Pre-op appointments!

Oct 13, 2010

I had my pre-op appointments today! I had to do a fasting blood draw, meet with the surgeon, and participate in a pre-op class. I am having surgery 2.5 hours away from where I live. My appt with my surgeon was scheduled for 2pm.

My hubby and I took the day off for these appts. We are having furnace trouble, so the repair guys came at 8am and didn't leave until 11:30! We left immediately after that to make it to my appts on time. We made it to the hospital at 2:00. I was super hungry, headachy, and cranky from fasting that long! Luckily I went straight to the lab for the blood draw and then frantically downed a protein shake!

Next was my appt with my surgeon at 2:30. I sat in the waiting room until almost 3:00 before being called back. They weighed me... and I lost a couple more pounds! Yay! And I went back to a room to meet with the surgeon. Or so I thought. Instead I met the assistant surgeon. I wasn't impressed with the appointment at all. He just started talking about random things to do with the sleeve. He said I would have A LOT more pain than my band surgery. Then he asked me some strange questions about food and dieting and then told me I was wrong about it. He said I should only eat meat and veggies and he poopooed tofu and beans. He said he himself follows that diet, even though he is thin. he said he "doesn't believe in dairy" and doesn't eat it except for an occasional treat of full-fat vanilla ice cream. LOLOL.  After about 10 minutes of listening to him I said "can I ask a question?" and startedto ask a couple questions I had. Then the nurse who leads the pre-op class was knocking on my door because I was late to get that started. I asked if I would get to see my actual surgeon and was told yes, at the class.

The nurse who teaches the class is very cool. I have heard nothing but great things about her. The class cost $300 out of pocket and I didn't learn anything new, but it was still interesting and helpful. The nurse went over a bunch of protein supplements available and vitamin choices and gave us a big goodie bag of samples, which I thought was awesome! I am looking forward to trying everything.

There were 3 other women in the class with me. Two were middle age, one was a senior, then me (age 28). The senior lady was having a lapband tomorrow. The other 2 women are having RNY on my same surgery date, 10/19. I will be the third surgery of the day.

One of the RNY ladies had to lose 150 pounds pre-op. We were all blown away by the fact that she did it! Now on to the part that bothered me greatly...

We were talking about all of the surgeries, since collectively three surgeries were represented. The lapband lady quickly asked the nurse "should I be having the lapband?" It turns out she is leaving town in 4 weeks to spend part of the year in another state! She didn't seem to understand the fill schedule at all! The nurse told the lady that she wouldn't have her first fill until 6 weeks post op and suggested she find a Fill Center USA in the other state. The lady seemed confused. She asked me "what do you think of the band?" I told her I had a bad experience with it and probably wasn't the right person to talk to about it considering she was having surgery TOMORROW and we were in the middle of a class. My brain was screaming "SLEEVE!!!!!!! DO THE SLEEVE INSTEAD!!!!!!!!

When we got to the part in the class where the nurse said the RNY'ers could never take advil or asprin again, the RNY lady sitting next to me said "What?" She said she had several back surgeries and has to take advil regularly. The nurse told her she could take celebrex instead. The lady said she didn't feel comfortable taking it because her brother almost died from it. I was literally cringing for her :( I can't believe these people didn't know that much about the RNY and band. I was blown away.

Throughout the entire class, the nurse kept saying to me "this doesn't apply to you" because I was having the sleeve. (talking about stoma's, drinking when eating, pouches, advil) I felt SOOOOOOOOOOO lucky to be in my position!

I also learned today that my surgeon does mostly outpatient VSG's because so many patients are self-pay and the price does not include an overnight hospital stay! I was told I was "one of a select few" who will get to spend the night. I think its great that my surgeon offers a reasonable self-pay package, but I feel sorry for people who don't get the standard of care that I will get in the hospital.

By the end of the class I mentioned that I had not seen my actual surgeon yet. The nurse was surprised. He had already gone home. I have not seen him since last Decemeber. Bummer.

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