Lap Band Surgery Day Stories

[abphilippi 0]

My surgery day was very uneventful. Checked in, waited a few minutes to be called back and then got undressed and put on the gown and shower cap. Got stuck twice due to being dehydrated from no fluids after midnight. I pushed it back to 6 pm cause I did not want to have any chance of vomitting and aspirating. They gave me some IV Pepcid before surgery and I suggest requesting it if you are not offered. It is a trial, but worked very well for me. I remember sliding over to the table on my own and having my arms strapped to the supports. Then I woke up sitting up in bed in recovery. I could feel the leggings pulse to keep my blood circulating. For a cloudy half hour I sat there while the nurse recorded vital signs and prepared to get me up. At 9:20 am I cleared up. I was ready to get up and walk. They wanted to wait another hour before having me drink. These two things must happen before being discharged. i downed the 5 one ounce cups at 10:10, my throat was sore from the tube. By 10:20 I was walking again, I offered to help the nurse with the IV pole because she couldn't keep up. By 10:45 I was in the car headed for home. We stopped at Walmart for the prescription Percocet, (why do they wait till the last minute?), and walked around for a bit. Once home I did some light house work while my wife took a nap, getting up at 5 am took a toll on her. I never felt like eating and I accidentally forgot the ice chip stage. I slept very well that night. I am a side sleeper so I just proped a pillow up under my big belly and out I went. My wife takes care of Lap-band patients that chose to have the surgery done in the hospital and was amazed at how well I did. So were the nurses and surgeon at the surgery center. I was blessed to breeze through this day with no problems, thank you Lord.

[KCGFNP 5]

As a health care provider in rural Alaska, I want to be a good role model of health to all of my patients. After five years of diet failures to the point of self induced kidney stones, I finally decided it was time to have lap band surgery. I researched for several months, and decided to go with Dr. Trace Curry and Journey Lite. I am extremely pleased with Dr. Curry and the Journey Lite Staff in Ohio. They are so worth a 13 hour flight! Dr Curry and many of his staff members are banded, which to me is awesome because they were able to describe how I might feel after surgery as well as in the weeks post op. I have to admit, I am a nervous patient! A little medical knowledge is just enough to freak me out! Nurse Kathy had just been banded a week before me, and I think it was awesome of her to tell me not to think I am having a heart attack if I wake up with left chest and shoulder pain. I was a fast track patient coming from Alaska, so I had my psyche eval, nutrition class and meeting with Dr. Curry the day before my surgery. I have to say it was absolutely awesome. It went very smooth. Everyone was very nice, kind and efficient. After my nutrition class I felt very prepared for the post op experience. I never heard the term PB'ing before, and I promise I will try to avoid that at all costs! The next morning my husband brought me in to Journey Lite. I absolutely loved all the nurses, and the nurse anesthetist Mikey. Mikey made sure my IV was good, I am a hard stick, and he assured me I would not wake up in the middle of the procedure. I was nervous and he gave me a shot of versed. All I remember after that was talking to them about working in a rural clinic in Alaska. The last thing Mikey said to me was good night Kristen.. see you in recovery! It felt like I was asleep for like five minutes. This is how awesome Dr. Curry is.. I had an ugly hole next to my belly button, from a belly ring I had in my youth pre -fat days, and he closed it up for me!! He also fixed a hiatal hernia that I had no idea that I even had! I am so happy about that! When I woke up in recovery I had no abdominal pain. All my discomfort was in my left shoulder and chest. I am so glad Kathy warned me about that, because I would have been worried about it I had not known that ahead of time. I only remember bits and pieces of the recovery room. I remember my hubby helping me get dressed. I don't remember going to the car!! Gotta love anesthesia! I did really good drinking my fluids that day, and getting up every two hours. As an incentive to get me out of the hotel and walking, my hubby told me he found a Vera Bradley store. He knows how much I love Vera Bradley bags, and we have no stores in the Alaskan bush where we live! So there we are five hours after surgery picking out handbags. I have to say that walking really does help with the left shoulder pain!! Well that's my lap band story!! If you are considering it.. do it!! It's not scary at all! It is also not an easy way out!! You have to completely relearn how to eat to care for your band and become a healthy weight.

[gigi2134 0]

I had surgery on Wednesday November 16th, I am very pleased to say that my post op hasn't been bad at all.. I was in the hospital for about 28 hours, was up walking at the hospital about 6 hours post op. I had very little gas pains about the only pain I have had is around the port which hasn't been bad at all maybe 4/10 on the pain scale. Since I have been home the only pain i have had other than port pain is when I am hungry. I was on a liquid diet for 2 days and was allowed to start mushies after that. I can tell when I am full and if I have ate to much I know it about 5 minutes after the last bite.. Not being able to drink while eating is very hard for me! At this point I don't regret anything about having the surgery and i look forward to the rest of my journey.

[needamulligan 3]

Banded yesterday Nov 22nd, so far so good. it was a great experience, as far as gas pain goes so far it's been about 3-4/10 I slept a lot yesterday, today not so much been eating my broth and pedilyte freezies, not hungry although there has been a lot of food commercials on with US Thanks giving day being tomorrow lol. No regrets, my cousin flies to Toronto on Monday for her surgery on Tuesday the 29th. At least she will have a mentor.

[Poodlelover56 2]

Welcome to Bandland! Glad you are feeling so well. I am 6 weeks post op today. So glad I have my band!

[Annamarie87 1]

My surgery was 12-6-2011. I was the first surgery of the day, arrived at the hospital at 5:20am for a 7:30am surgery. Changed into my gown, nurse came in and asked a few questions. Wheeled me into pre-op around 6:30am. The started the IV, asked some more questions, and sat there for maybe 15-20 minutes. Went into surgery, was awake they put something in my IV and I was out! Woke up after surgery, and was trying to keep my eyes open lol I refused to go back to sleep. I did get sick a little and my throat was pretty dry. My nurse was awesome, we talked a lot, she was soo nice. She took me to get an x-ray to make sure everything was good then took me back out to my room in the short stay center. Sat with my parents, got .5 oz of Water every hour or so, sipped very slowly. Eventually another nurse came, took me for a walk. And I was discharged. The whole day felt like it was an hour! It went so fast, but I was determined to get out of there, not that it was bad or anything but who wants to stay in a hospital all day! I was out by about 1:30. Slept all the way home. And that was that. Over all, good experience. :-)

[Mindy! 3]

My surgery couldn't have gone any better. I live two hours away from the hospital at which I was getting the surgery, so I had to wake up at 4 to arrive at 6:30ish. They could tell how nervous I was, and they were also a bit weary because of my age (I had to wait so long for the surgery because my insurance wasn't very quick to approve me since I'm only 18), so they let my mom come with me into the pre-op room. They told me to take off everything but my socks (a stylish, mismatched pair of bright orange and bright yellow) and made me wear that infamous gown. I was already tired from being so incredibly anxious the night prior, so I was a little bit cranky and already a nervous wreck. The nurse had to check and see if I was pregnant ("Fingers crossed, mama!" I said as I walked into the bathroom. It's funny because I am in no way sexually active.) and then when it came back negative she had me lie on the bed and warned me that she was about to put the IV in. I immediately began freaking out, because she didn't refer to it as an IV, she referred to it as a catheter. And, at that moment, I was thinking CATHETER CATHETER. Not needle through a vein catheter. But, like, urination catheter. And so I was flipping out because I didn't want to be awake for that at all! And why would you put a NEEDLE there?! But... it was all cleared up and I stopped worrying. The IV was the most painful part of that whole day, I think. The needle went on and on and my blood was so red. It was really scary. But soon it was done and she gave me some medicine to make me stop crying so often.

Like I said, I was already incredibly sleepy, so it didn't take long for me to zonk out. This was way before the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me about the procedure. She basically just had a conversation with my mom and dad because I was far gone in dreamland. Then, Yolanda, the supervisor of my whole lap band journey thus far, came in to talk to me about what was going to happen and stuff. I drifted in and out during that conversation, but she's been a really great supportive asset in my journey so far, so it meant a lot to me that she came to ease my nerves. They told me I could watch TV until they were ready for me, but I went back to sleep and didn't wake up until they gave me anesthesia and rolled me into the OR. I remember the day before being extremely nervous about waking up during my surgery (I had never had a surgery before) but it was really just like you read about. I literally blinked my eyes and the next thing I knew, I was in the recovery room. I remember bits and pieces from earlier than that, like rolling over onto the table, and answering their question of, "On a scale of 1-10, how much pain are you in?" (I said 7 with feigned confidence. I am sure I meant to say 12. I am such a wuss.). The nurse came in and told me that it went perfectly and it was time for me to walk, now. I definitely wanted to sleep longer, but I digressed. We took a little walk around the floor of the hospital and she brought me to the bathroom and had me do my business. If I could do it without help, they'd send me home. Of course it was not a problem, but it did really hurt sitting down and standing up. I went back to the room and she sat with me a minute until this other nurse came in (his name was Josh). He told me I was going to drink the "most delicious liquid I'd ever have the fortune to drink" in front of an X-Ray. I said, "...Really?!" and he said, "No, you need to down in like a shot though because it tastes so, so, so bad". I laughed and he told me to hop on a wheelchair so he could bring me down to the x-ray place room thing.

Well, that was the most exciting part for me because I got to kick my feet all the way down the hall as if I were running really quickly (I'm secretly seven years old, you guys) and also they made me wear this blue cap and I made the comment about how we were triplets since we all matched. They liked me, they totally liked me. I am a hoot. A riot. Anyway, when we got to the room, we chatted for a little bit and then I had to taste the Stuff. The Stuff wasn't too awful, really. Mostly because my mouth was so unbelievably dry that I welcomed any kind of moisture in my throat. So, yeah, the Stuff isn't as bad as you might think it will be. They gave me ice chips afterward and that was awesome. My surgeon came in and showed me the x-rays and said that there wasn't anything in the band right now, but I would come back in a few weeks and get a fill. Works for me. They released me and I got in the back of my dad's truck and attempted to sleep.

Now, I know this is long-winded, but if you're reading this to get some insight into what your surgery day will be like: KNOW THIS. The ride home was the most unbearable part of my day. 2 hours and 15 minutes in the back of a car. Every. Single. Bump. Was felt. Lane switches. Pushes on the accelerator. Stops. Turns. And we pulled into a Walgreens so I could get some Water (my mouth was dry to the point of dry heaving and not being able to swallow), my dad pulled into the one parking spot that had a gaping hole where the tires park at the front. I was double over crying because it hurt so unbelievably bad. I wish I had brought more pillows, and I wish I had been sitting up or something in order to avoid such vulnerability to my stomach. Heed that advice, it will save you a lot of pain.

Anyway, I got home and I was pretty sore but the Lortab put me out really quickly. The second day, yesterday, was the worst day so far. My shoulders hurt incredibly bad and my stomach was hurting, too. I haven't really felt any hunger so I've had to pretty much force down a Protein shake or broth because my stomach hurts worse when it's empty, I've learned. Gas X is my best friend, it helps my shoulders so much. So does my heating pad. Also, I tried sleeping in a recliner last night because I have a bad habit of rolling onto my tummy when I sleep, but it ended up hurting my back and shoulders far too much. It's day 3 (well, 4, I guess because it's 3 in the morning) and I've been getting a lot of rest. My hours are all messed up now but I'm sure that will fix itself in time. I've been passing the time by watching Doctor Who, but I will warn all of you, don't try watching any sitcoms too quick after the surgery. That was a huge mistake, the laughter hurt my tummy so much!

Anyway, that's my story. I am very lucky to have worked with such a group of awesome folk. They sent me a card with everyone's name on it! Everyone's! It made my whole day. I am surely going to frame it.

[PJ384 3]

I was banded Monday Dec 19th at 7:30 am I live over two hours away from the hospital where I was having it done so I hopped on priceline and got a awesome deal at the Sheraton all suites Inn for 47.00 just one block away from the surgery center we went out and watched the Sherlock Homes movie that evening and I had Tuscany pizza for dinner it is my favorite thing to have then we went back to the hotel and asked for a 5am wake up call and went to bed I slept like a baby till the phone went off the next morning I got up and showered and dressed in baggy sweats and my socks and slippers because I was planning to wear them for the ride home we left for the hospital and arrived right on time we sat in the lobby for a few minutes and when they called me back I told my son to go on back to the hotel and sleep till they call you and tell you Iam ready to go because he was driving me home and I wanted him well rested.

I was given a lovely designer blue hospital gown to put on they obviously expected a much larger person because the gown just swallowed me up then the nurse came back in and starting getting vitals and asking me all kinds of question to which I said No to nearly everyone and she smiled and said well your very healthy, and I said Yes Iam Iam just fat and Old and since I can't do anything about the old Iam going to fix the fat part.

the anesthesiologist was next in line he came in to ask his question to which I said NO to and he said don't worry about a thing in there Iam going to take very good care of you and then he left the nurse came back and I told if by some chance everything went wrong and I did not wake up I wanted them to know they could take any and all of my organs for transplants she asked if I had a living will I told I did on file with my doctor but that she had passed away in the past years so I had no idea where it was now.

The Doctor came in to check up on me and went over everything again I also told him to take any and all of my useable organs if anything went wrong he asked if my family was aware of my wishes and I told him yes they were and they were in agreement with me .He said well thats good to know but I hope it is knowledge I never need to use, Then he said he was going to go change into scrubs and get scrubbed in and he would see me in the OR then the nurse was back with the happy shot to go in my IV I barely remember being slide from the gurney to the table and I was out ,the next thing I knew I was in recovery and the nurse was talking to me asking if I need to go potty I said yes and she asked did I want to walk to the bathroom or should she get a bedpan I said I would walk and so she walked to the restroom and

I was able to take care of myself just fine she walked me back to the bed and said try to sleep a little more and I will watch when you need to get ready to go home.

I slept a while and then she came back with my overnight bag and I got myself dressed and she said my son was on his way and I could come sit in a chair by the back door till he arrived. when he got there she walked out with me and helped me get in the car and settled and he drove me home and dosed off and on the whole way got home and settled into my big comfy chair and dosed off and on the rest of the day I took my pain meds as instructed that day and that night so i slept pretty good on my back even though Iam a side sleeper I was wide awake at 3am so I just got up and got some juice to drink and a little cup of yogurt and I sipped my way through the rest of the day and I took a long hot shower that night and went to bed about 8pm and I found if I moved slowly I could sleep on my side so I did with one pillow against my tummy and I slept so good it was great

Had my first Protein Shake this morning for Breakfast and Iam having a Gatorade and some Jello for a snack now my Dr said I could try mushies at the end of the week so Iam saving it for Christmas Day and Iam going to have some garlic roasted mashed potatoes

And so there you have thats my story and Iam feeling better every day and expect to be in great shape when I go back to work Jan 3rd

[mdlapband 30]

My husband and I were both banded on Monday December 19th @ Duke Raleigh Hospital:

Here is a link to our blog and surgery day story!

http://happilyafterlapband.blogspot.com/2011/12/banded.html

[vingotti33 14]

It's official Peeps, I am in. I was banded today. After a night of not sleeping much I woke up @ 6 a..m and started getting ready.My wife and children accompanied me for the start of my journey. I must say they have been extremely supportive. Days where I wanted to cheat on my liquid diet they didn't let me do it. For the most part they have been really good with not eating great food in front of me. Although I must say they that they did me dirty one night crushing some Chipotle in front of me talking about how good it was. (What's up with that) OK I left my house @ 7:00 a.m., all kinds of thoughts were running through my head. My wife and I had the discussion of if I do not make it this what you need to do and what I want and don't want.

We arrived @ 7:45 a.m. and I think I was third on the list. It was kind of cool to see people that I went to the seminars with as they were getting prepared for surgery. I could tell they were excited but nervous as well. We talked for a bit and gave each other encouraging words. Ok, so I made my way to my bed and went through the checklist. Let me say, the staff was excellent from top to bottom. So my nurse asked me a series of questions and then the fun started. We had a wonderful time trying to find a vein to put my IV in. My veins were hiding today. So they finally put my IV in my neck. I remember my family coming back and talking to me for a little bit and then there was a medical team surrounding me. I remember them telling me what was going to happen and the Anesthiaolgist telling me did I choose were I wanted to go on vacation because once the medicine kicks in I will be there. I said yes and they started the meds. I briefly remember starting to roll back to the OR next thing I remember I was waking up and the procedure was over. I came too and a nurse was there standing there welcoming me back. I must have been startled not realizing where I was, she handled me well. I asked her how things went and if I had any issues. She said no you were great. Next thing I know the nurse was feeding me some ice. Then another nurse asked if I felt like I could get up? I said yes and they helped me up to sit in a chair. I had wobbly legs lol! I sat there for about twenty minutes as they prepared me for discharge. I was back home around 12:30 p.m.! I had no pain, I felt great. My stomach felt weird, I guess it was from gas. I walked around to get some gas out my system. Then I took a nap.

So far I have drunk some chicken broth and some Water. I haven't had any pain meds or any upset stomach medicine, I hear I will be in my most pain tomorrow and the day after. My stomach is swollen where my band is, I haven't been hungry, but my throat feels scratchy. Well I am ready to get going and lose more fat. So far I have lost thirty pounds. No turning back now, it's full steam ahead. I have made my mind up to change my lifestyle and get my extra sexy back. I look forward to taking this journey with you guys. We got this.

[sandybraman 18]

WOO HOO! Congrats on how well you did - its all downhill from here!

[sherrypep 91]

Well I went in on 12/21 had to be at the hospital at 630am. Got there and was told the Dr. had an emergency so I would be a little later around 9:30ish. I sat there with my husband and kids. I was very nervous so they gave me something in my IV to calm me down. The Dr. came in to explain the procdure and ask me if I had any questions. He was really great. Has a terrific bedside manner. Helped with my nerves. They came and got me around 9:30. Took me to the OR and next thing I knew I woke up and it was all done. Wow. I had a morphine pump so I did not feel any pain. After I laid in recovery for about 2 hours they took me to my room upstairs. I have a arithmia which was acting up a bit so they hooked me to the heart monitor and other monitors and my family came in to see how I was. I couldn't believe how great I felt, I knew it was the morphine, however the pain was about a 3 on a scale of 1-10 and the gass was minimal. I was reallhy scared after hearing everyones stories. I had bladder problems and couldnt pee so I ended up staying in hospital till today. After they stopped the morphine yesterday and started me on Tylenol with codeine the pain got a little worse but still not bad and I began to have some gass but nothing tremendous. I did a lot of walikng around the halls. They gave me broth and juice after my swalling test and everything went down fine. I am not hungry at all but I am making sure to get plenty of liqueds so I don't dehydrate. All in all I have not had one regret. Don't fret when you read some of the scary posts, everyone is different. I usually have no tolerance for pain but it really want so bad. I have 4 small cuts about 1/2 inch and one bigger one where the port was put in about 1 inch long they are glued not stitched and only hurt when I move the wrong way. I am home now and happy as can be.

[sherrypep 91]

Well I went in on 12/21 had to be at the hospital at 630am. Got there and was told the Dr. had an emergency so I would be a little later around 9:30ish. I sat there with my husband and kids. I was very nervous so they gave me something in my IV to calm me down. The Dr. came in to explain the procdure and ask me if I had any questions. He was really great. Has a terrific bedside manner. Helped with my nerves. They came and got me around 9:30. Took me to the OR and next thing I knew I woke up and it was all done. Wow. I had a morphine pump so I did not feel any pain. After I laid in recovery for about 2 hours they took me to my room upstairs. I have a arithmia which was acting up a bit so they hooked me to the heart monitor and other monitors and my family came in to see how I was. I couldn't believe how great I felt, I knew it was the morphine, however the pain was about a 3 on a scale of 1-10 and the gass was minimal. I was reallhy scared after hearing everyones stories. I had bladder problems and couldnt pee so I ended up staying in hospital till today. After they stopped the morphine yesterday and started me on Tylenol with codeine the pain got a little worse but still not bad and I began to have some gass but nothing tremendous. I did a lot of walikng around the halls. They gave me broth and juice after my swalling test and everything went down fine. I am not hungry at all but I am making sure to get plenty of liqueds so I don't dehydrate. All in all I have not had one regret. Don't fret when you read some of the scary posts, everyone is different. I usually have no tolerance for pain but it really want so bad. I have 4 small cuts about 1/2 inch and one bigger one where the port was put in about 1 inch long they are glued not stitched and only hurt when I move the wrong way. I am home now and happy as can be.

[latinamom 9]

My surgery was on Dec 27 2011.I got there at 10:30 Had to be there at 11:00 for surgery at 1:00 pm.they didn't take me back until 12:15 because no room so they said we have to rush rush.they had a hard time putting IV in maybe 6 tries and 3 nurses.they finally got it. Then they put a injection in my belly for blood clots.a little after I started to cough and had chest pain so right away they did ekg and chest xray. So this took awhile. It was already 1:30 so I missed my turn had to wait till everything was OK so at 2:30 it was my turn.they put me in operating table and gave me a shot and said goodnight. I didn't wake up till 4:30 they gave me some tea.and I had to go to bathroom right after they took me to do xray and drink that nasty stuff they had to take 3 xray so three times I drank that stuff.everything looked good so went back to my room and they just monitored me so I didn't throw up and had no pain so I went home at 10:45 pm. They gave me percocet I filled that and finally went home.I wasn't in a lot of pain this morning I felt a little pain took my meds but no gas or pain in shoulder.

[laddie1229 18]

Finally got signed in as a December Bandster.Today was the DAY!!!! Surgery was at 7am. Had a hard time waking up. I am a real light weight when it comes to pain meds. Had the barium X-ray bout 2pm and Laddie(my band) was just perfect. Got home about 3:30pm. Have had a cup of broth, sf Popsicle and Water. I feel pretty good thanks to all of you. Even though I couldn't get signed in until today, I have read all your advice. I believe that is why I have done so well. Thanks to all of you and am very excited about starting my new life.