Update on my May 12th Surgery....

[CaliGirl626 0]

Hi All,

I did it.. I am now a fully bandster.... Woo hoo~!

Here are the Recap of yesterday:

- Got to the Hospital at 8AM, the surgery is schedule for 10 AM.

- Nurse was having a heck of a time trying to find my vain. She said i'm probably one of the hardest people that she ever worked on. For a good 1/2 hour, I turned into a human pin-cushions...She gave up and said she will have the anethesiologist deal with my vain problem.

- 10:15 AM, the wheeled me into the surgery room. After about 10 breaths of the sweet-anethesia, I was out...

- 12:30 woke up in recovery room. My throat was so dry...After a bit of head shaking and drumming my finger on the rail. I got my Water. Had no problem swallowing at all. Felt like someone punched my in my stomach, my throat was itchy and irritated, like how it would feel after a rock concert. But other than that, I was good.

- 12:35 Pain Meds!!! Woo hoo, the nurse ended up giving me like 3 shots, it didn't really get rid of the pain, but sure makes me comfortable.

- The nurse called my hubby to get into the recover room. Hubby helped me getting dressed, I told the nurse I need to go potty. She walked me over to the restroom, then told me that I'm good to go home. Yay!

- 1:20 left the hospital.

- 2:00 Arrived home, walked around in the house for 15 mins. received my first dose of liquid vicodin around 2:15. Drank more water, took a sip of Protein Shake. Fell at sleep in front of the TV around 2:45. Woke up at 3:10, walked some more.

- 3:30 - 5:00 consists of walking around in the house, sip of water, sip of Protein shake, walked some more. 10-15 mins of cat nap, also did the breathing exercise, legs exercise every hour.

- 5:15 My hubby took our two doggies out for a walk, I took bottle of water with me and went with them. It was about 25 mins walk. Felt okay afterwards.

- 7:00 went over my in-laws (10 mins away). Made the broth using "Better than Boullion", had to add water, a bit too salty for me. Than at 8PM, we walked for another half hour.

- Took a nap on my In-laws couch for a good 30 mins. Then My hubby and I decided to go home.

- A bit difficult trying to figure out the best position to sleep. I decided to sleep normally, just elevate my feel a little. Had a protein Mint Cocoa mix (Hot). Took some more of the Liq vicodin. Then do one more feel exercise before I went to sleep.

- Woke up around 2AMm needed to go potty. It was difficult getting up, My stomach hurt a bit, probably because the pain killer wore off. Heck, I'm sleepy, I'm not going to take another dose! Went back to sleep.

===============

That was about it for my first day. No shoulders pain, nothing. I'm so happy I got this done. I know my doctor said I can have Jello if I want to. But I think I'll stick with pure liquids for atleast a week.

I'm hoping I'll hear from other May 12th Bandster. Let me know how are all my May 12th Lapband siblings are doing okay?

Take Care!!!

-Aya- " Shrinko De aYa~!"

[elvisfan1219 0]

where do you get mint Protein cocoa?

[waikiki 0]

Congrats on your surgery.. I like hearing step by step of the procedure as I am anticipating mine soon. Sounds like you are doing great!! Keep up the good work and keep us posted..

[LundyLane 0]

Nice to read your post about your first day!! My "first day" is just around the corner - I hope for the same when my time comes :thumbup: Wish you the best of luck!!

I did my pre -op thing today took all morning, went well and everyone was really nice! Can wait until May 28th :eek:

Start my pre-op diet tomorrow which was better than I thought it would be just low cal about 1000 cal a day until the big day - I can do that! :tongue:

[CanHardlyWait 0]

hi fellow bandster. i went it may 12th as well. sugery seemed to go fine. the aftermath now is my issue. having alot of nauseau. some vomiting as well. i had the shoulder pain last night but it has subsided. taking sips of Water and trying an ice pop now. doc is having me in for an upper gi tmorrow.

glad everything is going great for you--i hope to get there soon!

[CaliGirl626 0]

where do you get mint Protein cocoa?

Hi elvisfan!

I got the mint cocoa mix from Dietdirect.com. I bought a bunch of stuff from them, I really like all the mixes from the brand WonderSlim. It tastes great! I love everything minty, but if you don't they also have the regular cocoa, cappucino, pudding mixes, Soups, all high Protein stuff!

Here's the Nutrition facts on the mint cocoa:

Calories 70

Fat 1 g

Cholesterol less than 5 mg

Sodium 220 mg

Potassium 200mg

Total Carb 6 g

Dietary Fiber 1 g

Sugars 3 g

Protein 12 g

Hope this helps!

[CaliGirl626 0]

Glad you guys like my update! I was worried about it being too long and too detailed.

Canhardlywait: Try walking a lot, walking seems to help me. On the discharge paper, they said to keep walking until you pass gas (don't remember the exact word, flatuous?) I'm not great with spelling, sorry...

I reaelly hope you get better soon. I think nausea is the side effects of the anathesia. My only side effect from the drug is that I'm super thirsty. I've been drinking like a Camel!

Other thing is that bad-taste Protein shake can make you want to throw up. I've tried many brands and I absolutely love the EAS AdvantEdge. The Dark choc and the Choc fudge are very good. It tastes like when you make cocoa with nonfat milk. Not too thick, easy to drink and keep it down. You might want to try that. You can also PM me if you want to talk. We need all the support we can get!

To tell you the truth, the worst part of yesterday was the human-pincushion! I think that hurt more than the surgery...

I'm having a crazy sore throat also, and yeap, compare to the pain from the surgery, the sore throat is worst!

[fluffycat 1]

Congrats! Just want to know what exercises you referred to. I haven't heard about that and i am scheduled for May22nd.

[Yaherd 0]

Great news as I go in next Monday and was getting worried.. you make it seem easy.. I hope I do so well... so how much Water are you getting down at once? sips or gulps?

[JustinsMama 1]

I'll try to remember all the details (a little tired today). We stayed at a hotel a mile from the hospital Sunday night as we are 1 and 1/2 hours away from the hospital and I had to be there at 7:15 a.m.

Got up about 5:25 since I had been tossing and turning all night and took a shower, etc.

Got to the hospital on time and checked in. I was in the outpatient center at the hospital though I still stayed overnight in a private room.

Was called in to pay the remaining balance my insurance wasn't covering and then was directed to the outpatient holding area desk. They took my weight (I was 1/10th of a pound under what they wanted me to be - yay!). Then had me go into a little room with a bed and had me change into a hospital gown and those lovely red socks with rubber skid markings on them. At this point my husband was with me. Then a nurse came to take me to the holding outpatient area in a wheelchair and at that point I had to tell my husband goodbye. I got a little lump in my throat and thought I may start getting teary too but I got past that and was okay.

They then got me on a gurney/bed and wheeled me into the holding room. There were other people on beds separated by curtains waiting for there surgery so that was comforting that other people were there waiting too for some sort of surgery too. I met the anesthesiologist and the nurse anesthesiologist who both put me at ease (nurse said she would give me a little "margarita" to take the edge off - it did). I also saw the P.A. and surgeon before that and they both assured me everything would be perfectly safe and all would be fine.

After getting my blood thinner shot in the side of my stomach (the needle to hurt too bad but the medicine really started stinging there after a few minues) then the Anest. Nurse got my IV going and a little while later gave me my little "margarita" concoction in my IV. I didn't feel it at first then it kind of hit me and I was like, okay - let's do this.

They then started to wheel me into the O.R. and the nurse in there asked if I wanted to scoot myself over to the table or have them do it. I said to her "what is normally the better way, I don't want you to throw your backs out". She said don't worry about that we do this all the time and said they would move me over and honestly I don't remember anything after that.

I don't know if they had gone ahead and started something else through my IV and I was out or maybe they put a mask over me and I just don't remember but the next thing I knew, I vaguely remember dreaming about something and then a nurse was letting me know I was in the recovery room as I was waking up. After being in there for a while I was taken to a private room where I stayed the night. I got up and walked around after a little while - had a morphine pain pump but quit taking it after last night because it kept giving me these nasty headaches.

The nurses would come in and check on me about every two hours last night so needless to say, didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night but plan on getting a good night sleep tonight now that I'm home.

I'm on clear and full liquids now for the first two weeks, pureed food weeks 3 and 4, soft foods week 5 and 6 and real food by week 7. I wasn't allowed anything after the surgery (not even ice chips) and didn't start any liquids until today about 2:00 p.m.

So that's my experience. Hopefully I'll lose a few pounds in the next few weeks.

Glad everyone else is doing well and take care! (I'm going to get some sleep!)

-Heather

[SueAZ 3]

Your messages on how your surgery day went are very interesting to us that are just about to hit our surgery day. Seems that the more you are able to get up and move, the better you feel. I'm going to make sure I get my tush in gear and walk. Thanks for taking the time to write in the forum.:smile2:

[picturemethin 0]

Surgery is different for everyone.. on my first day I was running... because of the amount of pain killers I had in my system. However, for the week and a half following surgery I was having healing pains sometimes they were pretty bad, sometimes they were dealable, I took pain medication for a full two weeks after my surgery (I am not a wusy, I have had other major surgeries).. Please, Please don't think that it will be a breeze, please be prepared for the worst. That way you will be relieved when is fairly easy. and if its not your not pissed off at the world for making you believe it was easy.

BTW i did walk alot at least every two hours, it helped relieve some of the stuck gas pain in the esophagus.

Edited May 13, 2008 by picturemethin

[new_jewel 1]

I was officially banded last week on wednesday may 7th (one month from intl consult) at the Forest Health Bariatric Center in Ypsilanti, MI ...I arrived at the center at 10am, had blood drawn for a prego test then i was taken into a pre-op room where i had to change into my sexy hospital gown (wouldnt even let me keep my panties lol) and my pretty party hat as they called it ..ya know the blue shower cap looking thing they make you tuck your hair into lol..so after i was dressed..or undressed i would say...they measured my waist just in case i needed an ab binder after surgery (if they have to open you up, you get a girdle type thing to hold your stomach) so i told the nurse that when i woke up in recovery, it would be the first thing i would look for because i was counting on them to do the surgery laproscopic lolclimbed into my hospital bed, had an IV put in my hand so they could give me fluids, answered 100 questions that i had already answered at pre-op screening, then they let my mom come in and hang out with me for about an hour while we waited for my turn to come....as the time for surgery approached, i had to drink the sour grape tasting stuff to settle my stomach acids for surgery, then they put the happy juice in my IV and i barely remember the ride to the OR...went into OR at 1:30pm...woke up in recovery room at 3pm...first question out of my mouth was "do i have a binder on?" while feeling my stomach lol...thankfully i didnt, nurse asked me how my pain was (1-10) i was at about a 5...felt like someone had punched me in the stomach, so she put some meds in my IV and the pain dropped down to about a 1.5...from then on i just felt like i did too many situps the day before...got into my hospital room at 4pm, had a sf popcycle, ate some ice chips, had the worse case of cotton mouth in my life lol got up and went pee, did a couple laps walking around the halls, told the nurse i was ready to go anything they wanted to let me lol7pm..nurse came in with a dose of meds for me to take in case i was in pain on the ride home...stopped at kroger and riteaid on the way home, walked around both stores with no problem...got home, walked around a little, watched some tv, drank a chocolate banana Protein Shake took some pain meds for the night and slept in the reclyner in case i had to get up in the middle of the night.....thursday--day 2 woke up, had a Protein shake, felt like i had a wild night..whole body was wore, but nothing i havent delt with before from being out partying with the girls etc....decided to have cream of potato Soup (liquidfied in the blender of course) for lunch....actually taste like scalloped potato sauce to me......also had frozen strawberry protein shake, (as close to ice cream as im going to get for a bit)...friday, saturday and sunday went well...monday i went back to work (desk job) felt great, decided to get inventive and bought some hormel chili with bean, put in in the blender to liquify it, then added some shredded cheese to melt when i heated it up....taste like pintos and cheese from taco bell.....now the can made 16 oz once blended...so i ended up eating about 4oz and being stuffed lol...im still trying to rap my brain around the idea that 3 and 4 oz of liquid fills me right now lol and i have my liquids 6 times a day (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack) gets all my protein in..i'm really glad i didnt have a hard time at all, but i also went ino surgery prepared for the worst just in case...im the type that hopes for the best but weighs the options on all that can happen lol.....as of today, 6 days after being banded...i have lost 16 lbs and have been able to eat(drink) whenever i am hungry....when on full liquids you are only limited to your imagination and the power of a blender lol

Edited May 14, 2008 by new_jewel

[mstrina27 0]

Glad you guys like my update! I was worried about it being too long and too detailed.

Canhardlywait: Try walking a lot, walking seems to help me. On the discharge paper, they said to keep walking until you pass gas (don't remember the exact word, flatuous?) I'm not great with spelling, sorry...

I reaelly hope you get better soon. I think nausea is the side effects of the anathesia. My only side effect from the drug is that I'm super thirsty. I've been drinking like a Camel!

Other thing is that bad-taste Protein shake can make you want to throw up. I've tried many brands and I absolutely love the EAS AdvantEdge. The Dark choc and the Choc fudge are very good. It tastes like when you make cocoa with nonfat milk. Not too thick, easy to drink and keep it down. You might want to try that. You can also PM me if you want to talk. We need all the support we can get!

To tell you the truth, the worst part of yesterday was the human-pincushion! I think that hurt more than the surgery...

I'm having a crazy sore throat also, and yeap, compare to the pain from the surgery, the sore throat is worst!

Caligirl....i luv u... I appreciate u soooo much for posting this... I am out patient also... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh u just don't know how this has helped me... and Thursday it should be pretty nice outside and I am going to walk with my son outside i'm sure he will like that... wow... amazing...:smile2::thumbup::tongue2:

[CaliGirl626 0]

Fluffycat: The nurse gave me this little instrument with a tube on one side and i'm suppose to breath-in using the tube. I think it's to exercise my lung. It's weird now when I breath deep, I could hear a wheezing sound, I think I sounded like a leaking beach ball to tell you the truth...hahaha.

Yaherd: I try to sip a bit at a time. Before the surgery it would take me 5 mins to down an 11 oz. shake. this morning it took me from 7 AM - 10:30 to drink one (through the straw). I alternate between Water and shake. So far it's 5PM my time and I'm on my 3rd 16 oz. bottle. Since I walk a lot, I tend to drink more than 64 oz. a day anyway. So no gulping, sipping is the way to go!

Disneyfreak: I didn't get the magarita! Instead of the lovely red socks, I got the gray one instead. And that comes with the lovely one of a kind designer back-less gown. The one they gave me was ginormous, I could wrap the gown atleast one extra time around me.

When I had to scoot over to the surgery bed, I asked if I could just climb over there instead. I told them I don't want any "Paris Hilton/Britney Spears flashing" incident. Don't want to be cruel to them. Last thing I want is for them to have temporarily blindness because of me flashing them. hahaha

SueAZ: I think I was blessed to recover this quick. Like "Picturemethin" said, it's different for everyone. All I can say is "Stick to your Pre-Op diet. Start walking as much as you can." I truly believe that if I didn't lost the weight Pre-Op, It would take me a lot longer to recover. Just remember that if you cheat on your Pre-Op diet, you are cheating yourself.

So the better shape you are, your recovery will be a lot faster. I feel okay now, but I'm still going to stick to my 1 week off work. I don't want to go back too soon. Plus it's my throat that is totally killing me. My voice is just gone....

Picturemethin: Totally agree with you on the fact that every recovery is different. I just wanted to share my experience, yes there can be a good recovery after the WLS.

Before the surgery, I stocked up on the supplies and Med supplies like there's gonna be a WW3, Now i'm stuck with 2 boxes of Gas-X. Well, I guess it's better that I'm not needing it than having to need it and don't have them.

I did feel a bit of gas pain the in esophagus, but I just burp them out... It appears that whatever gas I have prefers to come out on the upper exit than the lower exit...

Edited May 14, 2008 by CaliGirl626
misspelled words