Banded Today!

[sarahrnrx]

Hi everyone! Well I was banded today at the OCC. You may recall I sent a post out regarding the violence in TJ. Well, I decided to come anyway. We arrived yesterday at the Lucerna after being picked up by Carlos, the driver. I had my pic taken, got an EKG and spoke to Dr. Miranda regarding nutrition & goal wt. The goal wt really suprised me. I was told to be between 170's-180's. That still sounds pretty high. I then was told I can go lower but w/exercise. I was told I would have my blood wk done tomorrow (but they never drew it? . We were picked up by the driver at 7 am. I was then taken into the back, had an IV inserted and given clothes to change into. The anesthesiologist came in & explained what was gonna happen. They stated that they were going to use propofol& fentanyl for sedation (great drugs), & succs to paralyze (common when you go under anesthesia.) I was given an antibiotic, zofran (anti-emetic), and dramamine (if you have a tendency to get motion sickness). I then met the docs and was taken to the OR. My case took around a 1/2 hr. I have been sleeping on & off. The gas isnt too bad but my incision sites hurt since my stomach is distended. I asked for pain medicine. They didnt want to give it to me. They said I need to walk (even though I already had been). I tried to explain the pain was incisional. Well after some convincing, they gave me something which they said was pain medicine. I could swear it was just saline (it didnt even touch me)! I am a trauma nurse & know what some docs do. Anyway, well, I am walking & walking. The staff is great here though. I was told I was going to go back to the hotel first thing in the morning. I hope to go shopping after. You know whats weird is I feel like im hungry, but then I know im not. I have had a popsicle & 1 capri sun. I orginally started to gain wt because I became an emotional eater. I would eat when I was stressed, angry, anxious & bored! Well, I am very bored right now! I look forward to going home. My mom & husband have been wonderful! The hotel charged us an extra $50 or so to bring the extra person. Anyway, I am sooo excited about this new chapter in my life. I wish everyone the best and for any one that is planning to get banded, this place is great!

[CottonwoodAZ]

Welcome to band land! Its the best thing ever

[CindyLou]

They drew my blood from my iv when they started it. It was just like 5cc....they probably just did a quicky H&H...

[tnm75]

Yay Sarah! I'm so happy for you! It's been great talking to you and getting to know you!

Kristy

[SheRee]

Wow, You're a few steps closer than I am. I'm glad all went well. I want to call and schedule my appointment tomorrow. Keep updating on how you are feeling

SheRee

[nothereanymore]

Congrats - I'm glad you made it and didn't let your concerns stop you! You’re on your way to a beautiful new you!! Make sure to start documenting your journey now and take pictures of everyone for us if you can to put in the gallery!

All the best!

Lisa

[ValleyGirl]

I didn't think they drew my blood either but they do it at the same time they give you the IV and you don't even notice it's so fast, drawing a tiny bit than sticking the IV in. I hope you feel good today. I'm still pretty sore but I couldn't take any pain meds cause of allergies and I can't find anywhere to buy liquid Tylenol:( The pain wasn't so bad with all those cute doctors around to distract me but here at the hotel it's kicking in, haha. Have fun shopping.

Sabrina:)

Congrats - I'm glad you made it and didn't let your concerns stop you! You’re on your way to a beautiful new you!! Make sure to start documenting your journey now and take pictures of everyone for us if you can to put in the gallery!

All the best!

Lisa

[julieburns]

:lb10: :lb10: :lb10: from one nurse to another, Welcome to bandland. It's interesting you mention the pain medicine as I had the same experience with them not wanting to give much of anything after surgery. Maybe it's the nurse in us that knows what we want!! It was not to bad though.

Anyway I am so happy for you and keep us posted on your days ahead.

[mona-camille]

I thought the pain medicine they gave you was in the IV after surgery. Maybne that why they don't wnat to give you any, because there is already some running in the IV? Plus, didn't they send you home with 4 pain pills? Thats odd if they didn't.

But either way, glad you are now banded!!

[sarahrnrx]

Thanks everyone for your sweet tid bits. I woke up this morning at the OCC & feel great. I am soo excited. I still have pain, but the excitement is overshadowing it. Plan to go shopping today.

[Christy26]

Congrats! i am glad everything went well for you. I'm worried about the pain meds though - im very wimpy when it comes to pain and i want stuff to make it go away lol I just dont think tylenol is going to do much for me if they have cut me open. lol

Good luck in your journey

[vangirl]

They drew a tiny bit of blood from me at the time they set up the Iv port. I too asked for pain medication immediately after the surgery because I could feel the pain from the incisions and each time I took a breath it would hurt them. My mother said that they gave me some, but maybe it was saline solution because I don't remember feeling a difference. I did sleep for a couple of hours though.

The pain pills in the box they give you when you get discharged do work, although I didn't realize until I got back home and went one day without them. I went to the pharmacy across the street from the hotel and bought some more, but have only used one of those (so used 5 in total, post-surgery). But I had more pain that most people seem to be reporting, so that should give an indication of the maximum a person would probably need.