Hi Sheri, I had my surgery on a Monday, and I could have gone home Wednesday if I had felt up to it, but I didn't. I was having a hard time regulating my pain meds. If the MD's want you to go home Sunday, don't just agree if you don't feel up to it....especially if ins. will cover, stand up for yourself, you are worth it!!!! Best of Luck..... I was out of bed and walking around the next morning.....I was doing laps around the Hospital Ward trying to get rid of the air they pump you up with during the surgery....Remember, the more you move, the better you feel. My Dr. let me drive once I was off the narcotics......also use your judgement....if you don't feel comfortable from the surgery, don't drive...I didn't drive for 3 weeks because I was just to uncomfortable driving...esp..with 2 children in the car!!! I was able to get around fine....I had some discomfort, but I certainly wasn't sedentary..... Best of luck to you on Friday, and remember....this will go bye really fast and your new life will be SO WORTH IT!!!! I hope this helped...it is only my experience though, you will get many wonderful people responding with all different experiences... Sincerely, Lori

You won't be able to go back to work the next day. I've heard of people going back after about 3 days but I couldn't have done that, i'm a week and a day post op and have to go back this weekend and am a little nervous because I'm still pretty sore. I can't drive until I am off of my narcotics and that scares me too. Most likely if you are just starting this job and you are just starting the process of getting the lapband you won't have to worry about taking time off before the 6 months because it will probably take that long to get everything done. some of the steps for mine for example were 1. attend a informational meeting 2. meet with the surgeon 3. check with your insurance regarding policy on weight loss surgery (mine required a 6 month medically supervised diet and a BMI over 40 or over 35 with other comorbitites ie.sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes etc.) most insurances require a medically supervised diet of some kind 4. nutrition appointments (i had 2) 5. psych eval 6. labs and tests (labs, ekg, abdominal ultrasound, chest xray, etc.) 7. final meeting with surgeon 8. then everything was sent for insurance approval. once I was approved the hospital called me back and we set a date for my surgery about 1 1/2 months away. There are really a lot of steps to getting any kind of weight loss surgery..you will go through almost all of these steps for any surgery you would choose, especially if you are using insurance. If you are going to be a self pay a few of these things might not apply but many still will. As far as having your surgery done on a friday evening, you'll have to research that when you call around to centers that do bariatric surgery because many places have set days and times that they do their surgeries (for example, mine only does his surgeries on tues and wed) I hope this helps you some, probably not stuff you want to hear but my experience so far. To learn more about post op diet and other stuff you might want to know, go to the lapband message board http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/lapband/a,messageboard/board_id,5359/ good luck!! Angela

I am considering the lap band and I have asked some questions about the surgery. Thanks to all who are being patient with me and answering my questions. I am starting a new job on March 31st. The thing is, I will not be able to take time off from work for 6 months. How many days do I have to take off from work? Can I got back to work the next day? What if I have the surgery done on a Friday evening. My work hours will be M-F 7-3. Also.........what kind of diet will I need to be on down the road after surgery? Actually...where is a site that has frequently asked questions? lol..because I know I am bombarding yall. Thanks

Awww so sorry for that experience it just felt like a bad contraction to me... Was wierd ...But I did get a bit dizzy cuz I could hear and feel it come out...... Chin up gets better!!

got my drain out today. I was so nervous. Geez I thought I was shaking in the chair. My surgeon said most ppl are just uncomfortable he took mine out and I just started seeing pretty colors and the room kept getting less clear and i couldn't hear and my mom and my surgeon where getting less and less visable. I just started sipping water and closing my eyes. I thought I was dying im like this is it. My worst nightmare. I'm going to die right here and have time to do what I want to do. It was like that for 7 mins. Then it started to get better. So after 6 oz. of water and a lot of slow breathing I came back. It scared the **** out of me. I cried afterwards b/c I had been so scared. I had talked myself into that is wasn't going to be so bad and it was the worst. I couldn't believe it. I finally got to go home after I was calm and alert. But I couldn't believe what happend.