GLAD TO SIGN FOR THE CAUSE. MY DATE IS 05/10/04. I HAVE BLUE CROSS BLUE SHEILD ANTHEM PPO. I WAS APPROVE THE SAME DAY AS MY CONSULT. ALL INSURANCES SO BE SO EASY.

Hey all I am 4 yrs post VBG but run a support group of bariatric pt's. We have lots of lap band pt's that due to the lack of surgeons in the stamford ct area have a very limited choice in doctor. (of course not ALL are unhappy) our biggest issue is about the actual charging for fills of the lap band port. Is this what everyone is experiencing and par for the course?? Just wondering......

There will always be the "bad apples" however I have made it my mission to teach the younger ones on my unit the way I would want to be taken care of if I was ill. Our years of knowledge must be passed on becasue it will be those young kids someday that will be taking care of us and I want it to be the right way.LOL. It's great when I can pull in one of the newer nurses to help the Doc insert a line/ do an emergent intubation/ or for me be a back up on a new admit or fresh heart etc. It increases their chance of learning. I am fortunate that I work with a great group of Doctors ( specialists ) that give us alot of praise and autonomy in our practice. The bad apples dont last long on our units we weed them out pretty fast. Unike many ICU's ours is a hodgepodge of everything. Everything from fresh open hearts to med-surg icu patients. Its gets kinda hairy at times but works and gives even our most unexperienced or new RN's the oppurtunity to learn from the veteran's. OUr patients never wanted to leave our units and now they don not have too.. We just last week opened our new Comprehensive Care Unit. Initialy the gys up stairs wanted to call it the Family Focused Unit. However after saying FFU they got the message that it would not be good PR so it was changed. A point blank statement from a member of the staff saying how ling before someone thinks we are saying in a hurry "F..K You" , LOLOL A beautiful 32 bed state of the art unit that is combining all ICU and Step Down unit patients and telemetry patients. Once the patient in admitted to the unit they stay until discharge. They just get downgraded from ICU to PCIU to Medical or Surgical patients and staffing ratios change. The rooms are HUGE. The patient has their own area. A Large Handicap accessible bathroom/shower. Each room has a family area with a sofa bed/ chair / desk/theirown TV/ and internet connection off to the side of the room. One family member can stay in the room at all times. We also went to open visitation. I am not really how sure this will work in the long run but so far its not been so bad. Just really stress ful since we changed from a fish bowl enviroment to such wide open spaces, families their all the time and ICU patients not side by side as they always have been. Also you always have those patients that everyone on staff cant wait til they transfer out to Medical or Surgical Units?? Well that wont happen anymore. I have seen that it is making many nurses think past critical care to more holistic care. Supposedly there are only 10 units likethis in the USA but its the new trend.

Mine is Thursday, and I am feeling the same way at times, I agree that we sometimes just know too much. I've been having weepy spells, which is not me at all, reminds me of post-partum blues, lol. My kids are 6 and 16, they've both been telling me that they know I'm not going to die, it's hard even hearing your child talk about Mama and dying in the same sentence. I pray a lot about everything, especially about making it through the surgery and no complications. I know I have to do this to live, and I'm at peace with the fact that I may die, I just feel so weepy and sad about possibly leaving my children here without their Mom. That's the hardest thing for me overall. I have been very focused on my family over the last few weeks and I know that's why. That being said, here's the rational side of me and what my brain keeps coming back to: The last minute nerves are normal, just keep focusing back on everything you've done to get this far and that you know your surgeon is skilled and knows how to prevent complications. I know that God is with me and will be there to help me through it. He's there for you,too.

Hi Pam- Your fears are perfectly normal. I know the fears of a pre-op re: being a nurse. I think we know too much for our own good sometimes. I was visualizing all the things that could go wrong...thanks to many years working in critical care...I had to leave my fears in the hands of God and concentrate on the things that nurses know which help them get well faster...deep breathing, ambulation, isotonic exercises, medications, anatomical reasons for eating according to the plan, assessment for any complications. I have sleep apnea and never do breathe well after general anesthesis. I knew that this problem existed. My surgeon had me stay in ICU until the anesthetic had worn off bit. I had O2 on for another 3 days but finally managed to get to 95% O2 on room air and went home...5 days post-op rather than the usual 3 days. Other than that, no difficulties at all. Blessings, Rusty