Hey everyone,

Today is day 2 post-op and I wanted to give everyone the scoop. I went to the Surgery Center at 8:00 Wednesday morning for my surgery. When I got there, I had to change out of my clothes and put all of my personal belongings into a locker. After that, I went to my "bed" and they got me all prepped. I had to drink a shot of nastiness to neutralize the acid in my stomach... YUMMY! A few minutes later, the nurse ran my IV. The first thing she put in my IV was something to dry out my salivary glands. Now THAT was interesting. Imagine the worst case of cotton mouth after a night of HARD CORE partying... it's worse than that! After I got the "cotton mouth" treatment, the surgeon and the anesthesiologist came to talk to me. After their round, the nurse gave me the sedation medicine and I was GOOOOOFYYYYYYY! I was wheeled into the OR soon after that, and what I remember there went quickly. Strapped my arms down, laid some instruments across my belly, then they put a gas mask on my face. The anesthesiologist told me that I was going to breathe some "fresh air" and that it would smell sweet.... NOT really. More like sour, but hey, after only a few short breaths of that, I was COMATOSE! The procedure lasted about an hour. I was awoken in the recovery area, and felt alot of pain... unexpected pain. I had a laparoscopic procedure before, but not nearly as invasive. This came as a surprise to say the least. They kept pumping me with different types of pain meds, but nothing was working. I got up and walked around some, but still the pain would not let up. Finally, I asked to be unhooked from the IV so that I could just go home and lay in my own bed. The nurse obliged. I came home and depended HIGHLY on my liquid Lortab. The day of surgery, night of surgery, and day after... Lortab was my bff! But this morning was the magical morning. I woke up and realized that I hadn't taken Lortab ALL NIGHT! I was SO happy. I was not in pain either. And I could BREATHE deeply without it hurting me. I'm able to move around MUCH better today. My stomach is no longer paralyzed from the Lortab, so I'm hearing all the regular "tummy noises" again. My surgeon visited me Wednesday, Yesterday, and Today at my house. He's a wonderful surgeon and I HIGHLY recommend him to anyone considering this surgery. I just got out of the shower and I am feeling somewhat normal again. As far as my weight, I've already lost 12.4 pounds!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

There probably isn't anyone!

People are free to find those who have been banded 10+ years or longer. If they can find those people, all the power to them.

I would go for the sleeve. I had my heart set on the Lap Band for a while, then after going to the WLS seminar and getting more information, I began to research the sleeve. It's a MUCH better choice if you ask me.

Yes, I am unhappy that I didn't know about the sleeve until after being banded. Now I have to come up with that money twice. BUT, I would have never known about the sleeve it if weren't for this board. I guess everything happens for a reason.

Also, you got banded two years ago when there was less data on the sleeve. Maybe you would have been willing to get it without the 3 and 5 year results being known, but maybe that would have given you pause.

I know I think about this all the time... why did it take me so long to admit I had a problem and that WLS was a viable solution? What if I'd had surgery 20 years ago instead of going to Nutri/system?

But then I realize that 20 years ago I'd have a surgery type that would put me at risk for Vitamin deficiency and regain and very little support. Even 10 years ago the sleeve wasn't around so I'd probably end up with a band that eventually came out.

I don't necessarily believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do believe in not dwelling too much on the past and looking for the good aspects of my decisions. So the bad aspects are that I struggled with obesity for 20 years but the good is that I got a surgery that feels like it was designed just for me and my food issues and has a high chance of working with low long-term risks.

Thanks Mac. I think the sleeve will be a much better choice for me too. If I didn't know about the sleeve, I would think I just needed a fill. I am scared to death to get one after being too tight. I am glad that soon, I will never have to worry about that again.