Hi all,

I went in for my pre-ops yesterday (all went well) and I told the surgeon "Gosh, I'm so excited- I wish I could do it sooner"... He happened to have a cancellation, and so I went for it!! (Which ended my extended food funeral right then & there!!!)

Got up and started walking 1 hr. after surgery (thanks for the suggestion LBT- I'm sure it helped!!) Made it back home the same day (about 10 hrs. later). I'm still walking every couple hours, and am on clear liquids for the next few days, but things are going great!

I can already feel the band.. it kinda feels like someone is choking me a bit from the inside (pressure) and the lower part of my stomach hurts so sitting up and down is a bit difficult... Aside from that, I'll live!

I had my gallbladder out last year (also laproscopic) and this was a breeze in comparison!

Am I in some weird honeymoon phase, i.e. the pain meds haven't worn off yet, or is this possible?!?!/ Did anyone else have a similar (easy) experience? If not, am I gonna hit a wall soon?

I thought the whole experience was easier than I anticipated. glad to hear it went so well for you too!

It's different for everyone. I've considered myself a very fast healer from this surgery. I was banded May 11th and the first day went great. I was only at the hospital 6 hours. The worst part the first day was my sore throat because they had problems intubating me. The second day wasn't as good. My bariatric team makes next day follow up calls, I told them I was very sore and they explained all of the discomfort and anesthesia medicine they give you wears off and you really FEEL it.

The next day, I felt tons better in my belly and even drove (Dr said it was fine after 24 hours). However, I was plagued with the dreaded gas pain in the shoulder and in my neck. That part sucked but the tummy pain diminished much much quicker than I expected!

I went back to work 3 days post op with no issues. I have a desk job though, I can imagine it'd be difficult for someone with a physical job.

Just remember to walk as often as possible but don't over do it. If you become really concerned, don't hesitate to call your surgeon! That is what we pay them for after all

Good luck to you and congratulations!

i was banded on friday and i'm doing ok. the worse part for me has been the port pain. I have a hard time getting inout of bed cuz i feel like i'm ripping my insides apart. I'm drinking a protein shake right now and i never thought i would miss the taste. but it's good to have something other than jello and crystal light. i havent been out of the house yet..might venture out today once my friend comes by just to walk around the neighborhood. Best wishes to you!

I was banded on Dec. 27th and had no gas pains at all... as compared to many that complain about that kind of pain here. I was just a little tired but kept walking too. Maybe that helped??? Back to work in 4 days. We might just be the "lucky" ones!!!

I had my gall bladder out this past week and I tell you banding was 10 times better..... The gall bladder surgery sucked and I felt worse with it than the band! Good luck to you!

Hi,

I just got back from the hospital. I was banded on may 19th. Surgery went well, I had the laprascopic "robotic" surgery. Did feel that bad, but did have an issue with motion sickness while in the hospital, whenever I would get up and go to the bathroom and come back to bed I would get the dry heaves. That last the first night, and the nurses kept me comfortable most of the time with zofran and compazine. The next day I went home. I really felt bad. I felt like someone had their foot on the middle of my chest which caused me to be short of breath. I had back pain, pain underneath my left ribs and I couldnt sleep all night as I could not sit still. I walked around the whole night, maxed out on the Gas-X strips and by the following afternoon I had to call the doctor. He insisted I come to the ER, which I did.

They did a EKG, Chest Xray, CT scan with iv and oral contrast. I couldnt even breath when I got there, they gave me morphine right away. All tests came back good, they did notice a ruptured ovarian cyst, but thats it. They kept me over night to keep and eye on me, and continued to give me Toradol for discomfort. I have to say as soon as they gave me pain medication I felt a million times better. When the pain medication wears off I know it, I dont have pain at the incision sites, I start to get this pain in the middle of my chest. So I will make sure I take it on time for the time being and hopefully it will resolve. I have been walking all over, and I am passing gas. I think the Gas X strips do work to help allow you to pass it, but I think it builds up after. I wondering if all this sipping has something to do with it.

Anyway, while I was at the hospital, they gave me potassium because I was low on potassium, probably due to the bowel prep before and nothing much to take in but water for the last few days. Well, after they admitted me, and I got a room and I got comfortable, I had some SF Jello, that I could not finish, sips of hot tea, and some sips of beef broth. Today I had the same but I also had 4 oz of protien drink but could not finish any more.

I hope now and I just had some water and a 2.25 oz of pudding. I want to take my vitamins. I have the bariatric advantage chewables. Should I just chew it up really well before I swollow it???

I am not trying to organize myself, because I feel like I am eating very sporadically and not eating much at all. I know that I am supposed to have 6 meals a day in which 4 of them are that protien shake (8 oz) which seems like an impossible task!

So thats where I am now. All and all I I am down like 10 pounds since start of pre-op liquids one week before surgery.

Sherry