marineliebe

B I K I N I !!!! lol thats kinda my biggest goal right now....bikini and then go somewhere fabulous and hot like hawaii or on a cruz! or maybe alstraila! :thumbup: Or maybe New York to go on a giant shoping spree! who knows, but I'll have to do somthing good!

Hey All,
It REALLy helped me out to hear everyone elses stories about their banding expearence, so I thought I would share mine as well in hopes it will help others who are going later this month!
I got up around 6am today and left the house at 6:30am, I had packed a bag the night before with all my meds, a blanket, an extra shirt, some Water and a pillow. I arrived at the surgery clinic (I was banded at North West Weight Loss Surgery) about 8:20 (I was a little early). I sat next to a nice man in the waiting room and chatted with him for a bit, he had been banded about 13 months ago and had lost 100lbs. His wife was being banded while he was waiting. After he left to be with his wife when she was out of surgery, I was given some papers to sign and read over. Then I was taken back into the pre-op room where I changed into a gown, robe and socks. They gave me a nice bag to put my extra clothes in and a thing of chap stick. Then I came back out and they had me sit in this sort of recliner chair thing and gave me a blanket. Then they gave me a shot in my thigh to prevent blood clots, I think that was the worst part of the whole procedure, I don't like needles and the shot stung for about 5 min after I got it. After that I had to wait a little while as the surgery before me was running a little behind. Then my surgen came out and chatted with me and my dad for a bit and asked if we had any questions. After that I had my IV put in, which actually hurt less than the shot because he put some numbing medication on my hand before.
After the IV was in, they got me up and I walked into the OR. I layed down on the table and they put some meds in my IV and put an oxygen mask on me, I remember looking at the nurse and her telling me I was going to be fine and thats the last thing I remembered.
I woke up as they were rolling me back into a recovery room, I was pretty groggy but came out of it well. (I started singing Gwen Stefani) They brought my dad to me and gave me some Water to start sipping on. They would come and check my vitals every 15min to 1/2 hour or so. They asked how my pain was and I decided I could use a pain shot, so they gave me some, I think it was called dafiral or somehing? It started with a D at any rate. I stayed i bed for about 2 and 1/2 hours, then they had me get up and walk about and I went to the bathroom. I was then lead to the "step down room" where I was in another recliner type chair. I sat there for about another 1/2 hour and was given my discharge instructions. Then I changed into my comfy clothes and my dad brought the car around. The nurse helped me out and I pretty much feel asleep the second I got into the car. So I don't really remember the car ride home. Once I got home I had some chicken broth and Soup and took a nap. Then one of my girlfriends came to see me and we watched a movie togther. I would get up about once an hour and do a few laps up and down the hall, I found it really helped with getting the gas out...or at least trying to get it out. My friend left, and I started watching the Heros DVDs and another girlfriend came over and watched a few episodes with me. My dad went out to get me some straws and juce and my friend left (around 10pm) I had some more soup and some juice. (My sweet dad also brought me back a giant princess balloon and a stuffed animal to make me feel better). I found its a lot easier to drink water/juice with a straw. As the night has gone on, I've been getting more sore, mostly on my port, I think this is because the numbing medicine they gave me in my tummy is wearing off. All in all, I feel pretty good, a little uncomfortable and sore, my best advice right now is to keep up on the pain meds BEFORE you feel like you need them, if you take them every 2-3 hours you won't really feel the pain, at least i'm not.
So thats pretty much my story, I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, I've heard the second day is the worst!! Good luck to all of you upcomming bandsters!
Marine