"I stayed on 8 Wollman, and I found that after my PCA pump was removed I had to advocate for myself far too much in order to get pain medication. I would even ask for the pain medication a half-hour early to give the nurses notice, but that didn't help at all. One time I was made to wait nearly three hours for a dose of Percocet. I was in agony without the medication. The gas pains were terrifying, and I was never told I could have simethicone. I had to request it. I had read the pre-op packet from Dr. Kurian's office, so I knew what to expect. I highly suggest you go in well-informed. I was so relieved when Monday came, and I was discharged. My room was cleaned once in four days. I was offered a "wipe down" with a damp cloth once in four days. I really did have to fend for myself. Thank God my husband was around to help me. I have definitely learned my lesson when it comes to pain managment. If there is ever a next time, I will bring my own pain medication. The SICU on the 8th floor has mahogany walls and marble floors. 8 Wollman has tiny, cramped shared rooms for the most part. There were two private rooms at the far end with faux hard-wood floors that were very spacious with great big picture windows. I would walk to to the end of the hall just to dream about staying in those rooms instead of my tiny, dirty room. I wasn't sharing with another WLS post-op, and I wished I could have. The woman I was with was miserable, suffering horribly, recovering from lung cancer. We had very little to share during our recovery other than compassion, and it was hard to have her eating right in front of me when I couldn't even have ice chips or water yet. The night staff was loud and inconsiderate. I detected resentment from some of the nursing and support staff as though they might view the surgery as a privilege and not a very serious procedure. One nurse even asked me a bunch of questions about whether or not I self-paid for my procedure and questioned the identity of my visitors after they left. I found her questions invasive and inappropriate. She even asked if one of my visitors, was "really rich." Even if she did recognize who he was, it was horrible for her to ask that question. Shame on her. I wish I had told her so at the time. On Monday morning, I didn't see a nurse until 10:30 AM. One nurse came to care for my roommate, and when I asked her to help me because the metal rod with the hand grip over my bed had dislodged right over my head she said, "I'm not your nurse." That metal rod swung loose over my head for another three hours before a special nurse for bariatric patients came to take out my Jackson-Pratt drains. When I told her I hadn't had any medication for pain or otherwise since the night before, she went out and found my nurse who apologized for her neglect and proceeded to remove my IV without waiting to see if it would bleed. Sure enough, I ended up bleeding all of the floor and all over my toiletry kit on the way to the showers. I was never allowed to shower until the day of discharge."
"I met with Dr. Kurian four weeks ago in her Manhattan office. There was a group of approx. fifteen patients waiting to see her and her partner, Dr. Roslin. Before my private consult, Dr. Roslin spoke to the whole group about the different types of surgery. He did a great job--clear and consice. After about an hour, it was my turn to see Dr. Kurian. She was professional, personable and very matter-of-fact. I am confident that she is the surgeon for me, and she was well worth the wait and the $30 parking fee. The office is well staffed (even though Almira was on jury duty) and impressively equipped. After my consult, I took a metabolic test (administered by RN Pritee Patel) to determine my resting metabolic rate. Apparently, my body requires 4000 calories a day to subsist at rest. The average woman needs something like 2000, so I'm running on double. I also had my body fat/composition measured with a high tech scale which gave a print-out of my results. I got my surgery date the same day of the consult because I already had my psych and nutritional letters in hand. Lastly, I attended the monthly support group the same night. It is actually run by the two surgeons, Drs. Kurian and Roslin. It was standing room only and very informative."
