Had my surgery today

Okay...it feels good to be an official "LOSER!!"

So as I discussed earlier, my surgery started one hour late which was fine by me because that gave  my mom a chance to see me before surgery. That felt great to talk and joke with her before I went under.  Pre-op they gave me medicine to "take the edge off of my anxiety" and to make my mouth very dry so that I wasn't slobbering and drooling during the procedure. Now when I say my mouth was dry, I mean there was NO fluid in my mouth and every time I tried to speak, the inside of my lips stuck to my teeth..LOL! I never experienced such a thing. Okay here was my experience with surgery..

I went under in no time..LOL! It was just like I took a very brief nap.  When I woke up, I heard "Telisha, honey can you hear me? How do you feel?".   As I tried to answer I started coughing uncontrollably. Thank goodness I remembered to hold my belly as I coughed. My throat was RAW and mouth DRY.  They gave me a breathing treatment and said my oxygen was 100%.  I was still having trouble breathing without coughing alto.  The nurse got eye level with me and said " Telisha, look at me, your oxygen level is at 100% so I'm just gonna walk you through breathing".  She started a breathing pattern of short shallow breathes in and out with me. OMG! That was awesome because she got me to breathe without coughing alot AND gave me a cup of water that had a straw type thingy with a tiny sponge at the end. She told me to wet my lips and my tongue but don't swallow.  That helped my cotton mouth.  I was given an once of water to make sure I could keep it down without it coming back up. I could. Later I was given an ounce of liquid medicine and 1 ounce of apple juice (watered down of course).   The only pain I felt was on the left side of my belly where the port was and I had sharp pains throughout my belly.  I was told it was air.  I drifted in and out throughout the day. Once my pain was under control I was able to walk and use the restroom. I had NO idea I was holding so much fluid! LOL!

I am now to take in 4 OZ of fluids every 1 HR which is going very well!  I keep an ice pack on the incision where the port is. Feels awesome.  I am definitely staying on top of my pain meds.  My tummy seemed to have gone down some thanks to unexpected burbs here and there..LOL!  Overall my experience went great...Way better than I thought it was gonna be!!!  I have a one week follow up scheduled and then in 4 weeks I'll have my first fill.

I am thrilled the surgery is finally done and I can move forward.  BTW, I thought I'd feel my band or port and I cannot feel either which is cool.

Thank you everyone for the messages and support. I really, really appreciate it.  Also I have a couple of pics posted from today.

See ya later,
Telisha

Hi Telisha,
                           I found this web site though youtube:)
And read your post, I hope you are well! I was wondering if you happend to have HMO insurance? i SEE billboard signs all over about Lap BAnd but only PPO insurance covers and we have HMO...I'm really not wanting Gastric ypass, but to be honest this is day 1 of research:)
Thanks for your thoughts
Stephanie

Hey there Stephanie,  I have Aetna I believe PPO through my hubbys Employer.  They actually approved me for the gastric bypass but I didn't like the fact that you can stretch your new pouch over the years trust me I know..my mom had the bypass and is now looking to get a band) so I asked for the band instead.  I had to have 6 months of supervised dieting (by my doctor) 2 co-morbidities.ie, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea etc.  Aetna kept saying no to me because I was missing sum info here and there. This year was the 3rd time applying and the finally said YES! I found this for you: http://www.lapband.com/en/lapband_is_for_you/costs_payment_o ptions/

I believe some HMOs covers it.  Call your insurance company and ask them directly what their requirments are for Weightloss surgery.

I hope this helps!

 Congratulations!!! 

Sounds like it went well overall. That's fantastic! 

That is awesome! Makes me feel better!

Congrats and welcome to the losers bench! Just take it easy and listen to your body. Definately stay on top of the pain meds. Trust me it is better that way. Happy to hear you did good!
Best Wishes To You!!

Congrats and welcome to the losers bench!  Sounds like you have a good plan and keep on drinking! 

So happy to hear everything went well! Best wishes on a speedy recovery.

Thank u so much guys!

Yay!!  I'm so glad your surgery went so well, that's WONDERFUL!  And I know its already been said but this is the first time I've been able to say it so... Welcome to the loser's bench!

Sounds like you are going to do great!