Hi Kayleigh
I was just about to have a look for my own thread to update and saw this.
I had mine out on the 12th Sept, so tomorrow it will be exactly 3 weeks ago.
It took 4 months from referral to getting my Pre-Op and and Day Surgery appointments through. The wait is depending on how busy your area is. Try and eat as low fat as you possibly can leading up to surgery.
I was in and out the same day. I arrived at 12pm and was home by 9.30pm. The Nurses, Anaesthetists and Surgeons i spoke to before the Op were all wonderful and made me feel at ease.
When i came round after the Op, i was massively spaced out lol due to the Anaesthetic and Fentynal. For pain relief in recovery i was given a bit more Fentynal and a slow release Tramadol.
They will get you to carefully sit, drink, eat, walk and have a pee before they are satisfied you can go home. I was sore and stoned but got there in the end.
They'll ring your Husband/Partner or named responsible adult to come and pick you up when they know you are nearly ready to go home.
This responsible adult needs to be with you for 24 hours after surgery because of the GA.
I was discharged with 30/500 Co-codamol to take every 6 hours and standard Ibruprofen to take every 8 hours. Take your pain relief as prescribed to start with, you will need them.
When i got home i went straight to bed. I'm not going to lie, when all the hospital grade painkillers wore off, it was quite painful. I took my painkillers as prescribed.
I spent the first 4 days in bed mostly. I used 3 pillows to prop me up so i was wasn't flat on my back and i made sure i got up to walk around every couple of hours. I made sure when i ate i would get up to eat at the dining table even if it was only for 5 minutes. They advise you not to take to your bed and stay there as moving around promotes healing and helps blood flow.
The first 3 days i had no appetite, but made sure i would eat something, even if it was just a banana, some toast or some soup. After those 3 days i was ravenous lol.
My DP did everything for me whilst i recovered thankfully.
I kept myself occupied between resting watching TV shows on my laptop.
When moving around for first few days make small careful movements, especially when getting on and off bed, going to the toilet etc. It gets easier.
They inflate your abdomen with air during surgery. This will bloat you a lot and you will have some trapped wind pain for a few days. Peppermint tea really helped me.
The Surgery and Co-codamol will slow your digestion down for a few days. I got some Senokot and started taking this every night whilst i was taking Co-codamol. Within 3 days after surgery things started improving.
Try not to eat any big heavy meals. For the first two weeks i ate litte and often and stayed away from high fats and spices. I've been adding small amounts of fats and spices slowly into my diet this last week and i have been ok so far. My stomach is still a little unsettled, but it's improving day by day.
By the end of the first week i was already swapping my Co-codamol for normal Paracetamol and taking less throughout the day, walking around more.
When i got into the second week i was doing more outside the house. Taking a slow careful walk down the road with my DP and eventually leading up to getting the bus into town and going round the shops and attending a hobby group i go to just for the cup of tea and chat. You will get some tightness and pulling sensation around your wound sites, so be careful and don't over do it, move around at a pace you are comfortable with.
Into week 3 and i was already back into my normal routine albeit a bit more careful and slow than i usually am and a little bit more tired towards the end of the day.
I was advised not to lift anything heavier than a kettle for upto 4 weeks and nothing heavy at all for atleast 6 weeks, this is because you are high risk for an abdominal hernia until you are fully healed.
You will be given loads of information during your Pre-op assessment and some more information on discharge, including wound care etc.
I have 4 wound sites. One under my right side rib cage, another about two inches below that. one just below my sternum and one at the top of my belly button. I had disolvable stitches and i had no problem with any of the wounds and they are healing nicely. I would imagine as time goes on you will barely notice they are there.
Because of where the wounds will be, you will need to wear loose fitting elasticated trousers (Trackies or PJ bottoms) and i wouldn't advise on wearing a bra post op for about a week or until you're comfortable wearing one.
I was bit nervous before i went to have mine done. I made a thread on here and some lovely Mumsnetters came along and set my mind at ease and got me prepared for what was about to happen and it all went really well.
I hope this has been helpful to you.
If you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask.