October Surgeries

[BandDiva]

I am enjoying this forum so much! I have already made friends and I am looking forward to meeting more of you. I still have so much to learn before surgery & I am sure I will learn so much more after surgery.

Anyway, my date is October 10! Just curious who will be there that day and who else will be going to OCC in October!

[julieburns]

OMG it will be halloween before we know it. Summer is gone (

Glad to see you set a date Dana. Just read as much as you can here and if you don't find the answers we are all happy to help with any questions, no matter what they are!!

[UTdigiMOM]

Me, Me (waving my hand) me, me!!

Hi Dana. I'm Jessica from Utah. There's another Jessica from Utah here too. I'm being banded on the 10th of October. When do you fly in? I'm flying in on the 9th and my dad is coming with you. My husband is staying back with our two sons and I'm so thankful that my dad will be there for support.

I'm doing okay on reducing my snacking and the protein shakes. How about you?

I look forward to talking more!

Jessica

[jhawkchick75]

I don't travel until the 23rd and surgery on the 24th, but like you said it will be here before we know it! I'm working on the weight I need to lose before surgery now and it actually hasn't been as hard as I thought it would. Had to go out of town today and I took my protein water and a shake with me and it wasn't bad at all.

Have a great weekend!

Shelby

[BandDiva]

Hi Jessica & Shelby!

Nice to meet yall! ) I guess we are in this together. heehee Soon, we will know all this "lingo" everyone is talking about. PBing, Slime, etc. HAHA I wish you both the best! Blessings to you both! :-h

[LisaBen]

My surgery is scheduled for October 3. I fly in on October 2. I'm counting down the days till I go!! :-)

Lisa

[jhawkchick75]

I'm learning all the lingo, but not looking forward to experiencing it! The thought of PB'ing makes me gag already!! But it will be so worth it! The only thing I have to figure out is I am in one of my best friends weddings in May and so I am worried about how to tackle the dress fittings and what not. Hopefully i'll really be dropping weight by that time. But I guess that it is a good problem to have huh!

I see a lot of people have nicknames depending on what month they were banded in. We need a clever name! If you have any ideas let me know and i'll try to get creative too.

Can't wait!!!

Shelby

[premiema]

Hi Dana I am scheduled for surgery on the 10th too. I will be flying from New York to SanDeigo on Wednesday. I coming a day early with my mom and hoping to do some shopping. We have one month and I can't wait.

[BandDiva]

Hi Dana I am scheduled for surgery on the 10th too. I will be flying from New York to SanDeigo on Wednesday. I coming a day early with my mom and hoping to do some shopping. We have one month and I can't wait.

Are you doing your Labs the day before? I am trying to decide if I want to do them the day of.......

[julieburns]

Are you doing your Labs the day before? I am trying to decide if I want to do them the day of.......

Two things to consider about which day to do your lab and pre-op work:

1. Think about what time your plane gets in and then add about an hour or so until you get to the OCC if all goes well. You have to arrive FASTNG since MN so nothing on the plane or before you arrive. I was told only a sip or 2 of water if I absolutely had to have it to take pills or something. Ask them to be sure, they may let you have water I just don't think so but could be wrong. So depending on if your plane comes in early or later think about how long you will be Starving!! Since the van tries to pool folks you may have to wait at the airport for someone elses plane to arrive or someone who is lost. If you are a diabetic or prone to hypoglycemia it can be too long to go until the afternoon to eat. Once your testing is done it's still maybe an hour or so(?varies) before you get to go to the hotel and before you can get to any restaurants. BRING snack type food to eat at the OCC as soon as you are finished with the testing so you are not still starving for another hour or more. You have to wait sometimes for whomever else is with you having the testing before you go to the hotel. Now I also no sometimes they rush you right through as you may be alone or only 1 other person so I am not saying this is the only way it goes. Just trying to help people know what to be prepared for.

2. I've read more than a few folks that get there and on that day when they think they are just going to have labs they are able to go ahead and just have the surgery that day for some reason. Maybe find out what the schedule for the day you arrive looks like and if it's not full be aware they may ask you to move up a day. This certainly may not happen also as I know they are very busy and do many surgeries each day.

3. The advantage of just having it done all the same day is you only have to fast once. You only have to be stuck once for your IV and blood work as opposed to 2 times. And for me the day I arrived I was happy to just go to the Hotel and chill until the next morning. You may not be the first one to go into a patient room the morning of surgery because you have to do the pre-op stuff but there's alot of waiting time no matter what. You don't start getting into rooms until 9 or so and they have you there at 8 so be prepared to wait in the waiting room also the day of surgery so they can discharge the previous day's patients, clean the rooms and start all over again with you. There seemed to be no order to how they take you back one by one whether you had your pre-ops done the day before or not.

Hope this helps. Counting down to October for you Dana and others in October!

[BandDiva]

Two things to consider about which day to do your lab and pre-op work:

1. Think about what time your plane gets in and then add about an hour or so until you get to the OCC if all goes well. You have to arrive FASTNG since MN so nothing on the plane or before you arrive. I was told only a sip or 2 of water if I absolutely had to have it to take pills or something. Ask them to be sure, they may let you have water I just don't think so but could be wrong. So depending on if your plane comes in early or later think about how long you will be Starving!! Since the van tries to pool folks you may have to wait at the airport for someone elses plane to arrive or someone who is lost. If you are a diabetic or prone to hypoglycemia it can be too long to go until the afternoon to eat. Once your testing is done it's still maybe an hour or so(?varies) before you get to go to the hotel and before you can get to any restaurants. BRING snack type food to eat at the OCC as soon as you are finished with the testing so you are not still starving for another hour or more. You have to wait sometimes for whomever else is with you having the testing before you go to the hotel. Now I also no sometimes they rush you right through as you may be alone or only 1 other person so I am not saying this is the only way it goes. Just trying to help people know what to be prepared for.

2. I've read more than a few folks that get there and on that day when they think they are just going to have labs they are able to go ahead and just have the surgery that day for some reason. Maybe find out what the schedule for the day you arrive looks like and if it's not full be aware they may ask you to move up a day. This certainly may not happen also as I know they are very busy and do many surgeries each day.

3. The advantage of just having it done all the same day is you only have to fast once. You only have to be stuck once for your IV and blood work as opposed to 2 times. And for me the day I arrived I was happy to just go to the Hotel and chill until the next morning. You may not be the first one to go into a patient room the morning of surgery because you have to do the pre-op stuff but there's alot of waiting time no matter what. You don't start getting into rooms until 9 or so and they have you there at 8 so be prepared to wait in the waiting room also the day of surgery so they can discharge the previous day's patients, clean the rooms and start all over again with you. There seemed to be no order to how they take you back one by one whether you had your pre-ops done the day before or not.

Hope this helps. Counting down to October for you Dana and others in October!

I am driving with my family. I am actually going to get there on the 4th. My surgery is not scheduled till the 10, but I have business stuff to do in San Diego plus I am visiting family. When do we visit with Dr. O? Just on the day of surgery? I was wondering if I went the day before for labs (like they told me to do), would I get all my answers then? Being stuck twice doesn't really bother me, just wondering if I broke it up, could I be one of the first on operating day. Since we are staying in San Diego, I will have transporation to and from anytime I need it. I have called the OCC twice and they just seem very rushed on the phone. Maybe I should call back and just try to nail something down. I am just trying to figure it out because my husband is not driving, I have to buy him an airline ticket because he can't get off work more than 2 days. So, it will make a difference in him coming in on Wednesday or Thursday night.