Nervous...3 weeks til surgery!

i will be going in for my VSG surgery on November 30th at 11:45 am...i am excited but nervous mainly because i dont know what to expect, i like to know every little detail of whats going to happen from the time i get there at 9:45 until they knock me out!! Hopefully my surgeon will explain everything at my last office visit in a few weeks! Obviously i will need an IV (which im super nervous about because i have the WORST veins ever! last IV went in my neck because they couldnt find any good veins. hooray!) But what else do they do to you before the anesthesia??

Congratulations - I totally get the nerves!

To help you be ready - here is what my morning of surgery was like - I had to be there for 6:30 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. surgery. 

They brought me back and gave me a sexy paper gown to wear. Aunt Flo had decided she wanted to visit the day before, so they also gave me some beautiful disposable mesh undies.  Quick visit to the ladies room, then put on the new apparel.  Family brought in to spend some time.  Nurses came in and played 20 questions.  Anestheologist (sp?) came in and more 20 questions.  Surgeon - 20 question too.  The nurses got the IV started and slipped on some super sexy hose (compression hose to keep blood moving during surgery).  Next something put in the iv - started to mellow out.  wheeled to OR - slid from gurney to operating table, glanced around the room and... woke up awhile later - very groggy.  

Really - if you can just relax a bit, everything will be fine.  They are pro's and surgeons build a great team!  I have always had bad veins and they got mine.  Just make sure you are forcing fluids several days before surgery so your veins are a juicy as possible!

Good luck!

You report to the check-in spot where you sign more papers and they do a pregnancy test - being post-menopausal, I told them to call the Pope if it came back positive.

You go to the pre-op area where they give you your lovely surgical gown and cap, roll on your compression stockings, double-check who you are and why you're there.  Surgeon stops by to chat.  Anesthesiologist stops by to say hello (mine had called me the day before and we'd gone through all the usual questions then).  They start the IV.  You get rolled into the operating room, which is frigging cold, and the next thing you know, you're waking up in the recovery room.  Honestly, the surgery is the easy part.  If your nerves are bad, ask them for some happy juice/pills/shot to take the edge off.  There's no reason to suffer.

My surgeon does not insert a catheter.  He said the surgery is too short to bother with that.  He did the leak test while I was still under.  Don't be surprised when you're peeing blue dye the next day!  I had a drain, but it fell out while I was in the hospital and they don't/can't re-insert it, so for all practical purposes, I didn't have a drain.

Thank you both! I hate going in not knowing what they're going to do to me!! So that helps!

Ditto!  I appreciate knowing something of what it's like.  I've never had surgery other than my wisdom teeth being extracted when I was 18, which was a long time ago.  :)