Lap band....

As you probably already know I've been testing for the lap band since October. Jenn and I woke up at 4:30 am on Friday because I was scheduled for 6am admission and a 7:30am surgery.  I felt like I was getting up to go to work, special thanks to Jenn though who stated she "only was up at this time when she was 19 and coming home from a night out".

It was "installed" on Friday at ~8am.I wasn't worried about the procedure. I received enough information from my girlfriend and the dr that I felt ready for all I was about to encounter. After meeting everyone I waited in the pre-op room and then was wheeled in and put on the skinny little operation table. I was strapped on the table, towel roll put behind my shoulders (for the breathing tube to be installed later) and started to get some drugs. My anesthesiologist nurse Mike said "you're vision should be getting blurry"... I said no and then bam! I remember the anesthesiologist walking in and Mike filling him in on all the prep work he did... then I was out.

I woke up in the recovery room to a few people around me, one of them in the beginning was my surgeon Dr Powers saying I did really good. I was given some pain meds that gave me nausea so I had to take something for that. I started coming into focus and after a few minutes they let Jenn and my mother into the recovery room. After a few hours I was taken to my own room on the first floor.

I was up Fri night walking around, surprisingly little pain, I expected much more pain or discomfort. Late fri night I started to get some discomfort at the site where they did the work, nothing major just awareness. Dr Powers came in to see me and said the procedure went well, that I looked great and it was all normal. He also told me I have the 10cc AP Lapband, a newer band that's supposed to be better.

Friday night into Sat morning I was woken up twice to see if I was ok by the nurses then I was told at about 6am I had to stay awake because my heart rate was too low, in the 30's. I got up, walked around a bit. The nurse then asked if I had urinated since the catheter was removed, I had not. I was then informed that I had 10 minutes to so or get another catheter... no way Jose!!!!! I was able to go and avoided that mess.

I was wheeled down to the radiology department and had to get tested to see that the band was in the right position and all was ok. I waited back in my room for the results and once it was good to go I had to drink 1 ounce sips of water or tea every 10-15 minutes. After doing that then they brought me another tray and I had to do the same... yikes, too much. I was discharges at about 2pm and Jenn drove me back to her place where I will spend my time recovering.

Today and tomorrow will be clear liquids days. Then for 2 weeks I will be back on a liquid diet mostly the protein shakes and some puddings. Week 3 & 4 will be "soft & mushy foods" like mashed potatoes and stuff like that. Week 5 will be normal foods once again. Well, it's time to find out how to co-exist with this band :) .

Now I'm about to nap or something for a bit. A very special thanks to m'lady Jenn for all the care she's given me thus far. Also thanks to my mother, Chris and Mike B for visiting me in the hospital, it meant a lot to me.

Current Weight: 385.2 (prior to surgery on hospital scale)
Overall Goal: 250.0
Target Loss: 135.2