Question: Surgery Day Play by Play

I have never had surgery before.  I am so scared. Please any one out there who has had the sleeve: can I get a play by play of your surgery day....from the time you walked into the hospital?  I'm worried they are going to put me out in the OR instead of when I'm with my husband....I'm scared that I will feel the tube going down my throat and being taken out...I'm just scared of EVERYTHING!

They do have to put you out in the OR. They can give you something for nerves before though. It's not that scary. They just have you count and before you get to 10, you are asleep. They don't intimate until you are out-so you don't feel that. Try not to think about it to much. You kind of have to surrender to the process. It will be fine!

You can imagine how I felt with my very first surgery 10 years ago.  I had a total knee replacement!  And before surgery, I asked my surgeon to show me pictures of it and then watched it on the internet.  by the time I was in, I had no fear.

They will be so good to you!  They will have you in the pre-op room where they take your history and log it in and have you all gowned up with your "party" hat on.  :)  They will continue talking with you and joking probably, to keep you comfy.  If you need a warm blanket, just ask.  The anesthesiologist will come in and ask a couple questions and see if you have any.  They will tell you what they will do. Then the surgeon will do the same.  The whole process might differ a bit but I have had 4 surgeries now in different places and they were all the same.

When it is time, they will give you a sedative to calm you down thru IV.  You will go into the operating room, transfer to their gurney, talk with you and put your oxygen on.  When they are ready, they will put you out and you won't feel a thing til you are in the recovery room.  It really is just that pleasant!  BE BRAVE!!! While you are in the pre-op room, waiting for the OR to come and get you, they will probably let your hubby come in for a few minutes.

Living your life with obesity is MUCH worse than anything you will experience with your surgery or after, during recovery. 

I am not in the medical field and do not purport to know anything about it.  This is simply from my history and is true as I know it to be.

The thing about fear is that it is the unknown.  Once you know, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Thank you so much for this reply. You're so right that living with morbid obesity is way harder than anything that will happen to me that day. I feel much better!

You check in, sign some papers, they take you back to a pre-op prep area where you change into your surgical gown, booties, and lovely hat.  They start your IV.  The anesthesiologist will come introduce himself and explain what he's going to do, the surgical nurses will come introduce themselves, your surgeon will come by to say hi.  If you're extremely nervous, ask for some happy juice, but they usually give you a little something in your IV.  Then you get rolled down to the surgical suite, they tell you they're giving your something, and you wake up in recovery.  You don't feel anything being done to you after the IV goes in.

You wake up, they want you to cough to clear your lungs - which might hurt. They want you to take a deep breath - which might hurt.  Then the pains meds kick in (if they haven't already) and you're rolled to your room.

Thanks! I feel a lot better just knowing how it will all go down.  I'm so paranoid that I'm going to "lose it" and freak out and cancel the whole thing.  I like the part where they say they're giving me something and then I just wake up in recovery... if that's what really happens I'm good :-)

I've had several surgeries, and that's very much the way it happens.  They don't even ask you to count backwards any more.  Just "I'm giving you a little something" or "you may feel a little warm" - and you're waking up in recovery.  You don't drift slowly out - you just go!  Coming out of it is a little more gradual.  You really will be fine.  Believe it or not, the surgery is the easy part.  It's everything after that's hard. 

I call it a shot of tequila!  It's got a kick, and then things are AWESOME.  But with no hangover!

Last time I had anesthesia, for my endoscopy, I remember starting to say "Oh, I'm feeling it" and probably got halfway through the "f." ;)

(It = the anesthesia... not the actual procedure!)

That is generally how it happens.  Meds in the holding area that keep you from remembering anything after that, and you aren't aware of your surroundings til you've been in recovery for a while. :)