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Walk me through your operation



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Tell me all about your surgery day. What was it like? What procedure did you go through in terms of getting ready for your operation on the day of. What was the sedation process and how did you feel immediately after?

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Arrived at the hospital ~5:30am for a 7am surgery signed in filled out remaining paperwork.

Taken to the preop area, urine sample collected (pregnancy testing), changed into hospital gowns then weight, temp, blood pressure etc. testing.

Layed on bed while IV line was placed, asked to confirm personal info (name, date of birth, reason for visit -to make sure patient is aware of procedure)

Lactated Ringers began (IV fluids), Surgeon stopped by to go over the plan answer questions (very calming) next Anesthesiologist stops by and asked confirmation questions (name, date of birth, reason for visit -to make sure patient is aware of procedure) tell you the type of anesthesia answer questions.

VSG:

Versed Fentanyl given while being wheeled back to OR. I arrived to cheering and applause from surgical staff. Greeted everyone with fairytale princess waves. Transfered from bed to OR table. While monitoring devices were placed i drifted to sleep.

RNY conversion:

Wheeled back to OR, with jokes and laughter, where i was introduced to every member of the team (by name and position) who would work with me. Greeted by everyone with hand shakes or waves. Transfered to OR table.

Versed Fentanyl given while friendly chatter and banter ensued. Monitoring devices placed, i asked Anesthesiologist how long until i feel asleep, he told me to count to 100. Oxygen mask placed, i only remember counting to 8. Fell asleep immediately.

Both surgeries:

In and out of lucidity while in recovery area. Not fully awake until i reached my room ~1-2 hrs after surgery ended.

Edited by GreenTealael

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I have had 20 surgeries and it is pretty much exactly the way GreenTealael described. Versed is a wonderful drug that makes you forget.

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Mine is very similar to GreenTealael. The only difference is my surgeon wants his patients walking to prevent blood clots. So I got registered, walked. Talked to anesthesia, walked. Talked to surgeon, walked. Got a Lovenox shot in my belly, walked. Nurse came and I walked back to the OR and climbed on the OR table. Last thing I remember is anesthesia telling me to go to my happy place and my responding "Imma go to Disney World!"

I did not go to Disney. It was a little disappointing.

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Mine was almost exactly the same as GreenTealael - I've only had VSG. They also repaired a hiatal hernia which is somewhat common. The dull pain I had seemed (to me) to be more from that part of the surgery, but I can't be sure. I also had a decent headache later on in the day which I think was from caffeine withdrawal. I never had any pain I would consider severe or uncontrollable.

Good luck!

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Exactly what Greentealeal said!! To a T[emoji108][emoji108]

Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

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Similar process as GreenTealael. Only difference was that since my surgery was a revision, they offered a epidural and that was done in the operating room. They also asked if I would be ok with a direct line in my neck as it would make injections and taking blood easier later. I said yes to both.

9 hours later I was waking up feeling like I was hit by a semi truck minus the broken bones.

After recovery where your pretty out of it and I can barely remember much from it other then a nice nurse that hit a button when I said I hurt. They rolled me up to my room where I took inventory. Besides the incision site, I had 3 drains, Feeding tube coming out of my abdomen.

What I didn't expect was my right leg and left arm were sore if not in pain. This was due to how I was laid on the operating table. The nurses were nice about it and provided ice packs to help recover.

Your Milage May Vary though as all surgeries are different.

Good Luck!

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1 hour ago, BoredCW said:

Similar process as GreenTealael. Only difference was that since my surgery was a revision, they offered a epidural and that was done in the operating room. They also asked if I would be ok with a direct line in my neck as it would make injections and taking blood easier later. I said yes to both.

9 hours later I was waking up feeling like I was hit by a semi truck minus the broken bones.

After recovery where your pretty out of it and I can barely remember much from it other then a nice nurse that hit a button when I said I hurt. They rolled me up to my room where I took inventory. Besides the incision site, I had 3 drains, Feeding tube coming out of my abdomen.

What I didn't expect was my right leg and left arm were sore if not in pain. This was due to how I was laid on the operating table. The nurses were nice about it and provided ice packs to help recover.

Your Milage May Vary though as all surgeries are different.

Good Luck!

Woah! they gave you the deluxe package

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26 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

Woah! they gave you the deluxe package

Yup, even got gallbladder and appendix removed, an unknown hernia fixed that was identified in an office visit and a Liver biopsy. As they were under the hood, might as well take care of everything else that will probably go wrong or is in the area.

Edited by BoredCW
Added quote

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7 minutes ago, BoredCW said:

Yup, even got gallbladder and appendix removed, an unknown hernia fixed that was identified in an office visit and a Liver biopsy. As they were under the hood, might as well take care of everything else that will probably go wrong or is in the area.

Holy smokes, Batman!

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4 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

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LOL! So versed = fentanyl?

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Mine was a little different. I got to the hospital at the time they requested and didn't get called back until about 20 mins later, but from there I went to pre-op, got weighed, took a long trek back to my room, then she went over my allergies, medical problems, and what to expect then sent me to the bathroom for a pregnancy test.

After that she had me change into a gown and wipe down my abdomen and sides with these cleaning cloths, then she started my IV and I took a bunch of meds (acid reducer, gabapentin, and something else). Then my surgeon came by and we chatted, then the anesthesiologist stopped by and soon enough I was off to the OR. I didn't get any meds like versed or fentanyl prior to going back to the OR so I remember getting in the room and seeing how crowded everything looked because mine was done with a robot. I used to work in the OR so I'm used to seeing all of that stuff but seeing it for me was stress inducing (plus our robot rooms were much larger)! I got transferred to the OR table then had a mask on my face and it was lights out within seconds. I don't remember much until the next day really.

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