Finally, I'm a Bandster! WOOT!

(This is long, sorry all!)

My surgery story, 2-21-2008. First, I have to say, from the moment of my admission, to when I was discharged, Beaumont Hospital treated me like a V.I.P! They are getting a letter from me very soon, thanking them for their kindness. I was very nervous already, and people who are nasty (or intolerant of nervous people) make me even more nervous & upset. But everyone was super, very gentle and gave excellent care.

I was admitted at 6am. Went to a pre-op room (can't think of another name for it!) and had all the usual questions, they started an IV, drew blood, etc. I made sure to tell the anesthesiologist I get nauseated with anesthesia (in fact I told a lot of people I get nauseated easily, lol) :tongue: and since they don't want you throwing up, they gave me lots of drugs to prevent it. So far, I've experienced NO nausea at all, which is a blessing! The nurse anesthetist came in, and she was awesome - told me she was going to take good care of me, and she's been doing this for 35 years (another nurse made me laugh by saying she started at age 2, lol). The Nurse anesthetist gave me some "I'm happy to be here juice" (as they called it) before they took me into the operating room. Yep, that worked, LOL . . . I got "loopy", and had no anxiety being in the OR at all! Bring on the surgery! :tt1: ROFL! I don't remember much from there . . . they started hooking me up, and the next thing I knew I waking up. Anesthesia is a wonderful thing! OK . . . my waking up experience wasn't the best, probably the only real difficult part of my journey. I still intubated when I woke up (had the breathing tube in) and that was really making me feel gaggy. I was awake but couldn't move. There was a guy who had some kind of "stimulating" device (I don't know the word for this) who was "shocking" my fingertips - it felt like electric zaps in my fingers, kinda like when you get shocks from static electricity. It hurt! I wanted him to quit it, but I heard him say "not yet, she's not even twitching". (I think they were trying to determine when to pull out the breathing tube.) BAH! I tried to twitch my fingers but I couldn't. I struggled to open my eyes and let them know I was there, but my eyelids felt like lead. Finally I was able to open my eyes, and the guy stopped with the shock stuff immediately and the nurse anesthetist took my tube out. Relief! This "bad part" really only lasted 30 seconds or so, but it was enough, LOL. I woke up feeling very sleepy, had a headache, my throat was sore from the tube (plus a VERY dry cotton mouth) but no other pain.

I was moved into the recovery room, where every passing minute (or so) I felt better and better. Since I'm an "overnight" patient, I had to wait for a hospital bed. The hospital was full to capacity - so I had a looooong wait, waiting for someone else to be discharged. I believe they would have tried to move me out of recovery after a half hour, but they had no place to move me. :huh2: I waited in recovery for 5 hours until I finally got a hospital bed. (My surgery was at 8am, over about 9:10am.) It really wasn't bad waiting, they treated me so nicely, the nurse anesthetist came in and checked on me, my surgeon came in and said I did REALLY well! No complications at all. Best of all - he said my liver was nicely shrunk, and it didn't get in his way at all! :tongue: He said I must have done a really grand job on my pre-op diet. I was all kinds of proud then, LOL. I didn't get any pictures, but it was nice to hear that I have a very trim liver. So for those still on your pre-op diets - please stick with it!!! :w00t: It really helps! And if anyone is in the south-eastern (Oakland county) part of Michigan, I'd highly recommend Dr. Kevin Krause as a surgeon. :thumbup: He is so nice, easy to ask questions of, and a gentle guy with tons of experience.

While still in the recovery room - I was able to get up and walk to the bathroom. The nurses kept telling me how wonderful I was doing (I don't think recovery nurses are used to seeing their patients walk, lol). But then I was there for so long. They said my "color" was really good, and I looked like I should be reading a book, lol. They did give me pain medication once or twice, mostly for a terrible headache, that they said was from the anesthesia. No nausea, no pain in my stomach. I wondered if I had a band there at all, lol. :tongue:

OK . . . finally moved to my room - Beaumont has a floor dedicated to Bariatric excellence. And they were. I was treated so well. I was up and walking around, still only some dull discomfort in my abdomen, but no real pain, nothing like my gall bladder operation (thank-you to the wonderful ladies here in this forum who mentioned this!). Hardest part was getting in and out of bed, but I went slow, and even then it was still only soreness. There was some dull "achy-ness" in my shoulders (from the gas in surgery) and I just tried to walk it off.

Friday morning 2/22 - I had my "upper GI" . . . I drank some clear liquid contrast (small amount) while they got pictures. Easy easy. Stuff tasted icky, but no where near as bad as the chalky stuff they give up with a regular upper GI. Test was no more than 15 minutes, if that. My band was fine! Then I was able to eat my first meal - clear chicken broth and a popsicle for lunch. I managed half of both, then I was full. No nausea. Since I tolerated that, they said I could now go home, and slowly progress to a full liquid diet. I went home about 2pm on Friday. So my hospital stay was about 32 hours, almost a day and a half. I came home, showered, got into some comfy pj's, and SLEPT! lol. I'm still feeling pretty good today, everything just went beautiful, much better than I expected.

All in all, a very good lap-band surgery experience! :smile:

HI Rap!

We haven't had an update in awhile! how are you doing? how is the hunger? I need your inspiration to keep me on the straight and narrow. I am going to a seminar this month. I think the scariest part of me is giving of my friend, food. It's going to be hard to let go, but I know getting thinner is much better and healthier.

hope to hear from you soon!

*hugs* Yankee Sis!

I'm doing fabulous, thanks! 2 weeks out of surgery, and I don't feel like I've had surgery. I don't feel my port or band at all. So far so good! I can only hope this continues, but then I haven't had a fill yet . . . I think that's when the true test comes!

Yes, I'm hungry, I think I've entered "Bandster's hell" . . . not healed enough for a fill, but my stomach has healed enough to be hungry. I have to fight it it and stay on the plan my dietitian outlined for me. I'm still doing "mushie" foods, and it gets a little tiring having to puree everything, but I don't want to sabotage how far I've already come. The hunger part is hard, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel, I know one day I'll get a fill. :smile: So for now I'm toughing it out and hanging in there. Also hard is that the scales seem to have really slowed down. I want out of the 230's, but those last 2 pounds are not coming off! I have increased my exercise, but still the scales are being stubborn. I have to remind myself that right now, this is a time for healing . . . more weight loss will come later. When the weather gets nice around here, I know the weight loss will pick up again . . . when I go outside for a walk, I tend to stay out there MUCH longer than I stay on my treadmill. I did 40 minutes today on my treadmill, and it gets easier each time to do more, but it's just not the same as being outside! :tongue:

BIG CONGRATZ! :thumbup: to you for going to a seminar! That's the first step, and that's the only way to do this, just take it one step at a time. You'll do awesome! I know it's hard giving up food, it is for me too . . . I made hubby a chocolate brownie with chocolate frosting birthday cake this week. It was so hard baking that and not being able to eat any of it, but I did it! I didn't even lick a spoon. It made me feel good to be able to resist. Something that might help . . . stop looking as food as your friend? It's what made us miserable in the first place, friends don't do that! :tongue: You just gotta look at the wrong foods and say "I don't need you". Make new friends . . . better health, energy, feeling and looking good! Besides, not all of "diet" food is bad . . . there's some good stuff and yummy recipes! :thumbup:

Ok, enough chatter from me :tt2: I'm proud of you for doing this too! If you ever need anything, you know I'm always here for you. :smile:

love 'n hugs!

just a side note sis....wow, you can sure tell we are related! I just noticed that I picked the exact same ticket tape as you!! I never looked at yours at all before I went to the site. I just found the link and went there to view them, saw the one I liked the most and clicked on it...now I see you have the same one! It's amazing how we think alike at times. LOL

On Doctors....since the Dr that is here in my area Taught your DR, and I just found out that he is also the same Dr that did Dyan's gall bladder surgery, I am going to give him a try. If I don't like it there, then I will go to see your DR. I have to be comfortable with the drive time or I know myself, I won't go. I hate all the traffic and crazy roads. Even you have your husband drive you, so you know what I mean. I'm more comfortable driving around here since I will be alone all the time when I go. Someone with experience is important to me.

When is your first fill?

that was awesome, thank you for sharing. i am scheduled for 3/5/08 and i am very excited but have some nervousness. i have had surgery with anesthesia 2x in my life and the "happy juice" was great for the apprehension. I felt after surgery that I missed out on a part of my life for having no memory, but other than that they went well. it is very nice to hear you did so well and don't have complications. to what do you attribute your success for feeling so good after surgery? physical exercise prior, amount of excess body weight, etc? thanks for sharing, g2s

How are you doing? How did your surgery go?

Krista