Some people say that they can no longer pig-out on fatty meats, but for the most part they are okay. I have felt not the slightest change, but would have wanted four weeks before flying again.
I did in fact have four small holes, one under the belly-button for the extraction, one somewhere else for the camera, one for more tools of the trade and one for a drain tube. The single worst experience was the removal of that tube, it felt like a long piece of spikey ice being halled out. No real pain, just strange.