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Surgeon TestimonialLawrence DennenDr. Dennen is great! He is very professional, yet friendly, and has a great sense of humor. You can tell he cares, and he believes in what he is doing. He is head of the bariatric dept. and I feel very comfortable with him as my surgeon. I honestly can say that I trust him with my life. If it were not for him, my cancer would not have been found as early as it was....he literally saved my life! He knows his stuff, and he lets you know he does, yet not in an arrogant way. He's an all around great guy, very patient oriented. Latest Surgery Support Comments
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Happy happy big 50!
Hope your day was
great and that you
are feeing stronger
and stronger every
day!
JudyAnne
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I have surely been
MIA in the last
couple months.
Congrats and get
well sooon Janel!
How exciting for
you!!! Can't wait to
read about your
updates! Yay!!
~Catt~
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Hey, Girlie! Take
it easy and get lots
of rest. Stay down
there for as long as
it takes. Keep us
posted, please!
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Feeling Better Each Day on August 31, 2008 9:00 am
I've been home a little over a week now.
Had labwork done at Kaiser, I'm still anemic, but not by much. Had the drains taken out...one actually fell out and it should have stayed in a few days longer, so I'm draining alot out of an incision. I am working hard to keep it clean and dry...I am determined to not get an infection.
Got a referral to Kaiser's surgery clinic to have them look at one open area, and they gave me an appt for Sept 11th!! I said forget it....geez, gang green could set in by then! so, I have a nurse practitioner friend who came over and looked at me, and everything looks good, except one little "pink" area she wants to keep an eye on.
I'm walking more each day, and still sleeping alot. My body is just crying out for rest.........I don't argue with it. I honestly think I averaged 2 hours a night sleep while in TJ.
I'm weaing my compression garment more now, and it feels good. It helps to keep the swelling down. My ankles still swell up though....sometimes they look like "cankles!"
I have to email pics of my incisions to Dr Q tomorrow, and then he'll call me to let me know how he thinks things are going, and if I can get some of the stitches out. He said that the ones he put in right before I came home for sure need to stay in awhile longer, and I agree with him there.
Ok, off for a walk, then to the recliner!!!
Sooooo Good To Be Home!!! on August 25, 2008 11:41 am
My dear friend flew down to SD Friday morning, and met me across the border in San Ysidro to drive me home. I was so beat dead tired, but just so happy to be in the US, and with a friend, I jabbered all the way home, a 10 hours drive!
I'm feeling stronger every day now. I am going to Kaiser today to get labwork done, and will see my pcp Wednesday to get the results.
I love my arms, they are so much smaller! And I like my lower body, but because it's still so swollen, it's hard to tell yet, but anything is better than what I had.
Ok, back to the recliner!
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I GET TO GO HOME!!!!!!!! on August 20, 2008 10:02 pm
Dr Q came to my room this morning and told me that he is releasing me to go home on Friday.......oh man, can´t wait to see my family!
On the other hand, I will miss my family here......Dr Q and his staff have really become friends, and I love them so much. I´ll post a pic when I can of the staff.
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8/17/2008: 9 Days Post Op From Plastics......... on August 17, 2008 7:53 am
Well, I can honestly say that I never, ever thought that this would turn out as scary as it has. You know, i think its normal when going into surgery to wonder, ¨what if I dont make it, what if things go really bad, etc.¨ What I thought was going to be a 1 week trip to Mexico to one of the best clinics in TJ has turned into nothing short of the scariest experience of my life. Let me try and kep this brief........
8/8/08.....report at 7:30 for my surgery....lower body lift, and arm lift. surgery goes well. Later that night, right as the dr is leaving the clinic, he notices unusual drainage from me. He takes me back into the OR. The anesthesiologist is not there, so he can only give me a local...he re-opens me up, and cauterizes some ¨bleeders.¨ Very very painful, as I am literally being burnt inside. He closes me up, then back to bed.
8/9/08: I get up to go the bathroom and passed out, and woke up on the floor. I was so confused....actually I still am. I find myself still trying to figure out what happened on what day, and am stil asking the nurses to help me recount. Ok, turns out my hemoglobin is 5.8, and I am still bleeding inside. This time the anesthesiolgist is there thank God, along with another surgeon who assists Dr Q. as they rush me back into the OR. The last thing I remember is a kiss on the forehed from the anesthesilogist as i am asking him to please save me.......2 hrs later I´m out of surgery, and am receiving what ends up being 1 of 6 blood transfusons, 4 plasma, and one iron infusion. You know, doctors never realy want to tell you how serious you were/are, but I heard a few things from a few other health care workers......it was bad. Nuf said there!
Then to top things off, in the midst of all this, the aftercare home where I was staying at gets shut down...no word why, nothing, it just gets sealed up....with all of my stuff (passport, cash, credit cards, etc) in it. Thankfully I was at the clinic at the time. the clinic got involved and they got an attorney to go in and get mine, and 2 others belongings out, which they did. Everything was there.
The plan was to go home last Thursday......3 days ago. Dr Q doesn´t want me to go yet so the plan is for my sister or friend to come and get me on Wednesday. I cannot fly so they´ll fly down and we´ll rent a car. At 2 weeks post p the ride should be ok.
Im staying at the ´Hotel Lucerna now, with pretty much round the clock care until this morning. when Dr Q gave the nurse a little break, and they´ll be back later. Each day is getting better, and i am feeling stronger. I had a little wound opening yesterday, but got all stitched up and feel a bit sore,but ok. my body work looks really good and
I can´t wait to get home, i miss my family so much.
More to come I´m sure.......after all, it´s my life, and uneventful is just not in my vocabulary!!!
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Almost Cancelled Surgery!!! on August 5, 2008 8:24 pm
Ok, as of 8:29 this morning, I had such a sense of peace about my surgery....even about flying!! At 8:30 I call my landlady to let her know that the transfer is made, and she can deposit my rent check.....she then informs me that she is going to have an appraiser and realtor over at my place after I get back from my surgery, because she is SELLING THE CONDO!!! Mind you, I LOVE my place. I have lived here over 3 years, and because I take such good care of the place, she has never once raised my rent, she is so happy to have me there. She then tells me that if I can afford it, the place is mine. Well, all of my savings is going for this surgery, and if I back out now, I lose 30% because it's so close to the date....what do I do?
I called a friend of mine who knows someone who handles loans and she contacts me with this gal who is going to run some numbers for me.
I call Cosmed and ask if I can switch to just brachioplasty, and not do the lbl until next year.
I call a good friend of mine and ask if she and her hubby want to buy my place as an investment and rent it out to me for a couple years until I can afford to buy it.
Mind you, I'm doing all of this in like 45 mins, on my way to work, on a bluetooth....I literally HATE bluetooth!!!!
Here is what comes of it..............my loan payment if I buy the place, with homeowners fees, inusurance, etc, will be like $600 more than what I pay now.....no can do.
Cosmed will let me just get the brachioplasty, but they'll call me tomorrow to let me know if I'd have to pay the 30% of the lbl cost....which I understand.
My friend totally wants to buy my place, rent it to me, and then sell it back to me in a few years.
so, I'm coming down tomorrow, having all my originally scheduled surgeries at Cosmed. I have to call them tomorrow, and if they don't think I'm crazy, surgery is still on Friday!!
Ok, I'm getting all packed up now, and then to bed. I have to be at work at 3:45 tomorrow, then to the Oakland airport................Calgon take me away!!!!!!
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