Surgical Treatment of Obesity

Recovering from Surgery: Going Home

Once home, you can bathe and shower as you normally would unless you have been told otherwise at the time of discharge.

For the first 4 to 6 weeks you should not:

Drive a car
Lift heavy objects, such as grocery bags, laundry baskets, or small children
Shovel snow
Push heavy objects, such as raking leaves, pushing shopping carts or vacuuming
Start any formal exercise programs requiring lifting or straining

You should immediately begin a daily routine of walking and climbing stairs. You should gradually increase the distance you walk per day until it is more than 1 mile. The more the better.

You may resume normal sexual activity once you are comfortable, but do not strain. Most importantly, you should not get pregnant during the first 12-18 postoperative months. Since this is the period of weight loss, the baby may be in jeopardy of not getting enough nutrition. Although pregnancies have been successfully carried out during the first 12 months, they should be avoided.

When to contact us

You should call the office immediately if you develop:

A fever
Severe abdominal or stomach pain
Swelling, redness, tenderness or drainage from your incision (A small amount of drainage from the gastrostomy site is not unusual but if it seems excessive or if there is spreading redness, call us.)
Swelling in the legs, especially if only one leg is involved
Acute shortness of breath

What about medication? >>

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