First I just want to thank those of you who PMed me to see how I was doing. I really appreciate your concern! I realize that it’s been a few days since surgery and I haven’t posted so some of you might have been wondering if everything went okay. It did and I figure I might as well tell you about my surgery experience so it might help those of you being banded soon. I’ve found that there are a bunch of different experiences, so I am sharing mine. I apologize in advance because this is really really long, but I found other people’s detailed stories were very helpful in getting a realistic picture (or it might just be too long!)

Surgery was early Wednesday (Jan 9) morning. I was up at 5am and out of the house by 6am. The hospital is only 30 min away. By 7 am I was in my hospital gown and I met with a nurse in the prep area who took my vitals and I had one tube of blood drawn. Everything sort of felt very surreal, as this was my first time ever having surgery. After that, I was rolled into the waiting area to meet with the anesthesiologist and get my IV started. I saw my surgeon and he asked if I had any questions, which I didn't really.

The anesthesiologist gave me something to relax me and then my vision went a little blurry and dizzy, that's the best way to describe it. Then they rolled me into the OR and they had me transfer over to the operating table. I laid back and someone said "take a deep breath" and they put a mask over my face and within one breath I was out and the next thing I knew I was in recovery. Surgery was at about 8ish and I was in recovery by 9:15ish I think.

The first time I remember seeing the clock, it was 9:45. For the next few hours I was in and out. I wanted to clear my throat, but it hurt my stomach to cough and my mouth was dry. I wasn't allowed more than a few ice chips in recovery. They were waiting for a bed to be available and the nurses weren't able to tell me when it would be available. They said it could be 2 hours or 12 hours. Finally by 2:30 there was a bed available and they took me to my room. I had my own room until 7 pm, which was nice. I had a morphine pump which I could control , which allowed me to give myself a dose of morphine every 15 minutes. The morphine makes you very sleepy so I took naps here and there.

The worst pain for me was the gas pain from being blown up with air for surgery. The gas caused my shoulders to hurt really badly. I was able to get Mylicon (basically Gas-x) which relieved the gas somewhat. I also got a heating pad to put on my shoulders to relieve some of the pain too. I got up once that evening to go to the bathroom. I was very weak and it made me nauseous so the nurses gave me something for the nausea. I was able to sleep pretty well through the night except for the fact that the nurse comes in to take your vitals every 3 hours which wasn’t terribly annoying.

Day 1 Post-op: Thursday Jan 10

Thursday morning I got up to go to the bathroom and I got nauseous again so they gave me the anti-nausea medicine. I got up and walked down the hospital hall for a few minutes. My stomach was very sore and I had a lot of gas pain (still from surgery). I was discharged at about 3pm. The car ride home was painful because every bump in the road moves your body. I had a pillow to hold against my stomach, which helped a little. When I got home I was still in a lot of gas pain. I slept in a recliner because it hurt too much to lie down on a bed. I woke up once or twice in the middle of the night, but overall I slept pretty well. Ate ice chips, don’t know how much and the nurse made me drink a bit of apple juice to make sure I could tolerate something besides Water.

Day 2 Post-op: Friday Jan 11

Friday was definitely 10x better than Thursday. I was able to walk easier. I think the gas from surgery was basically gone but now I had stomach gas pain. I’ll save the gory details, but I took Milk of Magnesia, which didn’t do anything so I took another laxative. Friday night I slept in the recliner again. I woke up in the middle of the night with a lot of gas pain and little bit of nausea from the gas building up. Drank about 16 oz of water and 4-6 oz of chicken broth for the entire day.

Day 3 Post-op: Saturday Jan 12

Saturday was basically spent in the bathroom and napping. By Saturday night things had calmed down, but I still had gas pain, but bearable. I know I needed some calories in me. I had 2-1 oz ice pops earlier in the day. I sipped 24 oz of water early in the day too. In the evening I drank almost 20 oz of water plus 8 oz of beef broth and another 2-1oz. ice pops. I went to sleep in my bed propped up by a lot of pillows and I slept pretty well.

Day 4 Post-op: Sunday Jan 13

Today I am feeling 10x better than yesterday. I am walking around with a lot of more ease. The most painful incisions are the port and the one that is closest to my waistline on my right side (I have 5 incisions total). Still have some gas pain in my lower stomach, not horrible. I’m eating the Gas-x strips like it’s candy! I woke up this morning (more like 12pm) with an actual hunger feeling. My doc basically says first week is liquids. Up until today I couldn’t see myself drinking anything besides Clear Liquids. At about 1pm I drank about 5 oz of Slimfast low-carb Protein shake. I am now sipping water and going to have about 2 oz of pureed butternut squash Soup.

That’s about all for now! I hope this helped some of you. I realize how long it is. I guess if you’re reading this you probably read through the whole thing, so for that I thank you for taking the time to do that. If you skipped to the last line because the post was too long then basically, it’s 4 days since surgery and I’m feeling better!

Hey well done Red. You sound like you are doing well and glad to hear things feel about right for you. I have to say the same for me, and I had my surgery the following day to you, but I feel like I am tracking well. Have some discomfort and pain over left side where port is today but think I got a bit too adventurous yesterday going shopping for food then outside watering the garden (we have to hand Water in South Australia because of severe drought).

The gas pain is still there and last night I had a heat pack on my shoulder and took painkillers which basically knocked me out.

Good to hear all is well with

:welldoneclap:

Hi RedTulip,

Thank you so much for posting, glad to hear you are on the mend! Your post was perfect, I'm having surgery tomorrow and it is good to see the more detailed posts so I have an idea of what to expect.

You've already lost 67lbs, almost half way, congratulations!

Jen

I haven't lost 67 lbs since surgery 5 days ago obviously! That was pre-op. I'm about to change my ticker to start fresh from surgery counting down the lbs.! Good luck tomorrow greeneyez!

Hilary, the heat is really helping me too. I'm using Thermacare heat pads on my stomach (don't know if you have them in Australia. They're just disposable heat pads). I've yet to venture outside or get dressed for that matter. I hope to get out some time this week!

Hi Redtulip3,

I was worried about you. I am glad you posted and that you are doing better. You had been posting so much and then nothing a few days. I asked about you. I'm glad you did well. I look forward to hearing how you are doing. Diane:biggrin:

So glad to hear you are home and getting better. The worst is over now I think. The gas gets a bit better each day. Your story was fun to read even though I already had my surgery too. I just enjoy hearing everyones experiences. Looking forward to reading on everyones progress too! Take it easy... we have the rest of our lives to look forward to bein healthier!

Good on you RedTulip3. Hopefully the wind pains will be getting less and less. Hope every thing goes smoothly for you from here on.

Saleel22

Dianegoe, Good luck for tomorrow.

Saleel22

Good luck to you for tomorrow,Jen.

Saleel22

Congratulations Redtulips! I made it too! I was banded at 8:00 A.M. on Thursday and this is my first post. I didn't start feeling human until Saturday night and today only used tylenol so that helped clear my head. I ended up staying longer than I planned at the hospital. My bladder decided not to function, a result of the anesthsia. It took a Foley cath to take care of the problem until I was able to go on my own. Other than that, I walked well right away, no problem, the gas was a little tough, but when you know it's coming you just deal with it. I'm glad it's all done, I'm thrilled to know I'm banded, was really happy to move to the soft Proteins today. But I was almost scared to eat. I didn't know a teaspoon of cottage cheese could taste so wonderful. Oh! And my 1st shower was heaven! Awe-the little things.

Planning on going to work tomorrow, IF I can button my jeans, still bloated a bit. If I work I'll play it by ear, maybe work 1/2 day.

Thanks to everyone for your support & sharing of your experiences!

Best wishes to all of you scheduled this week for surgery.

Carol

Great to hear from you Carol! Glad everything went well. I actually did without any pain meds today! Wahoo! I can't imagine going back to work so soon after surgery being the way I feel. Maybe in a few more days. Lucky for me that I'm a student and I'm on vacation now! Be well!

Thanks guys, I'm just relaxing this afternoon. I'm so ready to do this! Will post when I get home.

I'm so glad you're doing good, hope you have a speedy recovery! Thanks for the update and telling us about your experience, it definately makes a little less nervous when I hear the good ones...lol!

Thanks for sharing your story! So glad you are doing better :welldoneclap: :wink: My surgery is coming up sooo fast. Ready your story helped relax me. :biggrin:

I am so glad everyone is doing so well. what works best for the gas pains?

glad to hear you are doing well and thanks for sharing your story