Connie, I think you are right. I don't think it has to do with the pay. I think it comes from management culture. I have friends that work at other hospitals out west, where the managment culture is more customer service orientented. Everyone is accountable to the patient at all levels. I did not see this on the floor I stayed. You are right though. I am going to send a letter to the president. At least I will know I did my part that may possible help the next patient.

It is sickening. I had awful care also as did my husband. It made me think that those without any health related knowledge are at such a disadvantage. To think that this is a country where the care is suppose to be respected. Thank God I no longer work as a nurse on the floor. I could not live with myself if I was responsible for such lack of care as I received. What has happened to our Hospitals? OH, could it be that nurses now are scarce because of minimal pay? The best advice I have to give anyone, is to have a family member stay with you while you are a patient.

Okay I am off to vegas for a week starting sunday.NOW I will need all my daily fan mail to cease since I have no comp access.LOL...Just kidding I am going to vegas and was just wondering how I am gonna manage not being on th eboard through out the day!! Erin

CONGRATULATIONS, MARY!!! These weeks will go by sssooooo ssslllooowww! Find the protein products you want to be on later. Also get some GOOD chewable vitamins, calcium CITRATE chewables, and a form of B12 (sublingual, nose spray, or injectable -- per Rx). Do you know what kind of diet regimen your doctor uses post-op? Sorry if I'm listing a bunch of stuff you have already considered. Oh, one more thing I discovered just last week. www.fitday.com I LOVE this program. Plug in your food and activity and the program helps and tracks your progress! Great News and Good Luck! Pat lap RNY 6/11/04 356/334#

I'm 17 days post op (Open RNY). I had some of your same concerns, because I LOVE food, I love to cook, a lot of my "social" life centers around eating. I went to a Barix Clinic -and their approach of reintroducing food is very conservative - 1 week Clear Liquids, 3 weeks Full Liquids, 2 weeks pureed, then advance to soft diet. Also, they recommend some sort of supplementation every 2 hours or so to keep the blood sugar at a stable level. I realized I have an addiction for food, so PREOP I tried to prepare myself mentally and tried to think of my recovery period as my "drying out" from food -- rehab. Right now, physically -- it feels like a switch has been flicked -- I haven't had any sense of hunger, no cravings, nothing. Mentally, I haven't had any sense of being "deprived" of the foods I loved (so far anyway). I'm cooking supper again for my husband, going with him periodically to a resturant (taking my protein drink instead of eating from the menu). So right now -- the loss of eating food hasn't been a problem. For once in my life, I'm having a hard time getting in ENOUGH calories. My tastebuds changed dramatically. Artifically sweetened fluids taste bittersweet (pretty awful) and pre-salted foods taste TOO salty. My nutritionist says it will change. I tried a few different protein powders before surgery so that I'd have something I could tolerate post-op. Because the flavors changed post op, the protein drinks tasted bittersweet also. I found a compromise by using 1/2 scoop Optimum Nutrition "ON Whey" flavored protein powder and 1/2 scoop "Any Whey" unflavored protein powder with skim milk. I'm still on the full liquid stage. Because most things just don't taste good, I've stopped trying to be creative with variety and I'm sticking to the protein drinks. I'm also drinking decaf tea, 1/2 strength crystal light, 1/2 strength fruit juices to get fluids in and can tolerate sugar free pudding, s/f fudgesicles as snacks. It is weird because before my obsession with food was "what's for breakfast, what's for lunch, what's for supper" -- now I have to MAKE myself get in what I need. Before surgery, I could drink a "big gulp" down in 2 or 3 swigs, now getting in 64 oz of fluid in a day is not only a challenge, but a chore. As for stomachs stretching, from what I've read - most often post op it will hold 1/2 cup. After healing and swelling have subsided, it will normally stretch to the point of holding 1 1/2 cup at a time. Good luck, RK