I'm sorry about that. It might be less painful though if you can diet and do it on your own. I am by no means an expert, but I had stomach surgery for a perforated ulcer in February, and the gastro-doc told me part of my surgery was akin to getting a gastric sleeve (hence my reduced appetite). Now, I'm sure the recoveries are very different - I was only given ice chips for 5 days, sips of water only to swallow medicine, had an IV, tubes everywhere, but the worst of it was the pain. OMG, I did not know it was even possible to hurt so much. Of course, my surgery was more extensive as they had to do an exploratory lap, a washout, and repair a hole in the duodenum/small intestine. I have a 4 inch scar now from belly up. I honestly wished the ulcer had killed me or that I had died in surgery. I hallucinated for several days (from the pain, I think, not the bipolar). So, I don't know it could be a blessing in disguise. If that surgery is even half as painful as the one I had, it will still beat the pain of unmedicated childbirth by a million miles.

I had to have the surgery; it was not by choice. Without it, a perforated duodenal ulcer that doesn't self-seal (and mine wasn't) is usually fatal, so it is considered a medical emergency. You don't even get gastroenterologist surgeons; you get the trauma surgeon team because it's important to get the surgery done ASAP.