swelly belly?

My surgery is 3-31-05, coming up after a long wait, finally. could someone please explain to me what the "swelly belly" is like? How long does it last? Will the same loose clothing I wear to the Castle fit on the way home? Thanks.

Yes!! My surgery is May 2 and I also want more information on this swelly belly thing. Does everyone get it? How big does it get?

you may want to venture to the post op board, as someone just asked the same question ) everyone gets swelly belly--depending on how long it last and how big I think everyone is different---I felt afterwards as though I was 9 months pregnant and now I am starting to feel better--you will notice that the end of the days the swelly belly gets worst--just make sure you take it easy and rest

good luck

I think an abdominal binder helps with the tummy swelling. I'm at seven weeks post-op yesterday and I still get swelly belly by the end of the afternoon. I've read that it does go away after a few months. Sometimes clothes that I put on in the morning are very tight by the end of the day. (

Hi,

Check out this article about swelly belly which might answer some of your questions:

Swelly Belly

Good luck and s,

Lisa

Shashi, I read the article (and saw that you wrote it!) and understand a lot more now. Take it easy, rest in or on the sofa, and swelly belly isn't as swelly.

But I have one question.

Dieting may not help either, Gals, though if you've got somewhat of a tummy to begin with, you may notice some improvement.

So I'm a gal with a bit of a tummy. What kind of improvement might I see?

Thanks, Shashi!

Shashi- thank you so much for all the information re: swelly belly. Most helpful. I appreciate it Thanks.

chrismb, to answer your original question, I have been wearing the same pair of stretchy sweat pants, one size too big, for 8 weeks now. They are what I wore to the hosp. I also went to WalMart & bought 3 pairs of nylon granny panties, the kind that go aaaallll the way up to your waist, and 3 sizes too big. (They're only $0.88 each, so I should have bought more -- I've had to wash them in the sink many times, when I didn't have a load of laundry to do.) I just got some maternity pants from a friend, and they're great!!

Hope this helps!
Merrie

I have hardly any swelly belly - my normal size clothes will fit - though i only fancy the stretchy waisted ones at the moment. as for panst - i am wearing my normal very low cut ones as they sit below where any swelling starts anyway. I may even put a thong back on tomorrow

My surgeon was very careful with my blood loss (he told me he is renown for his fastidiousness in this area and as a result has lots of JW's as patients) - and i didn't lose anything after surgery. He also inserted a drain into the wound which took away 50 ml of liquified fat (nice eh?) as he cut through a previous scar, and scars are made of fat, and fat is an excellent breeding ground for bugs - apparently. I think all these factors have contributed to my lack of swelling - i look much the same as i did just after christmas before i lost 7 lbs.

Everyone is different. Depending on what type of body type you are will make a difference too. I am naturall thin and when I came home from the hospital my belly was very swollen, but that was because of the gas. Once the gas passed and I started healing I really didn't have swelly belly for more than a couple of weeks. I believe it was about 3 weeks and I was back in my regular jeans. I was so worried about returning to work at 6 weeks and whether I should buy new pants because of swelly belly, that wasn't even an issue. In fact, I lost about 9 lbs after my surgery and haven't gained it back yet. So, surprisely my pants are too big.
I guess my point is, don't worry about things that may or may not happen, just remember everyone is different and you'll have to see how your body deals with this surgery.

Good luck!