Surgery on Friday

redrockgirl · January 29, 2008

Hello to all! I have been reading posts on this site for a couple of months and now I feel like I need to touch base with folks who have been where I am going! I am very nervous about the surgery, but actually more nervous about post surgery. Did anyone feel nauseous? Was there much pain? How soon did you feel like yourself?

I know I am making the right decision, but it's still a bit overwhelming!

Thanks!:rolleyes2:

PlanIt · January 29, 2008

I was banded this past Friday (01/25/08), and did fairly well, I think. I wasn't nervous going into it though :rolleyes2:

I made sure I followed directions to the T ... The discharge nurse said when I got home to take about a one-hour UNINTERRUPTED nap to help with the anesthesia wearing off, but then to get up & stay in the living room / chair / sofa and walk about 5 mins or more every hour the first day. So, I did exactly that - and I'm sure it helped. I had a definite tightness around my sternum area, which they had said would happen, so it was a little hard to get comfortable to sleep that night. The next morning that tightness was gone, so I'm guessing that was gas & not swelling :cool2:

I also made sure I stayed on top of the pain meds for the first 2 days ... my prescription said 1-2 tsp every 4-6 hrs, so I made sure & did 2t every 4 hrs, like clockwork (literally set my alarm during the night)! Then, I let up & went down to 1t ... I could tell a difference, but the pain wasn't unbearable. I took my last pain med yesterday around 11am & the pain isn't any different on 1 tsp then on 0, so I figure, why use it if I can tolerate it? :wink2:

Today, I went to the gym for the first time doing 30 mins of walking.

So far, so good --- and, I've not had any nausea at all.

My doctor has a Patient Educator that held a meeting two days before surgery with a couple of other patients - so we all had plenty of questions for her, as well as the fact she'd been banded a few years ago - so this helped tremendously. I didn't feel like I had any unanswered questions going into the process at all.

Hope this helps to calm your nerves some & Good Luck!