Hi everyone, has anyone been banded by Dr Christopher in Alabaster? I was banded Feb 19th, 08. Im just seeing if there is anyone local on the boards.

Hi Sherri,

I am waiting to be banded by Dr Schmitt. But, I would love to hear a detailed story of your surgery experience, if you don't mind sharing. I have a terrible fear of the surgery, I have never been operated on before, and it helps me and relaxes me to hear about the experiences of others. I will be sharing my own around October, I hope. Thanks so much!:embaressed_smile:

Hi there..Sure I would love to tell you about it.

First off, I wanted to tell you what a great office that is. The office and the nurses are excellent and I know I made the right decision to choose their office.

Here is a little step by step of how the surgery day went:

The day before I stayed on liquids all day. It was tuff but I had worked myself up to it!

The day of the surgery, my husband went with me. I had it done at Shelby Baptist. We got there around 5 am and they already had all the paper work ready.

The nurse called me back and I went into a little holding room where she got me to change and put the gown on. She asked a few questions , just normal things and then she rolled me into another holding room where everyone that was having surgery that morning was waiting. This was the room where the anethesists?? sorry can't spell...come in and get your IV ready. Oh I forgot to tell you that you have to take a pregnancy test that morning also.

Well, I was very nervous! I had so many things going through my head at the time, wanting to know If I made the right choice. It was my turn to get my IV and they came over and all I remember is them joking with me about something..they were trying to make me comfortable..the next thing I know, I wake up and the recovery nurse is calling my name.."Sherri, Sherri, Its time to wakeup....I heard that several times and I came to. :embaressed_smile:

At first, I was like..wow that was fast. I didn't even remember going under. They then got me into a private room and my husband then met me.

I was on some pain medicine but to be honest , I really didn't have that much pain right after. They brought me some ice to suck on. That night , I really felt ok. I didn't have much pain at all. I actually got up that afternoon and took a walk down the hall. I must say that the only part that hurt was where the port area was. It was very sore. I 've had a csection before and it was nothing like that.

That entire night I just had liquids and the next morning i had broth and Jello. I got to go home later in the day.

The scars really weren't bad at all. I think I had five total and they were covered in bandages. After i went home, I took it easy. I never once had any problems with nausea or vomitting. The only pain assoicated with the surgery afterwards was the port area. It hurt really bad for about three weeks....but some people I saw said they never had any pain. I'm not sure why it did..but trust me , It goes away in about a month. It just feels like you did about 1000 situps..lol..

The first two weeks, I manily stuck to liquids like broth, jello, Protein shakes, etc.

Anyway..I just wanted to give you that information and let you know that it is not scary at all! If you want to know anything else, please let me know. Good Luck to you!

Thanks.. that was a good read and it made me feel better about my decision to have the Lap Band. Enjoy your day and good luck!:thumbs_up: