Weight Loss Surgery Recovery

Reviewed by Christine Ren Fielding, MD, FACS

Recovery from weight loss surgery requires both a short-term plan and a long-term plan. To manage the effects of morbid obesity and weight loss surgery, your postoperative treatment plan may involve several different types of health care professionals, who will work together to help ensure your overall health, management of your food addiction and a smooth transition to new day-to-day activities.

Weight loss surgery is a genuine life-changing experience. Changes in your life may include the ability to fully perform day-to-day activities, the reduction of your risk of disease, the possible resolution of some medical conditions and new opportunities for jobs or relationships. The benefits from weight loss surgery should outweigh the personal commitment and financial investment associated with the surgery and its aftercare.

It is important to follow your surgeon's instructions for a safe recovery and a long-term plan that will help you maintain the benefits of massive weight loss for the rest of your life.

[For recovery considerations for teens, read our special report on adolescent obesity and weight loss surgery.]

Activities After Weight Loss Surgery

Before you leave the hospital after surgery, you will be asked to stand up and move around a bit. You will also be directed to try to walk around the house several times throughout each day, over the course of your recovery.

It is important to remember that you will require assistance leaving the hospital and at home for a period of time after surgery. Everyone recovers at a different rate: some people require assistance for a day or so, but others need help for several weeks. The type of assistance you will need includes driving you home from the hospital and driving you for a few days or weeks after that. It also includes meal preparation, medication assistance and dressing.

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The type of pain management program you and your surgeon select may also impact the duration and severity of the recovery period. If you receive local anesthesia, you may require less assistance, and for a shorter duration, than if you have general anesthesia or require narcotic pain management.

Patients can usually drive within two weeks after surgery and can return to normal activities within six to eight weeks. These times may vary, depending on the type of surgery, your general health and the type of activities you performed before surgery.

Your Diet and Eating Habits

You will need to adjust your diet because of the changes that were made to your stomach during surgery. It is very important to adhere to your surgeon's diet recommendations. Some common recommendations include:

  • Chew your food slowly and thoroughly, to reduce it to very small pieces. You may want to grind your meat before eating it.
  • Wait two to three minutes between bites.
  • Drink fluids at a time other than when you are eating, to avoid a premature feeling of fullness that may make you feel like vomiting.
  • Avoid eating foods high in sugar and fat, such as nondiet soda, juices, high-calorie nutritional supplements and milkshakes. Eating many of these foods can lead to dumping syndrome, a rapid emptying of the stomach into the small intestine that causes considerable discomfort.
  • On the other hand, you should prioritize foods that contain high amounts of proteins, such as fish, dairy products, meat, beans and legumes. You should also try to eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits.
  • Daily vitamin and mineral supplements at higher than normally recommended doses are a must, because you will not receive adequate nutrition from the small amounts of food you eat. You may wish to use vitamins in liquid or chewable forms, because they cause less discomfort than swallowing large solid vitamin pills.
  • B-complex vitamins, iron and calcium require special attention if you have had a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, because of the changes to your digestive system. If you have had a gastric bypass or intestinal bypass, the following information is important for you to know. (This does not affect those who have had gastric banding operations.)
  • Vitamin B-12 is particularly difficult for your body to absorb after surgery, and you should look into taking it in forms other than a pill. Insufficient intake of vitamin B-12 will cause you to become fatigued easily.
  • Likewise, you should take calcium (as the citrate) in large amounts, to avoid early osteoporosis, a disorder in which the bones become porous, brittle and easily fractured.
  • Be careful with alcohol. It is absorbed and metabolized much more rapidly after surgery. In addition to the risk of rapid and unexpected intoxication, alcohol consumption can cause ulcers in your stomach pouch or intestine.
  • Plan meal times, and avoid snacking. You should eat several small meals per day because of your stomach's smaller capacity. Below is an example of a daily diet.
Breakfastbanana – 1/4 medium
scrambled egg – 1
ham – 1 slice
Lunchbroiled chicken breast – 2 ounces
carrots, boiled – 1/4 cup
margarine – 1 teaspoon
pasta salad – 1/4 cup
Afternoon Snack (if hungry)fruit cocktail, water-packed – 1/2 cup
Dinnerhaddock, baked or broiled – 2 ounces
green beans – 1/4 cup
rice – 1/4 cup
Evening Snackcheese, American – 1 ounce
saltine crackers – 2
mustard – 1 teaspoon
Important: Consume 6 to 8 glasses of water each day.

Your Medications After Weight Loss Surgery

Your pain management medication might be in the form of a local anesthetic that can be administered in the surgical area, such as around the incision. You may need narcotic medications to manage your pain. You may also continue your maintenance medications, such as for high blood pressure or high cholesterol, but the need for these medications will be monitored, and sometime after surgery your doctor may decide to change them.

Because nutritional deficiencies may occur after certain weight loss surgeries, you may be monitored for low levels of iron, calcium, folate and vitamin B-12, and you may need to take supplements. This pertains specifically to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, biliopancreatic diversion and duodenal switch.

If you are a woman of child-bearing age, you may be advised to use birth control for 18 to 24 months postsurgery. Physicians advise against pregnancy during the period of maximum weight loss, due to intrauterine restrictions and possible nutritional deficiencies. You will be able to get pregnant sooner after surgery if you have a gastric band operation, because weight loss tends to be more gradual, without the risk of nutritional deficiencies. Regardless of the operation you have, multivitamins with iron, folate and B-12 are imperative during pregnancy.

Lifestyle Changes

Weight loss surgery is not a guaranteed cure for obesity or the disabilities that may occur as a result of obesity. Instead, the surgery helps diet and exercise to finally work, by controlling your appetite and making you feel full with smaller amounts of food. Because obesity may have affected your psychological well-being, you will be referred for counseling to help you adjust to life after surgery.

With so many changes in your life, you may need assistance in managing your relationship with food, handling changes in your relationships or career, and increasing your ability to perform daily activities. Bariatric surgeons usually suggest support groups as a means to obtain the best long-term outcome.

Related Topics

[Page updated November 2007]