Pre-surgery fears

 hey guys,

My surgery is coming up soon and I have a million thoughts going through my head and I'm curious if anyone else went through the same thing and have some thoughts they can share with me.

1. I've never had surgery before and I'm a little freaked out about by it.
2. I'm scared I'm going to be in a lot of pain (I know that its not going to be a walk in the park but I'm kind of a worry wart and then after its all said and done I wonder why I ever worried)
3. I'm REALLY scared I'm going to go back to my old habits...I know that its a life style change but I'm super scared I will just revert back to food the way I always have.


I would really love to hear from people who have gone through the same worries and hear your stories!

Thanks alot

Amanda 

I can only tell you my experience with one and two since I am soo new  to this all.

I was probably as scared as anyone can be. I was bawling when the surgeon came in the morning of. I am a Mom of a little boy...and all I could think about was leaving him behind. I was not scared of dying for ME, but for him. As they got me on the operating table, I started feeling woozy and knew I had one last chance to pray. As I went under I was praying that God please let me stay for my little man......

as far as pain. It sucks, honestly it does. It was never so bad though that the IV tylenol and ibuprofen did not work. I never took one narcotic in the hospital and I was up walking the halls and peeing what seemed like every 10 minutes. For me the sickness to my stomach was BY FAR worse than the pain, but even that was less than any stomach bug I have ever had.

Hope that helps to ease your fears =)

as far as being afraid of the pain,  its more uncomfortabilty and nausea..the first few days can be challenging but its nothing you cant handle

and a few weeks out it will all be a distant memory..

and of course we all fear the unknown. surgery is scary no matter how many times you do it..if it makes you feel any better we have all been there and now are here and better for having gone thru it.

I am almost 4 years out and I was scared out of my mind. Then I had dry heaves for 13 hours after surgery. That was the worst, after that I was a little uncomfortable, but nothing serious.
As for old habits, old habits do die hard. I still struggle making god food choices from time to time, but now even when I want to binge I can only eat a 1/4 of what I ate before. That may be saying too much.
I lost 90 lbs in 6 months and I have kept it off ( at least 85 of it) for the last 3.5 years. The best thing I have ever done for myself and for my family.
Being nervous is normal and it makes it real, but it is soo worth it in the long run.
Good luck.

B

Here is my experience based on your concerns.

1. I had never had major surgery before this one. I had confidence in my surgeon so I did not have much if any nerves. Only trepidation I had was being wheeled into operation room #13 (bad luck?)

2. As is turned out, my surgery went smooth as silk. Only had minimal pain (at most a 3 on the 10 scale) and it was gone in two days when I went home. I honestly had more discomfort going to the dentist than this surgery.

3. As far as going back to your old habits,  your new sleeve will definitely help you break them. After you have spit up a time or two from binging, you will avoid your old portion sizes like the plague and want to eat less and will be satiated with a lot less. The trick is to get in the proper nutrients for those reduced portions sizes. I use www.myfitnesspal.com to journal my food and keep track of calories carbs and protein. I shoot for 600-800 calories 40 carbs and 100 grams of protein in a day.
Hope this helps and let me know if I can help in any way.

 Thanks everyone for the great advice and tips! I only know one person who has had this done and all she keeps telling me is "its not easy".  I'm very aware that it isnt going to be easy.  Honestly I dont really like talking to her about it because she is kind of a debbie downer.  I know I havent had surgery yet and its easy for me to say this but I think its all in your head and youre going to be as miserable/happy as you allow yourself to be!



thanks again I'm glad I found this site cause I'm sure I'll be coming her a lot after surgery! :)

I was afraid too, I think everyone is...I prayed a lot and made sure I was using a really good doctor...by the day of the surgery I was just ready to get it over with. 
I wont lie, after the surgery, I was in a lot of pain, but I had mine done in Mexico and didn't know how to speak spanish well, so the nurses were giving me gas medicine instead of pain medicine.  Once the doctor came in, he got everything worked out and after the first 3 days, I have never looked back or regreted it.  Even now I believe it was one of the best decisions of my life.
Just remember to take it slow, tiny sips, move a little, and get lots of rest...Oh, you may have bad gas pains in your shoulder and neck...I was so glad someone had told me about that, if I hadn't known, i would have thought I was having a heart attack, but it was just gas! lol
God be with you on your jouney!
Tonya
SC

I'm only 9 days out, so I don't have a ton of advice.
I can tell you that post op, I was on morphine and I've now learned that morphine doesn't work for my pain relief. All it did was knock me out.
Once they changed that up, I was up and walking. Getting up out of the bed for the first few times isn't easy. (Don't feel bad about requesting an extra person to help push you up from behind.) But once you're out of the bed, it isn't too bad.

I'll be right there with ya, er, right behind you. I think that we have a great Dr. and I'm sure we have made a great decision for healthy life. I am very worried about the upcoming lifestyle changes. I'll be be having my surgery at Forest Park, so I might run into while roaming the halls.

 Hey fellow Barker patient :) 

yes i have no doubt in Dr. Barker's skills and I think we definitely picked a great Dr.  I'm actually having to have mine at Pine Creek cause thats the only place my insurance approved..I wanted Forest Park but oh well :) Good luck on your surgery! :)