I will be banded on 12th May and I am now starting to get a fear of the first swallow I make when I first wake up. Will it hurt or what if I can't swallow? Is anyone else getting this fear or did anyone else have it?:omg::cry

You'll have general anesthesia which involves inserting a tube down your throat and into your trachea once you're asleep in the operating room. The tube will come out when the operation is over and you're throat will feel very sore and very dry. The first thing you'll get is an ice chip that slowly melts in your mouth and feels WONDERFUL!

I had no problems swallowing at all.

When you first wake up they don't give you anything to drink for a little while - they want to make sure you're recovered completely from anesthesia first. Later on you'll have some Water, some docs might even give you diluted juice. Later in the evening you'll have some broth, and you'll stay on Clear Liquids for at least a week, sometimes longer depending on your doctor. After that full liquids for a few weeks, then mushies and then finally, after a considerable amount of time, solids. Liquids will cause you no problems. Mushies didn't cause me any problems. Solids you'll have to take slowly with tiny, tiny, TINY, bites. If you follow the rules you won't have any problems.

You're going to do just fine.

I am being banded may 10th, and i haven't been nervous at all until today. I am scared something will go wrong, i mean i have a 3 year old, i am just wondering if it is worth it. also i don't have any insurance, so if something does go wrong (other than death), how will i pay for it? I just am very scared at this point.

My experience was a bit different. I didn't get broth, Jello, or ice in the hospital.

My throat wasn't sore at all, but I was very thirsty and wasn't allowed any liquids until I had done the barium swallow the next morning. I was given a sponge on a stick that I could use to dip in Water and swab my mouth. After the barium swallow, they had me drink an ounce of water over an hour's time. Once I proved I could keep the water down, I was able to go home.

There shouldn't be any problem with swallowing. I have only heard of a few people who were very swollen after the surgery and had trouble drinking fluids. If you have any problems like that, let your Dr know right away and they will take care of you. :confused:

Best of luck with your surgery and recovery. Let us know how you do! :eek:

JJ - I dont have insurance either. I figure if something goes wrong I'll just go to the emergency room and they'll bill me. Sometimes you just have to step out on faith. If you have a Dr that you trust, who has a good record and is willing to work with you if something does go wrong, then that's half the battle, right? Talk to your Dr about these concerns and see if he can offer some comfort in the form of a plan to handle unforseen problems.

Let's remember that none of us can say "You will do/get/feel this..." etc. All we can say is, "I did/got/felt..." We don't want to portray our own individual experiences as the "facts" of what someone else will experience because hey, I'm REALLY glad I didn't experience some of what I've read others going through! We also don't want someone believing what they read here is necessarily what's going to happen to them, and running the risk of hurting themselves because they're ignoring other signs or trusting that "this" is how it is, so it's fine. :confused:

I had no sore throat at all, and no problem swallowing, and never asked for nor got ice chips. The first thing I drank was a dose of hydrocodone, which they gave me in recovery to avoid any pains while on my way home. I had NO problems swallowing, and the only thing that hurt were the incisions, and really only when I got up/down or walked... lasted -- I'd have to look at my journal to be sure, but I'd guess a few days. I had surgery Wednesday and was out walking around at the store on Friday evening.

I also wasn't on clear liquids for a week. I was on them for 3 days. Day 4 started what I'd call "thick liquids" -- cream Soups, yogurt, etc. It seems like you ask 5 people about their post-op diet, and you get 5 different answers, so this particular topic is really subjective and dependent on your surgeon's practices.

My fear about the whole "after surgery" stuff, that wasn't band-specific, was that they'd take the breathing tube out AFTER I had woken up. I was really nervous about that, b/c my PAT nurse told me they take it out right as you're waking up. Fortunately for me, that's not what happened, and when I first "came to", it was already out and I could hear people saying that I was breathing very well.

Good luck. :eek:

I just got banded this past weekend, when I awoke, I swallowed fine, a little thirsty, but not bad.