Well I have had surgery and have recovered but I thought I would post my story so if people are pre-op maybe this will help.

Jan 12th was the big day. I didn't even sleep the night before I was so excited. I was waiting for the momentary freakout that I figured I would have but it never came. I headed for the surgery center at 4am because I live about 2 hours away and I was scheduled to be there at 6am. I was first on the day of surgery. When I got there the nurse got me started on all the presurgery stuff. First she gave me a shot of blood thinner in the back of my arm and I have to admit it burned like an army of fire ants. It didn't last too long though. She gave me another shot to deaden where she was going to do my IV. She got the IV in on the first shot and I was really suprised. Then I just waited for the surgeon about 15 mins. Him and the anesthesiologist popped in and asked if I had any questions. I didn't and they wheeled me in about 15 mins before I was even scheduled for surgery. 7:15am to be exact. When I got to the operating room I was suprisingly calm and they gave me some happy drugs and I was off to dreamland. I woke up at 8:30 on the dot back in my room with my nurse Cheryl calling my name. My throat was really dry and all they could give me was the mouth swabs dipped in ice water. They are weird but a life saver. I had her give me some more drugs because I could feel some discomfort and I prefer to be numb. I was wide awake though so I watched two episodes of cash cab before they would let me get up to walk around. Cheryl my nurse was really suprised at how lucid I was. I had to wait for my surgeon to finish all of the surgeries he had that day before I could do my barium swallow and leave for home. So while I was waiting I walked the halls and went potty quite a few times and just hung out and talked to my folks. At about 11:45 I did my barium swallow which was actually nice. The barium was kinda minty flavored and since I was so thirsty went down nicely. The nurse showed me my band and we watched the barium travel down my throat threw my band and into my tummy. Pretty cool. After that I got dressed and headed home. I used a pillow in the car it felt good pressed against my tummy. My Mom and I stopped at the pharmacy for my liquid vicodin and then I went home and got in bed for pretty much the rest of the day and night and some of the next day. I just watched TV and napped. My boyfriend was there and kept warming up socks in the dryer and putting them on my feet. I guess the drugs make me cold. He was a sweetheart. All in all it was an ok day. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

10 Tips for surgery day.

1: Don't be scared it is very tolerable and this comes from someone who is a big sissy.

2:Take someone with you or atleast your ipod. A distraction is nice when your waiting.

3: Gas X strips are good and they don't taste bad either.

4: Don't forget your pillow.

5: Fill both prescriptions even if its the suppository. You don't want to get the nauseated feeling I got on day 5 and not have them. They work the minute you use them.

6: Make sure the nurse shows you exactly how much you can drink at once.

7: Walk walk walk. It makes you feel better.

8: Make sure you drink your fluids when you get home even if you don't think your thirsty.

9: Love yourself for helping yourself this is the best thing you could be doing for yourself.

10: Don't forget to write a thank you note to your nurse (s) if possible. They don't ever get enough credit and they do most of the grunt work.

Thanks so much for your blog. I have my surgery on the 4th of February and this made me feel a little less anxious.

I'am so excited and can hardly wait. My band day is set for the 18th of February. I start my pre-op diet on the 4th. When were you able to return to normal activity? I have heard the best thing to do after surgery is walk, walk and walk. Would you say this is true?

thanks your post has really help relive my stress about surgery I am having it done on Monday the 22 of Feb.