Patient Information Book For Gastric Bypass Surgery - permanente.net

The expected hospital course is as follows:
HOSPITALIZATION
1. Be seen in the preoperative clinic prior to your operation. We will give you a time of arrival for the day
of surgery.
2. Arrive at Fremont Medical Center (main hospital) on the day of your operation.
3. Meet with your surgeons, the anesthesiologist, and the operating room nurses just prior to your
operation.
4. Have your operation.
5. A brief stay in the recovery room followed by admission to the nursing floor 2 south. Patients with
some cardiac or lung conditions, difficulty during intubation, or prolonged operative time MAY
require a breathing tube overnight. This will require an overnight stay in the ICU with sedation and a
ventilator.
6. One to two day stay in the hospital. Most patients will be allowed to drink liquids the night of the
operation or the next morning. You will have an I.V. (intravenous line) to receive pain medications,
and perhaps a Foley (bladder) catheter. No further tests will be required unless there is a suspicion of a
complication. The main reasons for hospitalization after the operation is too help you with the pain of
the incisions and to make sure you will be safe at home.
7. You may have a drain placed during the operation. Sometimes this drain will be removed before you
go home, but sometimes you may be taught how to care for it until it is removed on the first clinic
visit.
Time off from work
Most patients require approximately 4 wks off from work, but there is a significant amount of variation.
The type of incision (open vs. laparoscopic) does not seem to make much of a difference. The most
limiting factors seem to be persistent nausea, fatigue, the need to drink frequently, and the type of work.