I was up and at-um bright and early. I decided to wear a maxi dress, no undergarments (sorry for the TMI) but it seems practical as I figure I wouldn’t want to put this stuff on after surgery to make it home. A little mascara, deodorant, and brushed my hair and teeth. Remembered to grab my paperwork and put my pillow in the car for the ride home to hold over my belly (A useful tip from the Lap-Band forums)
FYI: Because I have had surgery before (in 2006), I was a prepared with what to wear, and what makes me sick (more on that below).
Oh my gosh, for anyone considering the lap band, my surgery center is one of the best! I kept wondering last night why I wasn’t nervous, then again this morning. I was still calm with no freaking out in the near future. Why?
I have had surgery once before in 2006 (hysterectomy ) and that may have played a part. I’m one of the biggest babies to all medical procedures – ask my mom! She wanted to strangle me every time she had to sit at my bedside in a medical facility. I finally came to the conclusion that it’s 2 parts (my own detailed research & my great Surgery Center). I have researched bariatric surgery for approx. 2 years so I came into this armed with knowledge (read my earlier post ” Now What?“)!
Then there is The Las Vegas Surgery Center! The staff has walked me by the hand thru everything that would happen today. Barbie, who gave the presentation 2 days ago, explained in detail what to expect today so there was no surprises or anxiety about what to expect. You come in, they will give you your final paperwork to complete and collect your paperwork and payment you bring in, they will take you back to change into hospital gown. Here I have to say, the nurses and surgical staff have such great personalities that I was actually enjoying bantering back and forth with them at 7am – I usually don’t do 7am! So this gets them extra points in my book!! They will ask you multiple times your name, procedure you are having, other related questions (and no it’s not a lack of communication between the staff, it is required by law). Then you get taken back and put on a stretcher and prepped.
Funny story, I hate getting the IV more than the surgery but when I asked for that little numbing prick they say it interferes with the IV so they don’t do it. But the girls jumped in there and reassured me that Mae was one of the best and held my hand until it was over! She was funny and we bantered back and forth during this process. Again why am I so relaxed? No anxiety?? Then my surgeon (One of the best! Dr. Sergey Lyass – I researched extensively) comes to check on me 1 more time to be sure I have no questions, Anesthesiologist (Daniel Link – also beyond compare! Great personality, cute, and Dr. Lyass says, “he’s the best in town”) comes to give me a mild sedative, I am wheeled into surgery, I remember getting on the surgical table, them putting my arms in place while they were talking to me – that’s it! Next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery, my nurses were in 3’s. I was not seeing double but in triplicate…lol. But eventually they each became 2 people then finally 1.
Now let me let you in on a little secret from my previous surgery… I woke up very sore, nauseous, and with a morphine button. Found out morphine causes nausea (read this interesting article for more information: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/health/03seco.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0). This time, however, I mentioned to my staff that I got violently ill last time I had surgery and the morphine. I was amazed when I awoke – NOTHING! No nausea of any kind. I was thirsty and given a small bottle of water to sip from…it was heaven. Then was up walking using the restroom and relaxing in an easy chair with my boyfriend until they felt I was ready to go home. It was over – this was a cake walk!
I cannot speak for anyone who has had another type of bariatric surgery or for anyone who has a higher BMI or other health issues but I really feel the surgery center is so on top of things that they leave nothing to chance. I give them credit to how I felt when I woke up.
In all, I had a good day of sleeping with a few interruptions… awoke at 6:10 am, arrived at center at 6:45 am, asleep again by 8:00 am, awake with lap band by 9:30 am, on my way home by 10 am, back in bed by 10:30 am, and then awake for the day at 2:30 pm. By the way, I have no restriction and have had nothing to eat since 7 pm last night. I don’t eat much fast food but driving down Flamingo road to get on the freeway on our way home, I counted 16 fast food places! I was hungry – still am…
Once I woke up at 2:30 pm, I had some sugar-free jello, crystal lite with tasteless protein powder in it (it really is fine – you can’t taste a difference), then 10 oz. of the broth from a can of Progresso Turkey and noodle soup (fed the good part of the soup to my boyfriend), walked around the house 3 times, watched TV, made some phone calls to let everyone know that I feel like nothing has happened. I have no gas pain except a little in my back where my lungs are and a mild headache from no caffeine.
Now I am writing this blog to let you know that what I thought would be the hardest part, wasn’t – and it’s over. Go me!!!
Let’s see what tomorrow brings…
Just For The Info
Current weight = 248.8; BMI = 38.5 – I lost 3.2 lbs from yesterday!