Preparing for Surgery and the Hospital

Pre-Surgery Medical Care

A lot of preparation is necessary before you can get banded. You’ll have medical tests and appointments, and have to follow a pre-surgery diet. You’ll learn more about the procedure and what to expect afterward as you recover from surgeon and lose weight.

Surgeon Appointments

You’ll have one or more pre-surgery appointments with your surgeon. Each appointment is an opportunity to ask questions, such as details about the lap-band procedure, what happens if you develop complications and any other concerns. Be sure to bring up any known medical conditions that you have so your surgeon can be prepared. You and your surgeon will set your surgery date, which can be several months ahead. Use your pre-surgery appointment(s) to decide whether you are sure that you have made the right choices regarding getting the lap-band and choosing a particular surgeon.

Medical and Psychiatric Tests

You’ll get a battery of tests to make sure you’re healthy enough for the surgery. These might include an abdominal ultrasound to make sure that your physiology is normal, an EKG to assess your heart beat, blood tests to evaluate your nutritional status and lung, liver and kidney function and chest and gastrointestinal x-rays. You’ll have a psychological evaluation to make sure you do not have any untreated psychological conditions that can interfere with your success with the lap-band.

Dietitian Meetings and Pre-Surgery Liquid Diet

You will meet with a dietitian to make sure you understand the lap-band diet that you will be following for years after surgery. The diet will help you lose weight and keep the weight off. The dietitian may assess your current diet and point out changes that will occur on the lap-band diet. In addition, the dietitian will guide you in a pre-surgery weight loss diet, if your insurance policy requires it before reimbursing your surgery, and in a pre-surgery liquid diet in the days leading up to surgery.

The liquid diet lasts for 5 to 14 days before surgery and consists of liquids, with no solid foods. It helps shrink your liver to make your surgeon’s job easier. You may get to have protein shakes and other liquids on this diet, but not sugary liquids and soft drinks.

Final Preparations for Surgery

A few things to take care of as your surgery approaches are getting time off from work, making sure you have a ride home from the hospital and, if you are going to Mexico for the procedure, getting your passport in order. You can prepare your home by stocking your kitchen with the liquids and foods that you’ll need after surgery, since you might not feel like going grocery shopping right after your surgery! Pain medications should be available, but make sure that your surgeon approves them and gives you directions for using them. High doses of common pain medications, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, can lead to lap-band complications such as erosion.

You probably just need a small overnight bag for the hospital. It’s a good idea to be prepared to stay overnight, even if you’re scheduled to be released the same day, just in case there are complications. These are some of the items to pack:

• (Wear loose-fitting clothes)
  
• a change of underwear
  
• simple toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, hand sanitizer, comb
  
• book, magazine, iPod or another form of entertainment
  
• important papers: insurance papers and phone numbers
  
• cell phone (fully charged)
  
• medications and dietary supplements
  

Chapter 6, “Preparing for Surgery and the Hospital,” in The BIG Book on the LAP-BAND has more details about what to bring, what not to bring and what to bring to Mexico.

By the time you’re done with all of these steps, it’ll be time for your surgery! This is the easiest part of the whole lap-band journey. All you have to do is get to the hospital and check in. From there, the nurses and staff will take care of you. You will get wheeled into the surgery room, lie down on a table and receive anesthesia. You’ll have the lap-band inside of you the next time you wake up.