Hello Debra,
I had my surgery on January 13th. (BTW, I will be 62 years old in June.) To date I have lost 22 pounds. I've had a few "problems" that have made my journey a bit tough at times, but I've learned a lot and have come through everything. I had no buddy to talk me through what could or might or would happen so when things haven't seemed right, I may have suffered too long before making the call to the doctor's office. Rule number one - do not wait! At the start, I was very nervous on surgery day. I think everyone is. Being honest with you, the first week after surgery was not great because I dealt with overwhelming nausea, however, the surgery itself was a piece of cake and I did not even need any pain medication afterward. I had my surgery on Friday and was back to work on Monday. Expect to be very tired though for a while. The next issue I dealt with was called esophagial spasms. I waited too long and didn't call when I could have had medication that would have stopped them. So, I guess the point I am making is that it is a good thing to have buddies who all experience different things and can help you understand what is going on. And remember every bandee is different. Email me, I'd be happy to be your buddy.
Good luck!
Cathy