Hello, First of all Congradulations to all of you with the band ! I am going in on Tuesday June 5th ( wow two more days ) I am getting very nervous and major cold feet worse than getting married LOL It has been so many yrs since I have had a hospital procedure done I just feel lost wondering what to expect when waking up . I have heard the pain is pretty bad, what was your experience ? Any words of wisdom you would share with me I would be so grateful. I posted before but didnt get a response. I am just getting scared of the " what if's " that I read on the complication board. Plus I watched the video of the surgery kinda wished I hadn't , it looked worse than I expected. I dont mean to sound like a baby but now that the date is so close I am getting nervous and a bit emotional at the same time because it is such a life changing event. My weight has ruled my life physically and emotionally for so long I cant imagine what it would be like to get out of the vicious cycle of diet failure. Deep down I am so excited I cant seep. Does this make any sence Haha ? It isnt just an operation it is going to change my life I hope for the better. Anyway what is it like the day of the surgery and that week ? Anything that I should be aware of or that you wished you would of known? Thanks so much you have no idea how much I appreciate your knowledge:) Sincerely Kim

Hi kimmom! Welcome!

I would suggest that you click on the Search link on the blue toolbar near the top of the page, then click on advanced search and then on the left side of the page, type the word expect in the box, then using the pull down arrow, select: Thread titles only. There are 28 threads here with the word expect in them. I was going to list some, but there are too many.

I suggest this because if you are like me, when I have a question, I want answers now. This place is full of wonderful info! Have a look around. I'm sure you'll get some good answers to this thread, but for your peace of mind, take alook at what others have said.

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much for the wonderful info, I had no idea how to do that:)

Kimmom,

When I woke up from surgery, I was in the recovery room and I was very groggy. I wasn't in that much pain, but I was very nauseated. I'd read to tell them that immediately, so I did. They gave me a shot and the nausea went away within 5 seconds -- literally. So, that's my first advice for you -- don't suffer through nausea. You don't want to throw up post-op and there's no need to suffer with it.

As for the pain, it really wasn't so bad. They gave me a pain shot in the recovery room, then one more when I got to my room. I'd say the pain was a 2 (on a scale of 1-10) when managed and never got above a 4. I went home the same day (optional, but I wanted to go home). I lived in a 4th floor walkup at the time, so you know it can't be too bad if I was OK to walk up stairs (albeit slowly). I didn't sleep great the first night, but I did sleep.

I took a week off work, which was perfect. I was more tired than usual for about a month, but I was completely functional -- I just required more sleep.

You're going to do just fine. Hang in there and best of luck. It'll be behind you before you know it. You're doing the right thing.

Hiya,

Congrats and Good luck on your journey to a new way of life! Keep reading posts, the knowledge here is tremendous. I would have chickened out if it weren't for all they great people here to help. One tip... don't wait till you feel gas pains to take something. I took a Gas X strip on the way home from the hospital and then took 2 or 3 a day for several days and it helped a lot.

Self pay 3.30.07

The Man, The Myth, The Legend... Dr Spivak

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