about 30 minutes with one incision (yes) but I did not do well with being put under and was in recovery until midnight. The weather was awful and the wind was blowing at -11 getting me into the car. Needless to say we stayed in the hotel another night. We got home yesterday afternoon. I am very very sore and broke down and took Tramadol twice last night. I was scared to take anything because I get so nauseous with most meds. Gas x seems to be helping. Trying to eat jello, broth, and water. I have a high threshold for pain but this has been a little more then I expected.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. When did you guys start full liquids? When did you all start to feel better? Were you sore for very long?
My husband has been so so wonderful. He deserves such a treat! Thanks again everyone.
19 comments:
You should start improving in a couple days. How did you do with the Tramadol? If you can stand it.... take it as much as you need. I have been told that when the body is ion a lot of pain, it slows the healing process.
A warm/hot rice bag also did wonders for me, both with gas pain and abdominal pain.
It has been so long I don't really remember all of the details. I think I was on clear liquids for 5 days, which was OK at the time.... I didnt really want much. After clear liquids I moved to full liquids, and by then I was doing much better.
Hang in there... it does get better :)
Congratulations to you my newly banded Buddy!! I am sorry you're not feeling well though.. Do take the Tramadol if you're in pain.. A hot water bottle, heating pad should help as well.. And if at all possible, try to move (if even gingerly).. It sounds like you had a LONG and tiring couple of days.. Take care of yourself and heal...
I am so PROUD of you!! You did it!!!
I'm so glad they kept you all night. I kind of thought they would. I just couldn't imagine that they'd send you home after having surgery so late.
I felt pretty good by day #3 and was back to work on #4. Getting a full night's sleep is a big part of feeling well. I took Tylenol PM to insure I could sleep well.
Yea! You're banded! Welcome to the club!
I'm so sorry that you have had such a hard time of it! I think that because I have always had to take so much Medication for my problems, that I had no problem at all taking any of the pain Meds. And my husband made sure that I took them every 4 hours for the first few days (bless his heart)!
I was one of the lucky ones though, that had no GAS Pain! But I did do a lot of walking in the Hospital which helped a lot and I didn't try to hold in any gas either, so thank goodness no one else was in my Hospital room!
I had to stay in the Hospital overnight because I have Central Sleep Apnea, and they were afraid that I may stop breathing with the heavy pain Meds they were giving me. But walking was the thing to do.
My husband started making me go for walks in the neighborhood from about day 5. And I felt much better pain wise from about the 3rd day and almost pain free by the end of the first week.
As for eating, I was eating mushies from day 2, carefully and slowly of course.
Welcome to the "Sisterhood/Brotherhood of the Bandster's"!!
Walking (even just down the hall) really helped me with gas pain. Also, I would say just don't push yourself. I slept A LOT the first week. It took me a little longer than some others to fully recover--but, I took it slow and it wasn't bad at all. Like Bonnie(?) said, things get a little better after Day 3 and you're over the hump after Day 5.
I'm so glad that everything went ok. Congratulations, don't you feel like you are reborn in a sense? I can't wait for surgery, my second chance at life!
Congrats, and welcome to the fold! I also found that walking, taking gas x strips, and sipping water and tea helped.
Sending hugs and good vibes to you my friend!!!!
xoxoxo
Tramadol also made me nauseous (as did panadol) but luckily my dr gave me an anti nausea pill so I tok that with the tramadol, can your dr give you a script for anti nausea? Don't see it as breaking down and using it, they gave you them for a reason - to keep the pain at bay.
I found the anti nausea really helpful that first week (after all they DO NOT want you vomitting!). Honestly it was day 4-5 before I felt better (and about the time I didnt feel nauseaus when taking meds). And yeah I took two weeks off work but by that second week I felt much better and was ready to go back.
As for food, I would follow your clinics instructions as others may be different for reasons (for example they put 4 ml in my band when they put it in) so it isnt always the same!
You are doing well to post, honestly I felt like cr@p even after a few days.
Congrats! I was wondering how you were doing. Every day will be a little better. Walk, rest, take your pain meds, and you'll get through it.
Congrats on getting your band. I'm sure you'll begin to feel MUCH better in short order. How in the world did you manage to have just one incision? I had 5.... I also had no incision or innards pain so wondering if there's more pain with a single incision procedure?
As for the eating... I agree 100% with Mo - follow your doctor's orders. From what I've read and heard, every doc seems to have his own set of rules and you'd be best off doing whatever he/she tells you. if they didn't give you guidelines beforehand - well shame on them -- but give them a call and find out.
Hi there...hope you are feeling better every hour. Walking helped, drinking lots of water helped too(sipping of course). It took me about 72 hours to feel OK...Hope you are feeling better every hour.
Well I started full liquids on like day 4 I believe. I was in tremendous pain and it was difficult to breathe because I had a giant hernia repaired during surgery. I think I actually started feeling better around day 5.
It took me a couple of weeks to feel completely mobile again. Everyone is different though. Everything you've described sounds familiar from my surgery. Very sore, disoriented, general feeling of crap basically. It will get better though! The hardest part is over!
Glad you came out of it alright. I was in more pain that I expected as well. The heating pad worked wonders for me. Walk around as much as you can but get plenty of rest. Even if you think you should be able to do more, DON'T. take your time and heal properly. Take care.
I'm so glad that its over and you're ok. Can't imagine how I missed this update.
I didn't have gas pain but I had awful nausea. I know that it feels like you'll never be well again but you will, after about 5 days I felt more like me.
Keep hanging in there, really missed you!
Yay-- welcome to the other side. It definitely gets better! I think it took me 9 days to begin to feel more normal.... but it was better day by day.
I was sore and found the pain meds nauseating, so I toughed it out on Tylenol. Wish I had gone for Zofran + the liquid opiates...
In any case: I was VERY sore and had left shoulder referred pain from the gas... this didn't let up for a while, but Tylenol and Gas X helped. Walking around-- VERY important to keep the gas to a minimum.
Most important--you WILL return to feeling normal-- it is just an adjustment so hang in there. And YES: follow the doc's instructions and don't worry about what other people's docs have said. Your doc has his or her reasons for doing his orher instructions... hope this makes sense.
Good luck and hang in there-- you're So on your way!!
Thanks for you recipe help, Thai chicken thighs sound great, what is meatloaf made with? Can I use turkey?
I've bought some scallops and my lovely husband is making them for dinner tonight, think that we're having them with Thai pea puree, they are very tiny scallops but that was all I could get. Will report back!
Will look up some meatloaf recipes, that sounds ideal as I can portion it up.
The pea are being pureed as I type, he's added creme fraiche and Thai curry paste, it smells good.
How are you feeling today?
Sounds like you're getting lots of good advice here, hope it's helping you. Bandit bloggers are so friendly and helpful, I don't know how I would have coped without their blogs to read. Lots of luck to you.
Caroline
I haven't posted yet on my experience but it was very similar to yours. Recovery was tough b/c I did not do well with the anesthesia either - my mind was racing all over the place.
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