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Surgeon TestimonialStanley Hahn M.D.The follwing statements are only my impressions from my experience with Dr. Hahn and his staff. I'm in no way making a statement about what other people may experience. rnrnThat said,rnI did do a lot of research while looking for a surgeon and saw a couple of them before deciding on Dr. Hahn. I talked to several of his patients online, and several nurses at the hospital where he operates, and always heard glowing testimonials. In person he impressed me with the way he listened closely to my concerns and questions, then addressed them one by one. I never felt rushed, and he took the time to explain the different options to me. He explained the risks involved and made sure that I fully understood them. rnHis staff has been amazing. They've handled the insurance company for me and kept me informed, pulled strings and jumped through hoops to get me scheduled before the end of the year and put up with my nervousness without complaint.rnrnI'll be sure to post a follow up after surgery.rnGod Bless. Member Interests
- Dogs - Gretchen, my German Shephard. Shes seen me through my worst times.
- Web Development - Amateur web-site builder, but I have fun trying!
- Auto Racing - Been drag racing since I was a kid! Current car runs 9 second 1/4s @ 140mph
- Airplanes - Private pilot, looking forward to being smaller (fit better in a Cessna!)
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Gettin' better now. on January 11, 2008 8:47 am
Sorry it took so long to post a follow-up. Thanks fishermry for reminding me. I went to the hospital (where the surgery was done) the same day I posted the previous note. I felt like a knife was sticking through my abdomen. The hospital couldn't reach a member of my surgical team any better than I could, so the ER dr. ordered a C.T. scan and some blood work. The scan was normal, but the blood work would take a while. So I was given a demerol shot, a Vicodin perscription and sent home with instructions to see my dr. when possible. I went to see Dr. Hsu, the surgeon that assisted in my surgery, who told me that I probably aggravated the largest incision in my abdomen where the stapler went in. Hopefully I hadn't broken the stitches. By this time, the blood tests were back, showed no infection, and I was not having trouble with bowel function or vomiting. It didn't appear that I had a hernia, so he told me to take it very easy (no exercise!) and wear an abdominal binder at least until I could see Dr. Hahn.
I had vacuumed the house the day the pain started. I didn't realize that vaccuming was so stressful on the ab muscles ( I do now!) I also had started riding my bicycle several miles a day a few days before the pain started. Not sure what caused it, but I'm sure that I aggravated it. Dr. Hahn told me at the 1 wk followup that I was at a delicate time because I was feeling great but was still not healed completely. Looks like I over did it.
My best advice? Listen to your dr and err to the side of caution. If I had realized how much trouble I was going to cause by jumping the gun with exercise, I DEFINATELY would have waited a coulpe of more weeks.
Its taking awhile, but I am getting better day by day.
And to answer the question my friends are asking, I absolutely DO NOT regret having the surgery, just wish I would have done it years ago! | Leave a comment.
Ouch! on December 29, 2007 10:22 am
Not sure whats happening right now, but it kinda hurts! Yesterday around 5 pm, I developed a sharp pain in the lower left quadrant of my abdomen. I thought it may be gas, but not so sure now. It goes and comes. When it gets bad it feels like a bad hemorrhoid attack. Oh well, I tried paging Dr. Hahn but he hasn't responded ( it's almost New Years , he may be out of town) so I called the hospital to try for me. If I dont hear from somebody soon, I'll go on in. Kinda hoping he could tell me if its normal and to just deal with it, or go ahead and freak out! Hopefully its just gas....eewww!
Stay tuned...lol
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The Hard Part is Over!!!! on December 13, 2007 12:03 pm
Well,
It's been 3 days since my surgery(not counting the surgery day), came home last night. The doctor says the surgery went great, no comlpications in the O.R., and he was able to complete the procedure laproscopicaly . So besides waking up and felling like I'd been kicked in the stomach, I felt pretty good and with much smaller incisions than expected! Oh, the catheter was a little surprise I wasn't expecting ,(but should have, duh...) never had one before, and hope never to have that "pleasure" again.
The first day I was pretty sore when I would move, but lying still was very comfortable. Physical Therapy came and got me up for a walk late that day. It went pretty well, just a bit of discomfort when I would step. And let me assure you, you will only step on your own catheter tube ONE time.
The next day was very reassuring, the soreness was considerably less and I started using a small sponge on a stick to wet my mouth. Dr. Hahn wasn't quite ready for me to try liquids, but I really wasn't thirsty or hungry at all (thats a strange feeling for me!) P.T. took me walking a couple of times during the day, and also had me try getting in and out of different chairs on my own. Went smooth as silk. My blood work showe that my potassium level was too low, so they started me on I.V. potassium.
The next morning I learned what a "infiltrated" I.V. means. My left arm was swollen all around where the I.V. was. They explained that potassium can cause troubles sometimes, and guess my number was up. They moved it to the other arm and finished off the rest of the prescibed dosage during the day and into the night. Despite the I.V. troubles I was very excited. The discomfort was even less than the day before, and I started drinking broth and apple juice, and eating Jello. And believe it or not, it filled me up.
I've been home since last night and things are going great! I've pretty much been doing my normal routine, just being careful not to lift over 5lbs or aggrivate the sutures. I can definately feel some discomfort after walking 30 - 40 feet, but it's quite manageable and getting better all the time. I have noticed quite a bit of bowel sounds (gas) moving around inside, but Dr. Hahn said that would happen and it just means my digestive system is recovering.
Well, thanks for reading, and I'll post an update in a few days.
2 Days Pre-Op, Its almost Time !!!! on December 8, 2007 1:45 am
2 days to go till surgery!! Wooo Hooo!
Heck, I cant sleep, dont really want to eat, gave up smoking and dont have any beer ! So here I am at 1:45 am, a little over 2 days pre-op typing away. I believe I'm as ready as I can get. Got my broth, apple juice, jello and protien mixes, vitamins, b-12 and iron suppliments, and a couple of good books to read. Think I'll ask Dr. Hahn to remove the butterflies in my stomach while he's in there if he can catch them...lol.
I've been working real hard to get my appetite under control for the past several weeks since I met with the nutrionist (Kelli Nash @ the Medical Center of Southeast Texas sure has been great) and got the eating plan for post-op. I haven't followed it exactly, but pretty close. The hardest part to get used to so far is not drinking anything 1/2 hr before meals till 1/2 hr after. I wanted to get used to the small meals so it wont seem so foriegn after surgery, at least in my head. Seems to be working, lost 7 lbs! Now lets see, I could go to Whataburger in a few minutes and eat enough to gain it all back!!! Sorry, just the ramblings of a nervous, sleep deprived bundle of nerves right now. Cant decide whether I'm excited, scared, overjoyed, apprehensive, or like a child on Christmas eve that cant wait till morning!
Haven't chatted with many people from OH, but I've certainly read alot about y'all in the past several months. Kinda feel that I know several of you. The posts, journals and pictures have been so very confidence inspiring to me. I could never thank you enough!
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My Story
My earliest memory of being over weight was in elementary school. It was pretty obvious that I was one of the strongest kids in the class, so I didn't understand why I couldn't pull myself up for even 1 chinup no matter how hard I tried, while the other boys could do alot. Somewhere around those years I got a few new nicknames from some of the kids. I remember being shocked to find out that fatso wasn't a term of endearment.
Weight Watchers became a household word for us very early. As a matter of fact, my parents both lost alot of weight from 1970 - 1972, and that was on the origional WW plan(and kept it off for quite awhile!) I think it could have worked for me too, but I was a rather resourceful kid and always found a way to cheat. Through high school and college I steadily put on more and more weight and developed a cigarette habit to boot! Not sure if I ever got to 400lbs, but I have seen scales so close that it hurt. Over the years diets came and went, some had a bit of merit others didn't. Herbal Life, the grapefruit diet, low fat high carb, high fat low carb, low fat low carb high protein, the fat blocker pill (what an experience!) Phentermine, TrimSpa, blah..blah..blah..blah..etc.
Sometime around 1985 I joined a gym in Austin Texas and started on Herbal Life. I stuck to it pretty well for quite a while, even got into bodybuilding for a couple of years, even got down to 220 or so. Boy did I feel like the cock of the walk! But after awhile, the 6 day a wk workouts and extreme low fat low carb high protein diet got too much for me. As soon as I went back to eating "normally", here came the weight back. In 1997 I went back to school (at 33) and got back into the heavy workouts and low carb diet again. Got down to 240lbs, felt and looked pretty good. Then I graduated and went to work at a chemical plant where I am required to work rotating 12hr shifts, switching from day shift to night shift every week. That in itself isn't very healthy, but its the nature of the beast! Soon the workouts slowed and finally stopped. Going back and forth from nights to days, it can be very easy to end up eating 4 or 5 meals a day several days of the week . It seems to me working nights I tend to get hungry more often than when I'm on days. It wasn't long before I had to start ordering bigger uniforms every 6 months or so.
Soon I began to have hip pain, lower back and knee pain. An my feet always hurt! My GP found that I had 2 herniated discs and a torn ligament in my left knee. These problems, along with my blood pressure and cholesterol on a steady rise, prompted me to ask my GP about weight loss surgery. To my surprise, he was on board with it. He is also my father and mothers GP and when he started to compare my history with my dads, the similiarities were scary. Then the insurance company dog and pony show commenced! It took the better part of 3yrs to get approved, but here I am 2 days pre-op. I hope this tells my weight story to this point, or at least a rough outline of it. God willing, I'll have a new more permanent chapter to add real soon!!!
Thanks for taking the time read about me!
God Bless,
John
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. They got me in and out in no time. They even made sure a bathroom was close by and ready. Thank you Jesus! I'd also like to thank the tech's in the lab for their understanding (and holding their laughter till I left!) The best part is that I made it there and back before "it" happened.
