I'm just wondering why no one really talks about all the preop testing and even how *the* surgery goes on their day. I mean, I read vague things like diet advice and that the recovery was a breeze, but what about all the steps everyone has to take JUST to get to the operating room?

I just had an upper GI today. I know, pretty uneventful, except I did it without anesthesia. I was dehydrated and they couldn't find an easy vein so I sucked it up and did it. It wasn't pretty but I survived. lol

I'm curious what everyone else, especially pre-bandsters, is going through. Or what was your surgery like? I'm pretty nervous about the general anesthesia.

Also update for those of you who gave me advice about losing weight pre-op. My doctor's receptionist said he'd LIKE me to lose 40 lb by Aug 1 (surgery date) but he'll proceed if I haven't. Whew.

Tina

Hi Tina. I didn't really have any pre-op testing to go through other than having a chest x-ray, blood work and and ECG; all of which are routine and painless! I have already had sleep apnea for 4 yrs (& use a CPAP) so I didn't have to do a sleep study to find out if I had it. Other than that...no pre-op testing...

People prob don't talk about the "actual" surgery cause they are sleeping!!! This is why you only see posts about the pre and post ops. My surgery itself went super well (according the doc)....in part (he said) because my livers was in such great shape which made it easier for him in there and made my recovery easier. I had lost 16 lbs during my 2 week preop diet (which consisted only of yougurt...I could have also had cottage cheese but I hate cottage cheese). I know that loss really helped to prepare my liver.

Everyone is anxious to some extent about going under...so that is normal. I was also anxious....concerned I might not "wake up" and that I wouldn't see my husband again (who is my soulmate). But, I had his full support, all obviously went well.

Good luck on your journey and don't fret too much.

Pre op: I had to have my 1st consult-Do the Ins. thing (30 day wait)- Go see a therapist (to make sure I was wanting to lose etc.)-Go to a dietary class-Take all sorts of blood work (not sure what they tested for)- Go in to get my gal bladder checked out ( to see if came out when I got my band)-Schedule my surgery apt.

On surgery day I got up Hubby drove me 3 hours to Victoria TX to the hosp. We arrived at 4:30 am where I paid my 250.00 dect. they put my family and I in a room. Came to hook up Iv's and at 7 am rolled me down to surgery- gave me "night night" medicine.

I slept

I woke up in my room with my family, I went to the bathroom the nurse helped me shower they fed me a creamy liquid meal ( cream of chicken soup-non sweet tea-milk-custard pudding) Then My Dr. came into check on me.I was wheel chaired down to get my Barium swallow test. Then I was released and on my way home at 5:30 pm same day.

I was very sore the first 3 days then started riding my bike again. (taking my kids to school- 1 mile)

I see it talked about a lot!

I had to do the surgeon's consultation, meet with the nutritionist for about 2 hours to go over what the eating plan would look like, what intake goals were, what I could expect, etc. I also had to meet with the hospital's coordinator for an education class where she detailed what the surgery would be like, showed me actual bands that my surgeon uses & details how they work, etc. I had to go through 3 psych visits (since it's a comprehensive program you meet with the psych more than just the one "yea" or "nea"). I had to attend the info night, too. Then there were the PATs - bloodwork, chest xray, EKG, etc.

As for the actual surgery, I blogged it but I didn't post it because I tend to be very... verbose. But I can paste it over for you. Have a read, but it's very detailed:

It’s the day after surgery. I made it!

I didn’t have the stamina to think this much yesterday. The following will be a very detailed account of my banding experience, and alittle more detail about the days leading up to surgery. I know what questions I came into this with, so I’m hoping that if others out there have the same questions, this might help.

I only had to diet 2 days pre-op. I didn’t find it hard to follow at all, but it really showed me how much of an ingrained behavior my eating habits are (I’m a behavioral, rather than emotional eater). Even though I knew I could only eat a small handful of things, I kept thinking, “Oh, maybe we’ll go here for dinner… doh! What am I thinking?” I did that many, many times on the first day. On the second day I didn’t have much appetite so it was not an issue.

Sunday was my last day of “normal” eating. Although if it were really normal, I wouldn’t be here. I wasn’t hungry much then, either, so I passed ont he “last supper” I had been thinking I would have. Instead DH and I had some BLTs and watched tv.

I had no problem falling asleep the night before surgery, but once I woke up in the morning (way before my alarm) I was up for good. I was supposed to be at the hospital at 9:00. My husband took me, and my parents drove down from where they live to be there too. We got to the hospital a little early, but they took me into “ACC” (where I was pre- and post-op) early. So now that I’ve done all this blabbing, let me get on with my account of the surgery experience.

The nurse came to the waiting room and told me I could take one person with me for this part, do my husband went with me. When we got to ACC I was given a gown and told to take everything else off and put the gown on. This room reminded me of an ER - a big room with lots of “compartments” where people were waiting. I changed into the gown, and then they asked if I had urinated or had a BM that morning. I told them I had, but I could try and go again, and they said that would be good since I would be asked to do it later on anyway. Standing back my bed, ready to get in, I had a momentary anxiety attack — the closest to “WTF am I doing?!” that’d I had (or have) come. It only lasted a few seconds, and then I climbed into the bed.

My husband and I sat there talking for a few minutes, and then one of the nurses came over and took my temp, BP, etc. The next time I saw her she came over with an IV package. I was DREADING this part. I’d been told during my PATs that they would spray some anesthetic on my skin before the IV — well, that didn’t end up being true. The nurse tied the plastic band around me, and had me hang my arm off the bed while she slapped the top of my hand to find a vein. Once she found one she took a piece of sponge that was pre-loaded with what I think must have just been alcohol and swabbed my hand, then gave me a shot of lidocaine on the top of my hand. It felt like a bee sting. I’ve had lidocaine shots before, and this was the least painful. Once the lidocaine was in she placed the IV. Placing the IV still hurt a little bit, even with the lidocaine, but not enough to be significant. The lidocaine shot definitely hurt more than the actual IV. As soon as it was in it quit hurting. All in all, the lidocaine was the most I felt throughout the entire process.

The nurse asked me if I was nervous and I told her “Like you wouldn’t believe” so she gave me a dose of Versed (like valium). It made me feel a little strange at first - a little dizzy, and perhaps a little tired. But it helped! My pulse had been steady around 120 the entire time, and after the Versed it dropped down to the 70s. At the same time another nurse came to give me a shot of Heparin (blood thinner). This was done with a tiny needle and I honestly didn’t feel the shot at all. It was given around the area of my right hip bone. I didn’t feel the shot itself, but shortly after getting it the area did start to sting a bit, not bad at all, just annoying.

I waited around for a while talking with my husband. The anesthesiologist came back and introduced himself and I asked him to give me an overview of what would happen. By that time it had been about an hour since I had he Versed so I asked him if I could have some more. He turned on the light for the nurse. While waiting for the nurse my surgeon came in and asked if I had any questions. He also asked if I wanted to go home that same day and I remmber telling him, I”d like to.” Then he took off.

The nurse anesthetist came back and wanted me to try going to the bathroom again, so I did. This is where I start to lose memory of what happened. I remember getting back into the bed, and I remember the nurse being there and asking me if I was ready for “Happy Juice”. I thought she meant more Versed, but I’m thinking they gave me something else b/c of how little I remember. I could be wrong, but if it was Versed, it was a much larger dose b/c the first time I got it all it did was relax me. I remember someone saying they were going to put a hat on my head, and feeling it go on. I remember my parents walking in and hiving me hugs, and I remember my husband leaning down and kissing me. I remember all of this very vaguely, almost like it happened in the middle of a deep sleep, but I’ve asked and I was awake all this time. That must be the amnesiatic effect I’d heard about.

I remember them starting to move th bed, but I don’t remember anything about how we got there, like if we took an elevator. I do remember the hallway just outside the operating room, it was lined with equipment on the left and I remember saying something about how it was going to be a tight fit with the bed. Again, looking back, I remember this like when I wake up from a deep sleep to do something, and then go back to sleep, but I was awake. I remember them pushing the bed through the operating room doors, and I remember looking to the side of the room and seeing people with their backs to me messing with something. They pushed the bed up to the operating room table and had me scoot onto it. I remember I was too tall for the table at first, and they had to make some adjustments because my feet were pushing against some foam at the end, and the guy at my head and the girl at my feet were disagreeing about how to best get the table long enough (I remember thinking they sounded really annoyed with eachother), one wanted me to scoot farther up on the bed, and the other wanted to move something down by my feet.

Anyway, I remember a plastic mask going on my face (when I met the anesthesiologist earlier, he told me he’d have me breathe oxygen for a few minutes before giving me any anesthesia), and it was on crooked (lifted up on the left) and I remember thinking, “If this is how they’re giving me the anesthesia I will never fell asleep because all the gas will go out of this crack.”

The next thing I remember is someone telling me I’m breathing well, and telling me that I was in recovery and someone else asking me to lift my butt off the bed and sliding xray film under me. The first thing I wanted to do was make sure the breathing tube was out. I was very nervous going in about something I had been told that sometimes they wait until you pull the breathing tube out yourself. I closed my lips and didn’t feel it, and was immediately RELIEVED. At this point people are talking to me, and I can respond, but very slowly, and it took some thought to get my words to come out right. When I could open my eyes, I could look at the foot of my bed but then my eyes would start going up until I was looking at the ceiling, so I would look back down at the foot of my bed, and they would start looking up again - this was annoying me so I just shut my eyes. I remember being irritated that I couldn’t wake up faster. Someone asked me to rate my pain on a 1 - 10 scale and I really didn’t have much so I told them “about a half, maybe 1″. They gave me some Lortab elixir anyway, and told me, “When it’s time for you to get up and move, you’ll be glad you took this.”

Eventually I woke up more and was able to ask what time it was, how I had done, etc. I also lifted up my gown and got the first peek at my incisions, and was surprised - they were a little bigger than I had thought they would be. I don’t know how long I was in there all in all, but they told me I had the new record for waking up fast. I also remember the lady saying she had called someone to take me back, someone else asking “Are you sure? She hasn’t been here very long” and the first person saying, “She’s only rating her pain around a half, and she’s asking to see her husband. No need to keep her here, she’s doing great.” I remember a guy coming to my bed and asking if I was ready to see my family, and saying, “Yes please.” They pushed me through a few doors - I still don’t remember a lot of detail, but I ended up in the same place where I had first started. I don’t know how long I laid there, but I woke up more and more, and by the time my family came in I was pretty much awake. They told me they had to call my surgeon and get permission to discharge me, and I was wheeled out to our car about 15 minutes later.

The drive home was only about 40 minutes but I was very tired and dozed the whole way.

Lastnight I slept in a recliner. The pain isn’t bad until I move. Getting in and out of the recliner, or on and off the toilet, is really uncomfortable. It also hurts to walk. However, once I’m seated I’m good to go. I’ll post some pics of my incisions a little later on. Time to go for a little walk now, have to fight off those pesky bloodclots…