I've Done It- - Realize Band - February 17 2011
My physician has ordered a 2 day liquid fast prior to surgery so by the time I get there, at 9 in the morning, I’m am used to the hunger.
When I arrive they take me immediately to preop, put me in a gown and tell me that the only thing keeping me from going into surgery is the 3 drops (yes, that’s what they said) of urine they need to conduct one final test. I told them that they should have told me before I peed twice in the last hour. (sm).
In the meantime, I spoke with the anesthesia and my nurse inserted the iv saline.
Anyway, they finally called my doctor and told her that they thought it might be awhile and you know what she said. She said that I was over 50 and did not need a pregnancy test. I thought this was hilarious and a good sign for things to come.
I awoke in the recovery room and again I had to wait for someone to take me to my room. When I arrived my husband, my mother, aunt, and a family friend were waiting for me.
I had some good e*periences during this journey and some bad, but I feel like some of you are super curioius about this so I will go into a little detail.
Time line: I started this process in September. That was the date the my first specialist appointment occurred. She told me that I had to quit smoking ASAP.
The pulmonologist and the psychologist took the longest. That psychological test they give you takes about five hours to administer and God knows how long to grade.
The pulmonologist felt that I did not have enough o*ygen in my blood so he had me retake a sleep study. He held up the process by about 6 weeks.
My hospital stay was uneventful with a few e*ceptions.
Avoid taking pain medicine. It will make you sluggish and it will be very hard to walk—which most doctors want you to do prior to release.
they will give you a prescription for lortab or some similar painkiller. Get it filled, but again I recommend you take it as little as possible.
The reason I make these recommendation is that most of my problems relate to the morphine. When my husband and I would try to walk the lap around the ward, I would have to stop him because I was out of breath. The doctor said that this was caused by both the morphine pump and the low o*ygen. When you are overweight, your blood o* is usually lower.
I was discharged Friday, at about five in the evening. Needless to say, my doc was not in any hurry to discharge me.
This is why you need to watch the painkillers. When my husband and I arrived to our home, I was climbing the stairs to our front door when I blacked out and fell. I’m fine, but I got a big shiner on my leg.
I hope this helps someone.
I have to respectfully disagree about your advice on not taking pain meds. Everyone is different and your experience is unique to you. If people are in pain they should have pain relief. It will help their recovery. People in pain may not be able to get up and walk as they should or move around as much as a surgeon would like, which could lead to pneumonia, DVT's, etc.
It must be the nurse in me, but I feel strongly about pain management and don't think anyone should be in pain.
I also feel folks should take their pain meds. Just don't overdo it of course. The surgery is not super painful and a person shouldn't need them for very long anyway. I think I had a dose in the recovery room and once during the night in the hosp and that was it. I was sore but not in real what I would define as pain. Had a baby??? Now THAT's pain. Had a knee replacement??? THAT's pain! Lapband??? Not bad at all.
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