Life After Surgery

Post-Operative Care Instructions

Most patients are discharged from Sacred Heart Hospital two to four days after the laparoscopic surgery and four to five days after the open surgery. You will be discharged only when your surgeon feels it is safe for you to go home.

Before leaving Sacred Heart, your surgeon will provide you with a list of care instructions to make sure that you heal properly and are back on your feet as soon as possible. To help prepare you, our bariatric team has compiled a list for what to expect after surgery.

Medications
Dr. Lord will give you a prescription for pain medication before your discharge. Most people crush their pills to make them easier to swallow during this time and take them with a dollop of yogurt or applesauce. If you are taking other medications, please check with your doctor about when you should resume taking them. We may need to coordinate your medication with your primary care physician.  In addition, as you lose weight, the dosages of certain medications will need to be adjusted.  This will require close follow-up with your primary care physician and our bariatrician, Dr. Anthony Huynh. 

Diet
After surgery, you will remain on a diet of liquids, pureed foods and a few soft solids until you are seen for your first post-operative appointment, which will be scheduled for roughly 3 weeks after your operation.

Exercise
At home, you will be expected to begin to take short walks for exercise. As in the hospital, this will help get the air flowing in your lungs and reduce the risk of blood clots in your legs. Once you get used to walking, you may try any physical activity that feels comfortable to you. You may lift about 15 pounds -- roughly 1 bag of groceries -- but not much more, and you should avoid any contact sports at this time.

Incision Care
There may be some oozing from the incision and bruising of the skin, but these will disappear over time. If you had an “open” procedure, sometimes a collection of pink fluid develops under the skin. This fluid may suddenly “squirt” from between the sutures.  This is not dangerous, but the case manager should be informed.

If your wound areas become red and hot to the touch, please contact the office immediately, as this may signal an infection.

Your incisions will be covered with small paper bandages called "steri-strips." Most patients will not have any stitches or staples on their skin. Most patients will have internal stitches that will absorb on their own. The steri-strips on your incisions will start to curl up around the edges about a week or two after surgery. When they do, it's fine to remove them just like you would a band-aid.

Bathing
You may take short showers at first, but no baths, starting on the second day after your surgery. 

Driving
You should do absolutely no driving or operating of mechanical equipment until authorized by Dr. Lord. You will need to stop all narcotic pain medication for several days before you will be allowed to drive When you do resume driving, start with slow, easy trips around the neighborhood.

Returning to Work
Your return to work will depend on many factors.  Most patients are able to return to work within 21 days after laparoscopic surgery or four to six weeks after open surgery, if the occupation does not require strenuous activity. The main determinant of your readiness to return to work is how you feel.

Follow-Up Visit
You need to call our office to set up an appointment to be seen about 3 weeks or so after your operation. At this visit, your surgeon will carefully examine your incisions to see if they have healed well. If so, you will be given a clean "bill of health" and will be able to resume all activities including bathing, swimming, and all exercises.

Week Three and Onward (After Your First Follow-Up Visit)

After the first 3 weeks, you will slowly start to resume a more normal diet. To help you ease into this transition, you will have most of your subsequent follow-up appointments with our bariatrician, Dr. Anthony Huynh.

Dr. Huynh is a weight management physician with specialized training in nutrition and weight loss. It is important to meet with Dr. Huynh and our bariatric nutritionist one or more times to discuss how your diet will change.

Once you are about 3 weeks out from your operation, you may resume normal activities, including exercising, swimming, and tub baths. Most people are back at work by 3 to 4 weeks after their operation.

Weight Loss
During the first month or 2 after surgery you may notice rapid weight loss, up to a pound a day. It is especially important that you take your nutritional supplements during this time.

Follow-Up Appointments
During the first year after surgery, it is important that your primary care doctor, your surgeon, and your bariatrician work closely with you in order to adjust your medications as needed and to make sure you are healing properly.

Because of the rapid weight loss that occurs during the first year after surgery, it is particularly important to see Dr. Huynh for your regularly scheduled follow-up visits at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after your operation.

Lap-Band patients will need to be seen every 4 weeks in order to have their band adjusted.

At these visits you will have the opportunity to discuss with the weight loss team how things are going, and to ask any questions you may have. Additionally, a comprehensive set of blood tests will be drawn to check your electrolytes, blood count, vitamin, mineral, and hormone levels. If there are any abnormalities you may need to change the amount of vitamins or supplements you are taking.

Resolution of Co-Morbidities
One of the biggest benefits of weight loss surgery is the resolution of many co-morbidities. Because of this, you will need to consult with your primary physician, Dr. Lord, and Dr. Huynh to see if you need to make any changes in your medications. For instance, if you are diabetic, there is a good chance that your diabetes will improve substantially, and you will almost certainly need to change the dosage of your diabetes medication. Other conditions that may need to be monitored are high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

Bariatric Support Group
You are strongly encouraged to participate in our bariatric support group. Most people find that these are an excellent opportunity to improve life after weight loss surgery and to make new friends. Our support group holds monthly meeting at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

For your convenience, a schedule of these meetings for the current year can be found by clicking here.

Side Effects
Many patients notice changes in their mind and body during this period of rapid loss.

Some of these changes or side effects may include:

• Loss of Appetite
• Hair Loss
• Skin Dryness

These conditions should resolve themselves as your weight stabilizes, but, if they continue, please contact our bariatric program manager.