I also was surprised at the lack of discomfort. The only pain I had was a HUGE headache...the surgery was long. I believe that was from the anesthesia. Even the very wide incision across my belly where they harvest the skin (and some blubber...lol) from was pain free. I thought for sure it would be a lot more difficult than it was. Of course having the perfect doctor (plastic surgeon) helped. I went into this confident that the outcome would be great and it is.