Well, I am banded. I arrived at short term surgery at 8:30am Wed August 13th. I was called into the back and a nice young student nurse tech took my vitals and gave me my gown, booties, and ever so stylish bonnet to put on. Just a few minutes later, the anesthesiologist came in to meet with me and go over everything, ie: any loose teeth, problems with anesthesia in the past, allergies, etc. Dr Yood came in to see me at this point to see how I was doing and told me he would see me soon in the OR. Then they asked me if I could give a small urine sample. Good thing they said small because, I had worked all night and had nothing to eat or drink and really had very little urine to give them lol. Next, someone came and walked me into the operating room. This surprised me a little bit because always in the past when I had brought someone to surgery they had them on a stretcher inserted the IV and gave them some meds before they were ever taken back to the OR.

In the OR I hopped up onto the table. They had me lay back with my arms out stretched. One nurse put a strap across my thighs then put the air boots on my lower legs while someone else started my IV. They were extremely nice and gave me a numbing shot for the IV, I didn’t feel a thing. Everyone was very friendly and I got a chance to joke with Doctor Yood a little bit. And that is all I remember until waking up in the recovery room.

In the R.R. the nurse was very nice but seemed timid and unsure of herself. While I was sleeping they had inserted an arterial line, I woke up to the nurse removing this and putting a pressure dressing on. I am sure this is not the first time I woke up but it is from this point on that I became cognitively aware of what was going on. Since I was going home the same day they came in to do X-rays to check the placement of the band. While they were moving me around, I became a little nauseous but that subsided. I asked the nurse for something to drink and she gave me my shot glass of water. My Mom was allowed to come in at this point. Dr. yood came in to see me and talk to me about my surgery. He told me everything went great. I was in some pain so the nurse brought me some liquid Tylenol with codeine. I sipped at it, drank almost ½ of it and just felt like I couldn’t drink anymore. This made the nurse very concerned, and at her strong urging I drank the last half. I promptly became sick. Oh well. They gave me some zofran via the IV and I began to feel better. A little later I got up to go to the bathroom. I had some more water and an ounce of juice. At this point it is almost 3pm I am doing well my vitals are great so we start getting ready to go home. I am unhooked from everything and get dressed. They give me a ride in a wheelchair to the exit and my mom gives me a ride home.

At home I talk to some family and friends and let them know I am doing alright. I am surprised that my throat doesn’t hurt. I was extremely worried about this because after my endoscopy I was sore for two days. My neck is sore on both sides though, and my back is killing me. I continue to sip my water and doze off and on through out the evening. I am impressed with my level of pain, don’t get me wrong I am definitely uncomfortable but I am in nowhere near as much pain as expected. I sleep downstairs on the couch wed night.

Thursday when I wake up I have two ounces of my atkins shake and some Tylenol with codeine. Take a walk around the house and wash up. My hair is a sight to be seen. I have VERY curly hair and there is no taming it. Since I can’t take a shower yet and there is no way I am going to lean over the sink and wash it I say screw it put a ponytail and baseball cap on and call it a day. For lunch I have two ounces of strained cream of chicken and continue to sip my liquids. I take a walk outside around the yard with my daughter and it feels amazing to be outside. When I first start walking it is uncomfortable but as I go along I loosen up and it begins to feel great. I fall asleep very easy though and I continue to doze some throughout the day. When my husband comes home we take another walk around the yard and then I take some more pain meds. I have two more ounces of strained cream of chicken and sleep some more.

It is now 4am Friday morning and since I have slept so much, I am now wide awake and thought I would post my journey into bandlandia for anyone interested.

BTW I have a realize band.

Congrats Heather it is great that you are doing so well!!!

Hi Heather! I'm really glad to hear that you had such a good return from your journey into bandland

Thanks I really am feeling good. I am surpised.

Thanks for the "walk-through." I'm just starting the process and it's good to hear what I might be in for.

Heather~ Welcome to bandland! Sounds like everything went great! Keep up the walking and the sipping!