What was your surgical experience like? Stories Welcomed

[AZPete 20]

Just curious as to what the day of surgery was like and your stay in the hospital. I have had so many surgeries, 5 orthopedic in the last two years, but nothing like this with my mid section. Sure cutting and plating my ulna was painful, as was the fusion of my wrist three times, but still curious about the entire journey.

[Jachut 487]

It was very easy, but for some reason I was absolutely terrified going into surgery. I've only ever had elective surgery before, a rhinoplasty for a deviated septum, heel spurs removed, a broken hand pinned, wisdom teeth removed. So I know I handle general anaesthetics well and recover quickly. But this operation seemed much more "unecessary" in many ways - it wasnt done to relieve an immediately painful physical problem. I have 3 kids and I barely slept the night before, after we left them to sleep at mum and dad's house. I kept thinking I might never see them again.

Anyhow, I got there, sat for ages waiting in the reception at the hospital, but once admitted, I was told to get straight in the shower and I was barely out before they were coming to get me. I was wheeled in and the usual happened, they couldnt find any veins to put the needles in, and had to insert a tiny tiny needle. I dont know what it is with my veins, apparently I dont have any. I was given a pre-med which I never have been before so I vaguely remember hopping across to the operating table myself, but I dont even recall being anaesthetised. I woke up in recovery and had a huge thumping ACHE in my stomach, right below my breastbone and I was shivering like mad. They immediately gave me some morphine and I got them to put a pillow under my knees which helped a lot, and they covered me with hot blankets. After a while I was taken to my room and got across to the bed myself, and as you do, I just slept on and off all day. I spoke on the phone a few times, my surgeon came to see me and in the afternoon (I went into theatre at 8.30 am) I was asked to get out bed and was wheeled off to have the barium swallow. I had visitors that night.

I had a bad night after that. I was given painkillers regularly but I'd laid on my back in that bed all day and I just couldnt get comfortable and I couldnt sleep because I'd been asleep all day. I kept pulling myself out of bed, walking around, trying to get comfortable on my side etc. In the end I was going nuts becuase there was nothing on television at 3 am so I asked for some sleeping pills. I did get to sleep till about 7.30 am, at which point the surgeon came back to see me, check my tummy etc. I felt good the next day, they were just giving me paracetamol every 4 hours by this stage. Doug and the kids came in at 10 am to collect me, I walked out to the car, and came home, and we went for a short walk later that day. I never took any more painkillers once I left the hospital. I went home pretty much to normal light activity.

I had a little discomfort from gas, not much though, just a stitch like pain above my hip every now and them. The main problem I had was passing out on the liquid diet, I had to thin down heartier Soups with some meat and carbs in them and I was fine once I did that.

I stuck to the rules, never had any pb's or discomfort and went back to the surgeon at 6 weeks, by which time I'd lost 9kg.

[AZPete 20]

Thanks for the reply. Like you, this is the first surgery I am looking into that for the most part is not necessary, other than the obvious reasons. I have had rhinoplasty and the aformentioned wrist/arm surgeries, which really hurt, like really really hurt. However, I have never experienced abdomen pain due to surgery, and I am just curious.

[coyotegirl 3]

My surgery went very well. I got to the hospital at 6:30a.m.. Was taken right into the pre-op room to disrobe, put in IV's, talk to surgeon, etc.. I was given a shot of somekind and was very sleepy when they wheeled me into the OR. Saw surgeon again and they put these funky boots on my legs and that is the last I remember until I was woken up in recovery. I was mad at first because I thought to myself "I wish they would hurry and get this over with!" then the nurse said "Terri, it's over. You did great!" WOW that was easy, I had no pain whatsoever. Just very thursty. Ice chips are great after surgery, they taste soooooooooooooo go! I spent the night in the hospital and was released about 1:00 the next afternoon. I had to stay a little longer because I couldn't pee on my own, I had to have a cath. (YUCK) When I peeed I went home. No pain killers because No pain. just liquid tylenol for the little discomfort I had. I live 3 hours away from Hospital so It was a long drive home. I went back to work the next week!

Just remember everyone is different with how they react to surgery. I was just one of the lucky ones.

Good luck with your band journey and into a happier and a healthier you!!

[Carol Conley 0]

PRE-OP PATIENTS DO NOT READ THIS! THIS IS NOT A TYPICAL EXPERIENCE, AND I DON'T KNOW OF ANYONE ELSE THIS HAS HAPPENED TO. MY OTHER HEALTH CONDITIONS WERE NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT,

AND MY EXPERIENCE IS NOT WHAT ANYONE ELSE SHOULD EXPECT!!!

Well, I had my Gallbladder out so I thought that this would be "just like" that surgery. I guess I'm a little older now and I have a few more other health problems. My Blood Pressure went very low during and after my surgery, so they told me. In recovery I kept telling the staff that I was in too much pain, and they told me they couldn't give me anymore pain meds until my BP went up. So by the time I got to my room I was in mega discomfort. I had read on one of the boards that it might feel like I had been stabbed and I just kept reminding myself that. Still, the same old thing low BP. At last they filled me with Fluid my BP increased and I was allow to PUMP! My husband was there and made sure I pumped every time the machine would let me. Not a good idea! Poor thing, he thought he was helping! I was able to get up and walk to the bathroom and walk around a little, (someone on this board had said to do to get the gas to move around and out). Thank goodness for this board and the things I learned before my surgery. Once again my BP went really low, the nurses stayed in my room all night (no rest for them or me, but I didn't care by then), finally one of the aides said she bet I has had too much Morphine. So, I was cut off of the good stuff, and put on pills. By then the Lortab was enough to take the edge off. I was able to rest for a few hours and felt great when I woke up. I went home within 24 hours of my surgery. I was really impressed by the dedication of the nursing staff and I told the morning staff. They looked through my chart and said "well they should have been, Dr. Floyd sure would have been unhappy if they had let me die!" Wow, who knew! I didn't see the "WHITE LIGHT" of anything:) The rest of my recovery has been uneventful and I am loving my band. I would do it all over again even if I knew the same things were going to happen. This was not written to scare anyone. My case was diffenently not normal and like I said I would do it again.

[BakoGal 0]

My experience was similar to Coyote girl. I was really nervous before the surgery. I woke up with very minimal discomfort. I was up and around in a few hours. I was able to move around with my IV, spent one night and went home about 11AM. I wasn't allowed any liquids at all the day of the surgery. But I was full of IV fluids and not at all thirsty. The next morning I went for a barium swallow, and when it was clear I was brought the liquids tray..broth, Jello, juice. I only took tylenol the first night home, just so I could get a good sleep. After that, I haven't taken any pain meds at all. Had my surgery on a Thursday, and was back to my desk job on Monday. My experience was a good one. But, everyone is different.

[3loves 0]

My experience was completely wonderful with the exception of the expected pain. We arrived at the hospital at 10:30AM and they took me in a room right away to take vitals....they wouldn't let my DH go with me at this point. He could only come after they were done with all the pre-op stuff. Why, I still don't know, but it wasn't a problem. Someone finally took me out of the little room into a prep room with a bed & such. The nurse had some papers and they verified all my insurance info and co-pay. Then I changed into a gown & those white support hose & slippers. A guy came in to start the IV port. Interestingly enough, they started a "spare" in the other hand in the event I had something go wrong with this one. That gave me a warm fuzzy feeling that I was in good hands. :biggrin1:

My DH finally came in and I had someone to talk to. I was getting bored. :tired A nurse came by to tell me the OR room was running behind and they would get me in as soon as it came available. I was still very calm and relaxed. I thought I may be nervous, but those feelings never came to me. Finally, the anesthesiologist came in to go over a few things and then my wonderful surgeon came in. We talked over a few things. The OR was now available and my surgery was taking place an hour late. Then the nurse wrapped a warm blanket around me and we walked into my operating room. I jumped on the bed....still calm mind you....and they told me I would be getting sleepy as they hooked up the IV & drugs. The last thing I remember was the kind nurse rubbing my arm.

I woke up kind of rough in recovery b/c I was having some weird dream. I found out Vicodin will do that to me b/c it continued after coming home. I'm pretty sure I was moaning when I finally came to. The nurse told me I was in recovery and everything went great. Next thing I remember was getting into my bed in my room. From there, I was up every two hours to walk the halls. Thank goodness I had my DH to help me each time. He spent the night in my room with a cot they provided. I munched on ice chips and took pain meds pretty regularly. Most of my pain was in the port area and was a very sharp burning pain. I met with my surgeon's partner the next morning around 10AM. He was great. He was pleased with my progress and released me.

We left to come around 11:30AM. It took the nurse a while to do the discharge b/c many of us were going home at the same time. We had a 3 hr drive to come home and my DH got lost. You see, some men just need a woman to help them drive... I was sleeping a good bit of the time. We took a 30-45 min Detour, but finally got home. The next day my DH drove to OH to pick up my kids. Life has been pretty much normal since then.

[SkyeBlu 0]

My surgery wasn't until 2:15 pm so we got to the hospital around 1pm. I was taken straight to pre-op, put in my gown and IV'd, they gave me the first round of anti-biotics and I immediately had an alergic reaction to them, sooooo that slowed me down just a bit because they had to watch me for a half an hour. The trip from pre-op to the operating room was quick and they knocked me about almost as soon as I hit the operating room table.

The recovery room was non-eventfull other than the normal waking up out of a major fog feeling.

It turns out they did hernia surgery while they were in there so I was a bit more on the sore side than expected, but nothing a few pumps on the morphine didn't fix! I had to have a semi-private room and my roomie was a bit "difficult" (she didn't shut up and whinned non-stop) BUT the nurses were awesome! When it came to the medical staff that was by far the best care I have ever recieved.

Going home was a bit rough as I was SUPER nautious and the drive home was an hour on a windy freeway.

4 days later I was at work and moving forward with life! Tired, sore...and over the liquid diet but very happy with my decision.

Skye

[AZPete 20]

Thank you for all of the replies. The more I know the better I will feel about going in. Every surgery is scary. Out of the nine sports related this one scares me the most.

[DrewsLou 3]

My experience was really easy. Arrived at the surgery center at 7am and went back to preop. Started my Iv and got changed and stuff back there. Next thing I knew it was time to head to the OR.I was in for about an hour and I woke up in recovery at about 11. Had a few ice chips, some juice and some pain meds and was home by 2 feeling tired but great!

[JulieNYC 4]

My experience was great. I asked for an early surgery so I'd have the choice of going home if everything went well. I checked in, put on the gown and socks the hospital provided (I worried beforehand that the gown would be too small, but it was plenty big), met with the anesthetist, who started my IV. The "worst" part was that the nurse took my eyeglasses before I was allowed to walk to the OR, so she had to lead me into the room. I can't really describe what it looked like because I'm blind as a bat.

I remember the anesthetist saying in a minute he was going to count backwards, but I was out before he started counting. I woke up in recovery and the nausia was worse than the pain, so they gave me nausia meds that took effect immediately, making me much more comfy. Got my glasses back in recovery, where I stayed for about 2 hours due to the nausia.

Surgery was at 8, I was in my room by about 11. Ice chips are great! I walked as soon as they'd let me and walked every half hour until they discharged me at about 3. I slowly walked up the 4 flights of stairs to my apartment and took to my recliner for the night. I took a pain pill but it made me nausiated and I wasn't really in pain, so I switched to liquid tylenol the next time. Night #2, I was able to sleep on my stomach flat in my bed. Day 3, I went to work because I was bored and tired of TV!

[BJK556 0]

My surgery is June 20th. These posts are a great comfort to me. I wasn't that nervous, but it's nice to hear how well you have all done... (except the one that I did skip over) I'm looking forward to posting my progress and encouraging others.

I did go back and read the other post.... not that bad. I had a severely broken wrist about 4 years ago.... pain medication made me sick, couldn't sleep at all the night before surgery and had to sit up in a rocking chair just rocking and holding my splinted wrist on a pillow. Hope I don't have another experience like that any time soon. It took me a year of reading, going to information meetings at the hospital, reading some more, praying and talking to others before I made the decision to have the surgery. I know I've made the right decision and can't wait to see what the future has in store for me!!

[Constance 0]

These posts do help! (though I skipped over the one with the disclaimer, too)

[NeenBand 7]

Here is a link to my lapband journal about my day.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/journal.php?do=showentry&e=416&enum=13

[lisah25 3]

I'm not banded yet, am planning to in Sept. Hubby however was banded almost 2 years ago.

We got him there about 7:00 AM, he was scheduled for I think 9:00. Did all the pre-op stuff, I was able to stay with him until they took him in the OR. His was done out-patient, so we were in a surgical suite instead of a hospital. About an hour and a half later, the Dr. came and told me and my mom(my support person for this!) that it had gone very well and we could see him later. In about 15 minutes, we got to go back where he was. He was in a reclining chair, talking and sucking on some ice. We were back home before noon. He kind of crashed later that day, after all the surgery meds wore off, and that day and the next he was very uncomfortable. Pain and just general yuck-feeling. But after that, he started feeling better and was back at a somewhat physical job after a week.