My Surgery Day.......November 9, 2007

I thought perhaps I should talk about what happened the day of my surgery for those of you who are waiting to get your bands, or are contemplating getting it.  I was banded at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL.  They have a very good bariatric program there.


I was scheduled to be at the hospital at 6am and my surgery was at 7:30am.  I was religious in following the pre-op diet which was 7 days of clear liquids.  This seems harsh too some I expect.  There is good reason as to why they have you do the clear liquids for that long.  It helps to shrink the liver.   Americans  can  have very large livers, because of our high fat diets.    It can be quite difficult to insert the band if the liver is in the way.  It can also be dangerous.  So anything you can do to shrink it is highly beneficial to you and your surgeon.


My husband Alan and daughter Nichole came with me.  My procedure was suppose to be outpatient, but they did it at the main hospital instead of an outpatient site they have.  It turned out that it was a good thing I was at the main hospital.  My spleen was nicked while putting on my band, and I bled a bit.  Nothing horrible but enough that he made me stay over night.  

My surgery took about 2 hours because of the spleen issue and  I was in recovery much longer than normal.  When I woke up from my surgery I was in some pain, but it was not horrible.  I had allot of gas from them expanding the abdomen for a better view.  I did not have the shoulder pain that some people experience.  I had five incisions since my band was place laparoscopiclly rather than open.

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I was brought something to eat.  I still recall not being hungry really.  But Nichole was like mom you should try to eat something.  They had brought my dinner in this large bowel covered with a lid.  It was chicken broth.  When Nichole opened it up to help me there were three or four baby spoonfuls of broth.  They even provided the baby spoon.  I was glad there was not more than that to eat, but at the same time was floored by the lack of food.  I giggled.


I went home the next morning, and was off work for 5 days.  I had no real issues with my recovery.  I was lucky, I had good restriction with my band from day one of the surgery.  I did not get my first fill for 13 months.  I lost 84 pounds by 16 months.


Then I was derailed by my life and things that happened to me.  I followed everything to the letter in the first 16 months.  I measured and logged my food.  I exercised religiously.  I was determined to succeed.  I even was asked to lead the support group through my Surgeons practice for the lap band.  I was doing so well.


Sadly I back slid and put back on allot of weight.  I should have stopped it long before now.  I am just thankful that I did and am back on track.