Farting is a Necessary Virtue

Of all the things I wish I understood about my vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG), the level of pain/discomfort and pressure that gas you feel immediately after surgery is tops. 

It's so bad it took whole lot of people to convince me that the surgery really did go as well as the surgeon said. Now that I'm home and out of that pain, I'm not embarrassed to pass gas in front of anybody...which is funny because I've dramatically opposed doing so under normal circumstances since early childhood. 

Benjamin Franklin shared an idea of how to create something pleasing out of the obnoxious inevitability of passing gas; however, my perspective was completely changed by a belly full of co2 after surgery so science needn't go to many lengths.

I woke up in the recovery bay with so much pressure and pain in my chest, I feared a heart condition.  Reassurance came from several assistants and nurses whose explanations, when all strung together, helped me understand this pain was normal, it would take a little while to dissipate, they could give something for my discomfort, but it will all get better with walking once I'm "upstairs."

My abdomen was filled with carbon dioxide during surgery to create a larger work space in the abdominal cavity. I am SURE it's written somewhere in the pre-op paperwork and I am SURE it's one of those things gone over in the pre-surgical class, but I didn't comprehend the impact of having that expansion what.so.ever.

OW.

That air breathing thing they gave me to suck air into several times an hour? That caused the gas to be “pushed out” of the abdomen (as the lungs expand) so it helped disperse of some of it.
 
Walking helps the most to move it though - and I didn't care at all while walking the halls of my floor just farting away. Seriously. I felt joyous to finally rid of the discomfort. Even at home, I'd only slightly apologize for having to let one go because, well, it mattered more to me to let it than to be kind to others.