- Username: cheriv
- Location: MI
- Member Since: 11/17/2006
- Surgery date scheduled
- Surgery Type: VSG (12/27/06)
- Surgeon: Tallal Zeni
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Surgeon TestimonialTallal ZeniI visited Dr. Zeni's office yesterday for the first time and I was extremely happy! I had been approved for a different surgery at a different hospital and I was having second thoughts. I found Dr. Zeni through the OH site and I am so glad I did. I feel really comfortable with him, Paula the Program director and Angie the insurance "Miracle Girl". Because of insurance deductibles I really wanted the surgery before the end of the year and they are all doing everything they can to make this happen! I was interested in a fairly new surgery (VSG) and Dr. Zeni is very knowledgable and enthusiatic about this surgery. Everyone in the office spent time with me and all my questions. I feel very confident in my decision to have St. Mary's Bariatric Center help me to change my life. Latest Surgery Support Comments
 Comment by Cira S. on 12/26/06 8:14 pm
 Comment by rachel.b on 12/20/06 11:11 am
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Hi everyone in WLS land! My name is Cheri and I live in Michigan. I am from a family of six obese siblings and pretty normal size parents. As one of the youngest I have been able to watch what obesity has done to my brothers and sisters. I have a baby brother that has been disabled since he was in his 30's because of his weight. He had several surgeries, the latest being RNY three years ago. He is down to 300 lbs. from a top weight of 500 lbs. I have an older sister that is disabled because of her weight~she cannot walk without a walker and is so "proud" of her electric cart! I had a brother who collected one SS check after retiring and then died from weight related conditions. I am 60 years old, I just retired from a 20 year hectic Real Estate career (7 days a week, 10 hr. days). My joints are aching, my blood pressure is on the rise, I don't want an electric cart, I want to travel for the next 10 years~so here I am!
The month after! on February 1, 2007 6:11 am
O.K. it has been one month since surgery - I am now adding real food back into my diet. I don't want to forget my experience, so even though this is after the fact I want to write it down for me to remember and for others to identify with (or not). I didn't feel that well for about one week after surgery. I am a baby and I was lucky that I could really pamper myself. My incisions kind of hurt and I was tired often. I got lots of rest and drank broths. On the day of my first check up one of my incisions was really hurting. I couldn't even sit up in the car on the way to the drs. office. My husband put the seat almost flat and I laid down all the way there. I met with the nutritionist and found out I had lost 17 lbs! I was thrilled as I don't have any scales at home (long ago they got thrown out). I was sure I had an infection inside the incision spot that hurt. Dr. said everything was fine and I started to feel better immediately!! By the time I was home I felt great! Go figure?
The Sunday after my ten day visit I had a case of the blues. My family were all eating homemade spaghetti and meatballs and I was hurting. I got on OH and whined and whined. I got the response I needed and that is why I am so thankful for this site!
I went to my sisters and weighed myself to find I had lost another 10 lbs. during the second week post-op! I was thrilled! During the next three weeks I only lost 3 lbs. When I went to my surgeons for the one month check I had lost that total of 30 lbs. I was a little depressed - a quick weight loss (27 lbs.) in the first two weeks, then, only 3 lbs. for the next three weeks.
Another memory was my first time trying real food. At weeks three and four I could add fish, chicken, etc. to my liquids. What I failed to do was puree it and my attempts to eat salmon and chisken salad was miserable! It stuck in my chest and I got all the saliva and thought I would barf - then I wished I would barf! That was scary and of course I ran to OH and asked if I would ever be able to eat normal again! I would like to report that I am now adding real food and enjoying it, but, I am in a stall big time!
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The Day After on January 23, 2007 9:49 am
So I wake up the day after surgery (well you don't really sleep in a hospital) and the first person I see is a blood collector. I tell her "no" she is not going to take blood from me and I show her both of my arms and wrists and hands which are busy turning every shade of blue and purple. She is a very nice young girl and she asks if she can just look at my veins and of course I let her and she finds a small one and takes blood. I feel pretty good, I have been up walking since yesterday p.m. and a couple of times during the night. I am very afraid of blood clots so I make sure I walk every couple of hours. I find out they put someting in my I.V. for pain and also for upset stomach (pepsin?) I can't remember but, it must work I have no nausea and the pain is tolerable. I think I got a couple of doses of morphine at first and that was it. Hospital care has certainly changed since I had babies many years ago. I was never offered a washcloth or a clean gown until the morning I was going home. My nightime nurse (a male) and his assistant PAC were wonderful though. They kept the I.V. flowing and brought ice chips which were delicious! Also, helped me in and out of bed to urinate as the catheter was taken out after my upper GI that morning. When they came to get me for the Upper GI I noticed that Julie had already gone for the test and I thought that was funny since I had surgery before her. When I got to the test area I saw Julie and she was really sick. So, that got me all upset about the Upper GI thinking it was going to make me sick also! I made it through (not pleasant) and learned that Julie had a leak and was being taken back into surgery. Her blood test showed infection and that is why she had her test first! I was very scared for her and for me. I did not want to go back into surgery! Dr. Zeni's program director came in to see me for a minute and I could tell she was shook. This was the first leak he had ever had. I saw Julie's family a few hours later and she was doing good and back from surgery. I saw Julie the next day and talked to her several days later and she was doing o.k. She is a trooper! The next day I was ready to go home!
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The day is here! on January 13, 2007 1:00 pm
O.K. My flu is subsiding and Christmas comes and goes - surgery is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Dec. 27th. I go to the pharmacy and get all required items per my surgeon: GoLightly (what a misnomer) to clean the bowel tract - I was informed I only had to drink 1/2 gallon because I was having the VSG - the whole gallon for RNY - two prescriptions for antibiotics for the day before and an order for Hibisclen to wash the area both the night before and the morning of. My sister asked me if they were going to give me a knife to start the surgery myself on the way to the hospital! Funny! Anyway, the day before surgery I am totally packed for the hospital. I can't even write about the GoLightly without gagging! I have to drink 1/2 gallon between 9 a.m. and 12 noon. Let's just skip the details of this. Then at 1 p.m. I start the antibiotics - huge horse tablets - 4 at 1 p.m. - 4 at 2 p.m. - 4 at 10 p.m. At 10 p.m. I am choking down the last pills and showering and washing with Hibisclen and I go to bed. At 3 p.m. I wake up very sick and nauseous. I mean I have the dry heaves big time! I don't know if it is the flu returning or the antibiotics on my empty stomach but, I am sick, At 5 a.m. I shower again to wash with Hibisclen and dry heave the whole time. My husband drives me to the hospital for a 6:30 a.m. check in time. I go to the counter with a towel in my hands and tell the nurse I am very sick - I don't know if I can have surgery - it must be the flu! I am changing my mind again and now this dry heave stuff sounds like a good way out. She tells me to take a seat (with 50 other people in the waiting room) and they will be right with me. One half hour later they call me in to pre-op. I explain the dry heaves and they give me a little cup of Alka-Seltzer Gold. I have never heard of this stuff before, but, it works! I felt better right away. I explained what my night was like and told me to get undressed. She came back and looked at my arms for an I.V. site. I don't have good visible veins and after dehydrating myself the day before it was not looking good. After she made three painful attempts I asked her to get someone else! I asked her for a local and she said they didn't have it there. If they don't have it there, where would they have it? Anyway, this really good looking male nurse anesticist (sp.) comes in and brings a local with him. He rubs my arms and I look into his eyes - please help me - they are hurting me - and he apologizes and gives me locals and looks for veins at least 8 more times with no success. I am still thinking I may leave at any moment this is just too much - dry heaves and no sleep all night and now this! Then my surgeon is there and he is saying everything is o.k. The male nurse tells me not to worry he is going to use a very small vein in my hand to put me to sleep and then go after the big one when I am asleep! That is the last I remember until I wake up in my room and my husband is there sitting in a chair. No backing out now - it is done! Move over on the Loser's Bench!
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Meeting a OH Friend on January 11, 2007 5:40 am
While I was at Dr. Zeni's office I found out that someone from Wi. that was also on the OH site was going to have surgery with Dr. Zeni in late Dec. I met Julie2ed at the pre-op classes!
Anyway, a couple of upsetting things happened during the pre-op tests. Like I said, I have no family support on my decision so, I want nothing to go wrong. While I was having my chest x-ray the technician told me that I didn't look like I needed WLS. I am big all over, I carry my weight evenly distributed. It is amazing what happens when a complete stranger says something to you - and when I am not looking in a mirror, what my mind says to me! So, then something showed up in my chest xray and I had to have an MRI! I was scared! I go for the MRI and that technician tells me, "you don't look like you need WLS". Now, two medical people tell me I don't look like I need to have WLS and what do I start to think? I posted here and I got plenty of good advice! My BMI was 39.5 and I weighed 247 lbs! What was I thinking! Anyway, I continue to have my pre-op tests including an endoscopy and stress test and blood work and ekg. Everything turns out fine and I am cleared for surgery! As the date (Dec. 20th) approaches I am having big time second thoughts - I love my food - my husband is a great cook - my daughter is a gourmet cook and she and her husband and two year old are living with us for a year while they build a house - Christmas is coming - what about all the cookies I bake every year, it is tradition! Well, my son-in-law gets the flu and four days before my surgery is scheduled I come down with it - vomiting and diarrhea - and an upper respiratory infection! I called Dr. Zeni's office and told Paula, the program direstor I was deathly sick, could it be rescheduled for the 27th? She said she thought so and that Julie2ed from Wi. was having her surgery that day! O.K., I didn't have to think about surgery for another week! I could enjoy Christmas, although I had been on a 1000 cal. diet and I had to stay on it through the next week to shrink my liver. What about those Christmas cookies? To be continued....
The Next Step on January 11, 2007 5:19 am
I am writing all of this a month or so after it actually happened, but, I decided I do want to remember my experience as it is monumental to me. After I freaked about the date for the RNY and found the VSG site and decided that sounded more for me I found out that my surgeon at Barix Clinics didn't do the VSG. I had to find a doctor and change everything with my insurance approval. I considered going to California since the majority of the people on the VSG Forum went there (and I love Ca.)! But, after researching, I found two drs. in Michigan on the OH website. I talked to both offices. One told me they could not get BC/BS to cover the VSG. The other one said to come in and we would see. I had an appointment with Dr. Zeni and his staff and was very pleased. I must have been there two hours and they had a verbal approval before I left. I was a little hesitant because Dr. Zeni is young and he had only done 5 other VSG surgeries but, he assured me there was more to the RNY and he did those all the time. They did everything to schedule my surgery before the end of the year because of insurance deductibles and I had a date of Dec. 20th! They put me in the pre-surgery classes for the people scheduled for surgery in Jan. So, I got all my info quick and fresh in my mind. I didn't freak like when I got my RNY date, but, I had no support from my family. Everyone thought I would back out (and, truthfully, so did I).
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