Banded Yesterday!

[laurr925 0]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share with everyone my experience being banded yesterday! I'm laying in bed and I feel pretty good so I figured I'd share.

I got to the hospital around 8am and had to fill in some forms then I got taken into a small private waiting room with my parents. The nurses gave me a gown, socks, and a hair net thing. They went over my medical history. I filled out more forms.

Then the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me - more forms. And he told me about the breathing tube they put in you while you are asleep. He said it would make my throat hurt for a little but it wouldnt be too bad.

Finally my surgeon came in and gave my parents and I the rundown of what would happen during surgery and she told me they were just finished cleaning the operating room so it'd be about 10 minutes before I went in.

I hugged my parents and they walked me down the hall until they couldnt go any further and the nurse took me to the operating room. I honestly was not nervous until that moment when I walked in the room. There were about 8 people in there, and since NYU tisch is a teaching hospital, there were lots of interns observing. I honestly didn't mind because they were all so friendly.

My nurse helped me up onto the table where they put massaging things on my legs and strapped me onto the table. They put a heart and blood pressure monitor on me.

One of the interns asked if I had a prefernce in which band they used and I told them the Lap-Band, I didn't want the realize band.

Then the anesthesiologist came over with my intern and they started my IV. They put an oxygen mask on me, I remember thinking "this smells like plastic" and I was out cold.

I woke up in the recovery room and I'm not going to lie, I felt terrible. It felt like someone was sitting on my chest and shoulders. I couldn't even feel my incisions. The nurses came over asked how much pain I was in and gave me some pain killers. It burned when it went into my IV but wasn't too bad because it helped a little. I stayed there for a while, my parents came to see me for a few minutes and they said my surgeon told them my hiatal hernia was pretty bad and she fixed it for me.

After about an hour or so I got moved into a room. Once I got into the room I was able to move around in my bed and I felt so much better. I was uncomfortable in recovery because I had so many wires on me I could not move. The nurse in my room gave me some ice chips and told me when I felt like I had to pee I could get up and walk around. She also gave me some breathing exercises to do. My parents came up a little while later and stayed in my room with me.

When I got up I felt my incisions hurting for the first time. I couldn't really stand up straight but with the help of the nurse I made it to the bathroom. I then walked the hallways a bit and when I was tired went back to my bed.

I did this about every 45 minutes.

I had horrible gas pain that would come and go so I would try to burp to relieve it. I also found that going from laying down to sitting up helped because it move the gas around. So I moved around in my bed and felt okay.

After a while I got some stuff to help the gas pain and some pepcid. It definately made me feel better. I drank some broth, a little tea, and a little Propel.

My surgeon came to see me around 6:30 and told me I could go home once I felt okay. She also told me that I had "the insides of a little girl" and that I only needed TWO incisions!

I got home around 8pm and drank a little more Propel. I watched some TV with my parents and sister. I took my painkillers and went to bed.

The painkillers wore off around 7am. My dad got them from downstairs for me and I took some more. My voice is a little hoarse from the tube and everything

Overall I feel ok. The worst part for sure is the gas pain. My shoulders stopped hurting this morning and now just my abdomen hurts from the gas. My stomach is swollen from it, which sucks.

I have some port site pain but it definately is manageable.

Overall, yesterday was great. I already feel different and the nurse told me I lost 17 lbs on my pre-op diet!!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me.

xoxo Laur

[wendyg 0]

I got my band yesterday also, and your story is a lot like mine!! I'm so glad I got to go home, I watched a few movies in bed, snoozing and trying to drink Water etc. I was up at 5 this morning from all the snoozing yesterday!! I'm glad it is over, and I'm surprised how calm I was during the whole thing . . . yea, we did it!!! Can't wait to hear from the other Feb 2's . . . take care!!!

Edited February 3, 2009 by wendyg
typo

[shellyphaunts 0]

Congrats girls!!! Sounds like you are doing great!! I am so proud of you both!

My surgery got "scrubbed" (hospital humor!!)

I got all prepped and my anesthesiologist called it off because my stupid pottasium was extremely low.

It was too dangerous to proceed w/ surgery.

Talk about a bummer!!!

I hope both of your recoveries continue to go smoothly!!

Enjoy the new YOU-S!!

Hugs,

[laurr925 0]

im sorry shelly, thats a bummer? did they reschedule or do you have to wait?

[serenity55 15]

Hi Laur,

Thank you for posting your experience. I really enjoyed reading it, and I hope your soreness goes away quickly. I also hope my story is as good as yours!

Debbie

[peachwood 0]

Good to hear you are doing well. I had my Pre Admission testing today and hope to have the surgery on Feb 10th We'll compare notes!!!