I am soo mad and upset and I just got done on Tuesday!

If you read my last post you will already know about my lovanox experience where here it is again and my conversation with the charge nurse at St. V.  I am sooo mad I was crying my eyes out! First let me say.. my doctor is Gupta and my surgery was Tuesday.  I had my pre-op class on May 2nd and I swear nothing was mentioned about this lovanox or how ever you spell it..  No sharp box was sent home with me, nothing.  When i checked in for surgery on Tuesday the nurse ame in with a shot and I asked what it was for.  She told me it was for blood clots.  Got one shot then. Nothing was mentioned again until Wednesday the day after surgery and the day I am to go home.  My nurse comes in and starts to give me another one, I ask why.  She says because you have to get another one and you MIGHT be going home with it. Discharge time came and I asked my nurse again.. am I ready to go.  And she says yes.  We left. A few hours after we get home I get a call from the nurse saying I FORGOT my lovenox.. NO she forgot to give it to me.  HELLO I have no idea how to give myself a shot. My husband gets home with it and there are 6 shots, no instructions, no sharps box, and a calibration tube?  I have no idea what I am supposed to do. So I talked to the charge nurse and was telling her all about it and she said I should have gotten a sharps box in my pre-op class and instructions on how to do step by step.  Umm No  I didn't get anything.  Any way so I am fuming mad bawling my eyes out.  Not even because I have to do it, it doesn't hurt any way but I have no idea HOW to do it or anything.  So she walks me through it and says some one will call me tomorrow from a committee ot something? I told her my experience was not great and my day nurse from Tuesday and was not impressive.  She took me off of the dilute pain medicine the same day of surgery and gives me loratab which did nothing, but she would jut bring another if i complained.  Then my night nurse said i should have still been on the dilute, so then i got that stuff. To top it off I had to get a cathedar to help me pee which I knew would happen and the nurse acted like it was some horrible thing to do and took her 3 times to even get it in.  It was awful awful awful. I hope that this is all the comaplints I have and I

sorry my batteries went dead. Any way if this is all I have to coplain about I guess it isn't that bad.  But I am just soo upset it makes me mad.  I feel like I was not imformed.  I also forgot to mention that I had to get an Upper GI done on Wednesday and not person informed me of that either.  YES no big deal BUT I was soo impressed at how they had everything writen out step by step in my book and to have not mentioned some of these things I feel should be there vs. when my famiyl can see me makes me mad! And the worse part.. my husband is going through the process now... I hope he doesn't change his mind after seeing me go through all this!

Hi Leanne, well it is very interesting to listen to your experience. I too have Dr. Gupta, and waiting for my date to have lap band surgery.  I would like to ask you about the rest of your experience but I am afraid I  might back out. I wonder does everyone have to give themselves shots, the RNY patients, I don't recall hearing anyone talk about the shots.  You are the first one I have seen on here that has had lap band surgery with Dr. Gupta, so I hope you don't mind if I ask you questions. I know the whole hospital stay with the nurses wasn't so good for you, but how was Dr. Gupta? Is your husband having her as a surgeon as well? I hope things get better for you. I can tell you the shots are going to be a real problem for me, I don't even watch when they take blood or give me shots. I could be in trouble here.

Oh Tracey don't let it scare you away from doing it.  I am just upset that the information wasn't given to me.  I knew all along that RNY patients had to give shots at home but it was never mentioned to me when it came to the lap band.  And to be honest, being stung by a bee hurts MUCH worse then this little shot.  I swear to you, I did it over the phone with the nurse on the other end and I didn't even flinch.  You can barely feel the needle going in.. I PROMISE! And to be honest I only had a problem with the one nurse, the rest of the staff was very nice.  My day nurse just didn't seem to be "with it"  heck she had the Tech do almost everything any way.  And for me I had no one there with me either, my husvband had to go back to work and my parents had to keep my kids.  So even when I needed my pillow moved I had to ring the bell.  Maybe she was just tireed of me or something, I don't know. Dr. Gupta was fine, I saw her before I went back and she went over the surgery again and asked if I have any questions.  Then I saw on Wednesday before I left.  Yes my husband is using Dr. Gupta too.  I Choose S.t. V's and Dr. Gupta because I had heard such great things about them.  And I don't think it is anything she did.  I think it just got left out in the pre-op class because the nurse on the phone told me that Dr. Gupta is one of the only surgeons that sends lap band patients home on the lovenox. One more thing about the shots.. it doesn't even burn when you inject the medicine in, I didn't even feel the medicine going in at all.  I promise you it doesn't hurt, or sting.  And I am terrified of bees! Feel free to ask me questoins and don't take my experience to hear either!  :) Off to bed now!

Thanks for talking to me, I read the last post and she said that only rny patients give themselves shots, so what is the deal, why does Dr. Gupta?  I went and put a post on the lap band forum about your rash so maybe someone there could give you some help, there are a lot more lap band people there, duh that is why they call it the lap band forum.  Get your rest and we can talk tomorrow.  Thanks,Tracey

I just came back from the lap band forum and there are a couple of post about the rash, when you get a chance go to that forum and you will see the posts, hopefully they will help you. Tracey

WHOA wait just a minute ... I have never heard of a Lap-Band patient at St. V Carmel being told to take Lovenox, or requiring an upper GI after surgery!  Granted, different surgeons may do different things, but I strongly suspect that the nurse had you mistaken for a RNY patient!  I know that the RNY guys go home with the Lovenox shots.  Please don't buy them until you check with Dr. Gupta herself to be sure she wants you to take them, they're very expensive and you're not properly trained how to do it!!!  There's no harm from the shot you received pre-op, but don't do it post-op unless the doctor tells you to.  And if it an error for the hospital to give you the Lovenox pre-op, make sure they remove the charge from your bill. 

I was banded Tuesday also.  :)  At Bloomington. I'm on shots for 2 weeks but I have a genetic blood clotting disease (Factor V).  We knew this going into surgery that I would be getting the shots afterwards. I almost wish I had a cath.  They kept me overnight and I was up every 30 minutes pee-ing which was hell getting in and out of the bed and unhooking from everything.   Last night was rough pain wise but today is much better. :)

Hi Leslie!  Glad to hear you're feeling better today.  Please keep us updated on your progress.

Jessica, THAT is the scare part!  No one seems to know anything about lap band people needing these shots.  I did talk to the doctor on call, not gupta who sent me to the nurse.  It seems as if no one knows. I did not have to buy them, my husband went to pick up the bag from the hospital... no alochol pads, no instructions, no sharps box, nothing.  And to top it off, they sent home a tube?!?!?!?!?! I am soo lost and I hate to be *****y about it, but it is honestly like no one knows what going on and i don't know who to call tomorrow. I know these shots won't hurt me, but if I shouldn't have to have them then I would rather not!