I'm getting banded in a month or so. The more anxious and excited I get as the surgery draws near, I also notice a deep fear perpetuating about the possibility of dying on the table! I feel morbid and strange, but I can't help but worry that once I get put under I won't wake up! Did anyone else have this fear? Can anyone calm me down a bit? :help:

shortgal, just like you, i didn't come here to argue, just came for support/information. i understand you not taking that from his comment, but it is well known that there are people who believe if you don't believe in jesus you're going to hell, and he said he is going to heaven because he does believe...

anyway - i see you were banded recently - how is it going so far? my surgery is soon, as you saw from the other thread we spoke on... i'm excited/nervous/want it to be a year from now so i'm thinner already!

Oh Wow, I cannot believe what I wrote was offensive...how on earth if you don't believe my way and believe I am wrong, could it anger or offend you? It seems that if you are only unsettled in your faith would someone elses faith bother you. I DID NOT say that everyone else is going to hell. I stand by what I said. I am PROUD of what I said I do not apologize for WHOSE I am. Jesus said, not me, "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that who so ever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life". Now what wrong with that? That is straight from the bible. If it was up to me, I wouldn't make it, but thank God, Jesus made the difference for me!

Sarah,

I'm sorry to hear you're starting to feel that way. I was exactly the opposite, which truly scared my boyfriend. I didn't worry about that possibility because I was so desperate to lose weight. I didn't even tell my family about my surgery because I figured it would worry them unnecessarily.

I can tell you that I had surgery on December 12th, 2007, and while not everything was perfect, the staff at the hospital was amazing. They are typically trained specifically for this, assuming you're working with a dr. and hospital that has a good sized program. I was on a floor with other bariatric surgical patients and the nursing staff was amazing. Even my OR nurse sat and spent time chatting with me prior to surgery to be sure I was ok. (I sent my boyfriend back to work for the day--ya think I was in denial?!) I think my only nervousness was when I was lying by myself in recovery as I didn't know I'd have a tube down my throat, so I assumed something must have gone wrong. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

While I realize none of what I've said may have helped, try to focus on the positives that have brought you to this point. It has taken months, if not years, to allow you to have this surgery. Your doctor wouldn't risk his/her career by operating on you if you weren't a good, strong candidate. Their families depend on that income!! If your insurance company is paying, they, too, have closely examined your records and had to agree that you should have the surgery.

I wish you the best of luck. Sometimes using logic helps me at least quell the feelings of regret as I go along in life, and I hope that will help you, too. Know that you're not only improving your life, but truly extending your life by having this surgery. May your surgery be event free.

we each can believe what we believe, including, you, cracked pepper. Neither of us pushed anything on anyone and just as you posted your opinion, we can post our opinion. If it upset you, maybe your beliefs are not as steadfast in your mind as you would like. Not our problem.

and one more little tidbit --- if you will search other threads, you will see there are many people with many beliefs. Some are Christian, some are not. Regardless of what any of us believes or doesn't believe, there is no reason to blast me or anyone else because we believe something different than you. None of us really knows if our beliefs are 'IT' or not. All of us could have it wrong. But, that is why we have the right to choose our own beliefs.

There was no reason to try to attack Wayne for saying what got them through the surgery. I re-read their post and there is nothing in there that implies that if you don't believe like they did, you're going to hell.

I have to say I think it's uncalled for when people who are non-religious feel the need to try to start hatred about religion. If you don't believe like they do, then you don't relate to what they're saying, and you both have that right. No need to start flaming about it. Move along.

My biggest fear about dying on the table was the aftermath. I'm young, and my parents helped pay for it. If I died on the table, I know they'd never forgive themselves. I kept telling them as I was going in there, if something happens, this is what I wanted and don't think it was your fault.. was kind of an akward moment. Thank goodness it all worked out!

Dying on the table is my #1 fear. But, this is how I look at it. I'm getting banded on January 21. With the weight I'm at now, chances are I'm going to end up in the hospital on the OR table in a emergency-type situation due to a heart attack or stroke or, a controlled situation like having the band placed. I'm definately picking the controlled situation with the surgeon that knows me well and a team of people ready to take care of a bariatric patient.

Hope this helps.

This is a GREAT way to view it. Thank you SO much. This has calmed my fears. Well for now. Tomorrow is a new freak out day! Heh.

LA-

Your thread caused some serious critique of my religious positions, but I was trying to help you. My situation was that my wife had used all vacation days, my parents were sitting my g-ma who has had a recent stroke, and my siblings was out of town...I opted not to make a big deal at church, so I was by myself...but everything went fine. You too will be fine. I believe you'll find the hospital staff to be grade A, number 1. Good luck, keep us posted!

LA-

Your thread caused some serious critique of my religious positions, but I was trying to help you. My situation was that my wife had used all vacation days, my parents were sitting my g-ma who has had a recent stroke, and my siblings was out of town...I opted not to make a big deal at church, so I was by myself...but everything went fine. You too will be fine. I believe you'll find the hospital staff to be grade A, number 1. Good luck, keep us posted!

Wayne: It wasn't my post. Well this one isn't. (hope your not referring to something else... :scared:)

Anyway... for what it is worth, I was not offended by your post whatsoever. I am as non-religious as they come, but I have no problems whatsoever with someone discussing how they felt or feel. That is why I am here. :mad: I am glad you had comfort in your beliefs on the day of surgery. :biggrin1:

Wayne, this is Candy. We were both 'critiqued' by crackedpepper, not LA.

Wayne & Candy - both your responses to me are that I'm somehow shaky in my religion if I was offended by your posts? That's stupid. Would you say to someone in the 1950s that when they were told they had to pray in school, it was their problem if they didn't want to, because they were shaky in their religion? I will repeat, AGAIN -- I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH ANYONE'S RELIGION... I have seen other people's religious posts on this board... no problem at all... this is America, we have freedom of religion here! What I am saying (and how Wayne can not see this, since they were his own words, is beyond me), is that when you say I'm going to heaven because of whose I am, and it is well known that a lot of Christians think other faiths are going to hell because they haven't "accepted Jesus" -- I find that offensive. I was going to give Wayne the benefit of the doubt, but then both Candy & Wayne came on spouting crap about how I must be shaky if I find it offensive. And for what it's worth, Candy, I wasn't offended by your post so much as I was saying don't think like that, we have many controls over our lives... don't just accept something, get the best doctors and such....

Again, I'm just here for help..

Sarah I'm a nurse and this is the safest procedure for you. If your doctor is a good one he would have screened you well enough that you shouldn't worry. Have you ever had anesthesia before? If so that's your proof that things will go well. I just starting the process but I've spent a long time researching this before I made the decision....good luck

sharon:)

LA-

I was just wishing you the best and extending you courtesy since you started the thread...I knew you didn't critique religion, may I say again, it will be o.k., and keep us posted.

Candy and Fairy, thanks for going to bat for the comments I first made.

Cracked Pepper, You offended me in no way. I will pray for your surgery.

Happy New Year Banders!!!

Not sure how this got so out of hand, but I find it offensive that I am not allowed to post MY own opinion. I do believe in fate. I do believe our days are numbered and that God has a plan for us. That doesn't mean that YOU believe the same thing. And, I disagree that Wayne's post says that since you don't believe the same that YOU won't go to heaven. You are reading that in because you don't agree. That would be like saying that since YOU don't believe in God that everyone else has no right to say they feel any different. You want to have your right to post your opinion, but don't want to give us the same consideration. That is offensive to me. I have the right to say Merry Christmas. I have the right to say that I feel our time is set out from our birth. The scriptures back up what I say. And, yes, there are unfair things that happen, (holocaust, children dying) but the innocent have always suffered. It is not for us to question the why, just to know there is a plan for each person's life, set by God. Maybe God doesn't sit in heaven and say, "These two people are having the same surgery the same day. This one will die, this one will live." But, He allows things to happen, maybe by the choices that men make (like a bad doctor). We have no way of knowing this. The scripture also says it is not for us to ask why or to know the reasons for all things, but to have faith and be steadfast in what you believe.

The posts made by Wayne and by myself are OUR opinions. There are other people who DO feel this way, and may find solace in our post. There are other people who do NOT feel the same way, and they can skip our post and go on to something else. I work for a Jewish man, and he doesn't believe in Jesus. It doesn't mean that I don't have the right to how I feel or to express my feelings. I know a muslim girl who works at a store down the street, and she just got married because of a family arrangement. She always expresses well wishes to me when I stop there on my way to church on Sundays and wishes me well. I too wish her well. I do not try to impose my beliefs on either one of them and respect their faith and their feelings.

So, my conclusion? I will be praying for you.