Welcome to the other side, I have my Band!

Thank you all who were thinking of me today. Things went really well. I actually feel great!!
Here is the recap of the day:

We got to the hospital at 6am, checked in, and got dressed in the lovely gown and double sided traction socks. First the nurse came in, asked me my name, DOB, and what kind of procedure I was having.Obviously they knew, but they wanted to make sure I did. :)
She started my IV, gave me a shot in the belly to help prevent blood clots, then added some antibiotics to the IV. Next the anesthesiologist came in and asked me the same questions, and told me exactly how it would work and what to expect. That made me feel better, because being put under was actually more scary to me than the procedure. He was a nice guy to boot. Then in came my surgeon and asked if I had any last minute questions. Truly I felt so prepared from our previous consultations, and what I have learned from all of you, that I didn't have any. She did surprise me with the fact that I can shower whenever I want to. I was expecting to have to wait like 3 days. She reiterated my after surgery diet of today being clear liquids, then regular liquids the rest of the week. Next week mushies, then the following week solids if I can tolerate it.

I just realized I have been rambling with a lot of details. I hope you all don't mind. I guess I want to write it down in case I forget later. So bare with me the rest of this blog, :)

Here was the weird part. I was ready to be wheeled into the operating room, cool compression things around my legs that made it feel like a massage. I'll take it. I got to the OR and saw all the tools and probes. Holy Cow.. good thing they gave me a relaxant because then it was real. I scooted myself onto the operating table, they strapped me in, and the anesthesiologist said, okay, I'm putting the mask on. Took some good, deep breaths, and I was gone. I had some crazy dreams, but when I woke up, I couldn't remember what they were about. I did wake up with horrible back pain. I have a history of back spasms, and it sucked!!!! I told the nurse and she got some pain meds in right away, so after I had them sit me up to make it feel better, the pain went away fast. But then I started to shiver and my teeth were chattering really bad, so they gave me something for that too. All in all, that was the worst part, but it only lasted about 5 minutes. I was wheeled back to my room about 5 minutes later and was told to relax while I waited for the chest X-Ray. Every time I closed my eyes though, the room was spinning and it made me nauseous, so I watched Family Feud. I miss the old version. Oh well.

About a half an hour later, I got up, then got in a wheel chair and was taken down to get the X-Ray while drinking the gastric coating solution. It was a bit different then the barium I was expecting, and didn't taste very good. After that was all said and done, I was taken back to my room. By that time, I just wanted to stand up and walk around, so the nurse let me change into my clothes, asked me to make a pit stop, and wait for the x-rays to be interpreted. Luckily that only took about 10 minutes. I was cleared to go. I got home at about 1pm.

I was so thirsty when I got home, I was sipping on coconut water while watching the episode of biggest loser on Netflix that I didn't finish last night. HAHAHA

Soon I was sleepy, so I went to bed for a good 3 hours. Still not really any pain. The place where she put my port is the most annoying pain, but really nothing. I can't believe it. After my nap, we went for a walk around the lake by our house. Walking really feels great.

So if you are still reading, thank you. Thank you for all the encouragement, and the good vibes sent my way. I hope tomorrow is just as good or even better than today.

I will keep you posted.