Banded yesterday...Here's my experience

[Ariane 0]

Here goes... It took hours to get there yesterday morning. They called me back at 9am to get me ready for my 10am surgery. My surgery lasted an hour. Arrived in Recovery room around 11am in a ton of pain. Stomach and left shoulder gas pain. The nurse loaded me up on Dilaudid and Morphine which helped in the end after they maxed out. I was so out of it that I could barely open my eyes after being in Recovery for over 5 hours. My throat felt like they scraped it all the way down with the tube. I could barely speak. Not a good experience. Anyway they needed me to drink some Water and pee before they would let me go. I had such a hard time peeing but finally did it.

The Anesthesiologist came up to me and told me that if I didn't wake up more than he was going to admit me to the hospital for the night. Well, I knew that couldn't happen because I was a self pay and insurance would not pay for me to stay a night in the hospital. I slapped my face a few times and even took a small walk in order wake up enough to go home. Well, finally at 4:30pm they let me go. I nodded in and out of consciousness in the car on the way home. Had sips of Water, broth and tea before heading to bed. I was only a tiny bit nauseous but never got sick. The port site hurts the worst. Mine is on the right side.

Fast forward to today. Still in pain, throat a little better, gas pain still pretty bad at times. I was told walking helped but I also used a heating pad on the shoulder which helped a little. My Dr. gave me Lortabs 5/500mg for the pain which helps a little. I feel bloated and have been using Gas X strips to help which I guess helps. I was hoping to have a better story to tell...sorry. My port site is swollen like an egg is under my skin. I have 4 inch slits across my belly and 1 smaller one above to my left where my stomach is. I have had 2 muscle milks and about 1/2 cup of Lipton Noodle broth. I also had a few sips of apple juice. I feel weak and my stomach hurts. However I think I'm a wimp when it comes to pain so don't go by my experience alone. It's the same pain as when my gallbladder was removed 11 years ago. I'm looking forward to feeling better each day. I'll keep everyone posted.

Ariane

[minimeme 1]

The pain was worse than I thought it would be too when I woke up. But fortunately, when I walked the first time I REALLY helped. Before the walk, I didnt think I was going to be able to take it. The walk helped me a bunch.

My whole tummy is swollen real bad. It looks really funny to be so swollen right under my boobs. LOL

[Dana36 0]

I was in a lot of pain also, and I consider myself to have a high pain tolerance. I'm a week and a half out from surgery and my stomach is still swollen, especially around my port.