Have my surgery July 17
& im 21 & in super nervous.
This is my first surgery, never been put to sleep and thats what triggering me. Also im scared of the pain? even though i know this will help me a lot.

I’ve been put under probably 12 to 15 times in my life and to be honest I enjoy the experience. I go into each one with a sense of wonderment and try to really experience the moment of going out and waking up. I know the aftermath might not be great, the pain afterwards is not fun in some cases, so I’m not minimizing that, but the experience of going under... that moment where you feel it happening and you know in a blink you’re going to be waking up in a different place and time is fascinating to me. I understand it’s scary doing something this big and this new and everyone approaches these differently from different perspectives. Try looking around the room at the equipment and wonder what it does, or look at the people and ponder their role in making sure everything goes well for you. I guess what I’m rambling about is this: you’re going to go through with this regardless, so don’t let the unknown of the experience overwhelm you. Go into it with curiosity and a sense of wonder. I’m a big chicken with a lot of new things, so it’s not like I’m some zen guru... but sometimes when I’m nervous about something I can catch myself and pull myself out of it this way... when I’m scared the moment is in charge and it’s big and scary and overwhelming, but if I catch myself and start thinking about how I’m feeling or get curious about this new experience it flips it for me and I’m in charge and I thrive off the novelty.

I had my first surgery when I was 24 and I was scared out of my mind! But, honestly, your image of it is a lot worse than it actually is (or at least that was true in my case lol). They take you into the operating room and the anesthesiologist talks to you bit and may ask you a few questions and then... you wake up in recovery.

I'm 32 right now and have had surgery 3 times (gallbladder removed, brain surgery, weight loss surgery. In that order lol). I was only scared the first time because it's the unknown that terrifies. And yeah, you'll be in pain when you wake up, it's typical of any surgery. But, you tell the doctor and they'll give you some lovely pain meds and you should pretty much be fine after that. Just make sure you walk, walk, walk, because you want to get that gas out of you and that's the only way to do that. Yes, it'll suck and you'll be sore and won't want to do it, but you actually feel a lot better when you push yourself a little bit. Not too much, just a little. If you're have the sleeve surgery (or DS or Loop DS) then your incision site where they removed your stomach is going to hurt the most. I had to have my mom help me in the shower because if I moved a certain way it hurt so bad I'd start crying. Also, getting up hurt. And sometimes sitting down. However, I also didn't take my pain meds so I'm not really a point of reference lol. I have a high pain tolerance due to my TN and I hate how pain meds make me feel so if I feel like I can withstand the pain I do and won't take the meds (I had a 30 pill prescription. I took maybe 8 or 9 pills of that and still have the majority of the prescription left over somewhere...).

So yeah, it's nowhere near as bad as your mind is making it seem. Just focus on how you're going to feel a year from now when you've lost a ton of weight and are a healthier you! I wish you the best!

I've had the same experience as the others. In fact, for two of my surgeries, I don't even remember being in the OR. I remember when they started to push the bed out the door of the prep area (headed for the OR), and the next thing I knew, I was in the recovery room. Easy peasy.

although pain is all across the board, the majority of us experience little to no pain with this surgery. I didn't even open my pain pills once I got home from the hospital because I honestly didn't have any pain (other than sore abs - i felt like Iike I'd done a bunch of crunches - but even then, I only felt it when getting out of bed). Even if you're one of the few of us who does feel pain, you'll have the pain meds they send you home with. Just keep on top of them and you'll be fine.

Going under is the least of your worries. One minute you are getting an IV and the next minute you are awake in recovery. It is so easy that one time I was put under for a colonoscopy and months later I was asking my doctor when I was going to have my colonoscopy. I had totally forgotten I had had the procedure!! LOL