Kittay
My story
Feb 16, 2009
My Story... updated 12/20/11
6 years ago I had a Gastric Bypass.. I had my bypass 2 days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans,Louisiana.I had been trying to have the gastric bypass since I was 15 years old and I tried every diet known to man but nothing ever worked. I've been over weight all my life but at 17 years old I hit rock bottom.. I was so ready for my life to change after my surgery but two days later Hurrican Katrina hit while I was still in ICU.
I remember waking up and being told that the hurricane had hit New Orleans. The hospital was 2 floors under water and the only way out was through the parking garage. I was taken off the ventilator early while the generators were still working. The first two nights were so hot, I felt like I couldn't even breathe. I couldn't drink any water and there was no ice!! The next day I was informed I would be having to go down stairs to get to the parking garage, which was 36 steps just after getting out of bed and not even walking yet. I had to have 12 nurses tie bed sheets together to hold me up incase I fell. I was placed in a wheel chair 3 days without ever getting to move,which caused me to lose feeling in my feet,legs and I began getting bed sores from the heat. I was in shock and didn't really know what was going on or what was going to happen to my mom and I. There was a lot of scared homeless people searching for a way out and for their love ones. I was told that a bigger helicopter was going to pick me up because I couldn't fit in a small one. Even though I ended up leaving in a smaller helicopter anyways.
I waited all day till nightfall but no helicopter ever came for the 3rd night in a row. I was placed back into the hospital because looters were going crazy outside shooting at the hospital and trying to break in. I got rolled right infront of windows and was told not to shine any lights because of the looters.. Of all places!!( haha ) At this point I haven't slept at all in days, I was in a lot of pain and my stomach was starting to have a lot of drainage. I was losing faith about getting out of New Orleans and started thinking about my life. You know the saying " you really never know how much you love something till you don't have it anymore. " That is all I could think about. I asked myself " Would ever get to see my family again and tell them how much I really love them?", I'm not sure if this was from pain or just lack of sleep.
I saw a bright light shine in my face and I saw the reflection of an angel. She spoke to me and said " Everything was going to be ok and I was going to go home. ". I remember after that I didn't feel anymore pain. A doctor found me in the hallway and moved me into a cooler room with my mom. I was told later that I would be leaving in the morning. The angel or whatever I saw was right. God was the only reason my Mom and I got out of there.
After Surgery--
I only had one follow up visit with my doctor 6 months later because I had no way of getting ahold of him. Once I got back home the bed sores were so bad that I ended up having to have skin removed. I was stuck in bed for the first year of my surgery. I had no idea what I had to do because at that time the staff explained everything after surgery and there wasn't much info on the internet back then. I felt weird once I started eating food, My stomach was always growling and I felt hungry all the time. Nothing ever made me feel sick and I also never had a full feeling. I rarely ever had the big "D" which always made me wonder.
I ended up losing over time 130lbs but I believe it was mostly from depression of katrina,not having a doctor,being stuck in bed or not having much support. I also lost my insurance after 8 months which didn't make things any better.For the longest time I blamed myself for not losing that much weight. I was hard on myself for not really knowing how much I should have been eating. The last 2 years I've lost and gained over and over, I just couldn't get it to come off anymore. This past year I started seeing another doctor about my gastric bypass and some problems I've had over the years. I had a scope done and found out that my doctor made my pouch and bowls way to big which is why I never felt full or had the big "D" much. Now I am looking into having a revision and things will be better this time around.
I found this off a website about the hurricane and me:
Emergency generators provided power at Tulane's University Hospital for up to 36 hours before running out of fuel late on Tuesday, August 30th. MCLNO lost power earlier in the day. Temperatures in the hospitals soared into the upper 90's, and conditions were made even more intolerable by 100% humidity and backed-up and inoperative toilet facilities. Seriously ill patients were being cared for in appalling conditions without the benefit of radiology or laboratory services. Patients were now being hand ventilated in shifts by the medical personnel.
When it became apparent that no help would arrive in a timely fashion from the City, State or Federal Government, HCA officials mobilized resources to start the evacuation of Tulane University Hospital (4). Tulane's hospital staff cut down lights on the upper deck of a visitor parking garage to construct a makeshift heliport. The heliport at the Superdome, which was usually used to transport patients, was not accessible because of flooding and the use of the Superdome as a shelter. Large numbers of air ambulances were mobilized on Tuesday and Wednesday, and heroic pilots landed on the small, temporary pad during the day and night using night-vision goggles. Patients were triaged for severity and prioritized for evacuation. Patients had to be carried down many flights of stairs in the hospital to be transported across an elevated pedestrian walk-way to the Tulane garage. As the visitor car park did not have adequate height clearance for ambulances, patients were loaded on flat-bed trucks owned by hospital personnel and driven up to the top of the garage. One patient who was awaiting cardiac transplant had to be transported together with several hundred pounds of equipment. Another patient recovering from gastric bypass surgery weighed over 400 lbs. Faculty, residents, nurses and hospital personnel performed heroically. Imagine carrying these patients down a hospital stairwell lit by flashlights, and not one Tulane patient was lost during the emergency or the subsequent evacuation.
On Thursday, September 1, 2005, National Guard Blackhawk and Chinock helicopters started to arrive. Although not equipped for patients, they were able to start evacuating medical personnel, their families and others who had sought shelter from the storm and subsequent civil disorder. The larger helicopters would keep their rotors going to minimize weight on the parking structure, given the uncertainty of the building's ability to tolerate the strain. Without these larger helicopters, evacuation of the Medical Center would not have occurred in a timely fashion.
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6 years ago I had a Gastric Bypass.. I had my bypass 2 days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans,Louisiana.I had been trying to have the gastric bypass since I was 15 years old and I tried every diet known to man but nothing ever worked. I've been over weight all my life but at 17 years old I hit rock bottom.. I was so ready for my life to change after my surgery but two days later Hurrican Katrina hit while I was still in ICU.
I remember waking up and being told that the hurricane had hit New Orleans. The hospital was 2 floors under water and the only way out was through the parking garage. I was taken off the ventilator early while the generators were still working. The first two nights were so hot, I felt like I couldn't even breathe. I couldn't drink any water and there was no ice!! The next day I was informed I would be having to go down stairs to get to the parking garage, which was 36 steps just after getting out of bed and not even walking yet. I had to have 12 nurses tie bed sheets together to hold me up incase I fell. I was placed in a wheel chair 3 days without ever getting to move,which caused me to lose feeling in my feet,legs and I began getting bed sores from the heat. I was in shock and didn't really know what was going on or what was going to happen to my mom and I. There was a lot of scared homeless people searching for a way out and for their love ones. I was told that a bigger helicopter was going to pick me up because I couldn't fit in a small one. Even though I ended up leaving in a smaller helicopter anyways.
I waited all day till nightfall but no helicopter ever came for the 3rd night in a row. I was placed back into the hospital because looters were going crazy outside shooting at the hospital and trying to break in. I got rolled right infront of windows and was told not to shine any lights because of the looters.. Of all places!!( haha ) At this point I haven't slept at all in days, I was in a lot of pain and my stomach was starting to have a lot of drainage. I was losing faith about getting out of New Orleans and started thinking about my life. You know the saying " you really never know how much you love something till you don't have it anymore. " That is all I could think about. I asked myself " Would ever get to see my family again and tell them how much I really love them?", I'm not sure if this was from pain or just lack of sleep.
I saw a bright light shine in my face and I saw the reflection of an angel. She spoke to me and said " Everything was going to be ok and I was going to go home. ". I remember after that I didn't feel anymore pain. A doctor found me in the hallway and moved me into a cooler room with my mom. I was told later that I would be leaving in the morning. The angel or whatever I saw was right. God was the only reason my Mom and I got out of there.
After Surgery--
I only had one follow up visit with my doctor 6 months later because I had no way of getting ahold of him. Once I got back home the bed sores were so bad that I ended up having to have skin removed. I was stuck in bed for the first year of my surgery. I had no idea what I had to do because at that time the staff explained everything after surgery and there wasn't much info on the internet back then. I felt weird once I started eating food, My stomach was always growling and I felt hungry all the time. Nothing ever made me feel sick and I also never had a full feeling. I rarely ever had the big "D" which always made me wonder.
I ended up losing over time 130lbs but I believe it was mostly from depression of katrina,not having a doctor,being stuck in bed or not having much support. I also lost my insurance after 8 months which didn't make things any better.For the longest time I blamed myself for not losing that much weight. I was hard on myself for not really knowing how much I should have been eating. The last 2 years I've lost and gained over and over, I just couldn't get it to come off anymore. This past year I started seeing another doctor about my gastric bypass and some problems I've had over the years. I had a scope done and found out that my doctor made my pouch and bowls way to big which is why I never felt full or had the big "D" much. Now I am looking into having a revision and things will be better this time around.
I found this off a website about the hurricane and me:
Emergency generators provided power at Tulane's University Hospital for up to 36 hours before running out of fuel late on Tuesday, August 30th. MCLNO lost power earlier in the day. Temperatures in the hospitals soared into the upper 90's, and conditions were made even more intolerable by 100% humidity and backed-up and inoperative toilet facilities. Seriously ill patients were being cared for in appalling conditions without the benefit of radiology or laboratory services. Patients were now being hand ventilated in shifts by the medical personnel.
When it became apparent that no help would arrive in a timely fashion from the City, State or Federal Government, HCA officials mobilized resources to start the evacuation of Tulane University Hospital (4). Tulane's hospital staff cut down lights on the upper deck of a visitor parking garage to construct a makeshift heliport. The heliport at the Superdome, which was usually used to transport patients, was not accessible because of flooding and the use of the Superdome as a shelter. Large numbers of air ambulances were mobilized on Tuesday and Wednesday, and heroic pilots landed on the small, temporary pad during the day and night using night-vision goggles. Patients were triaged for severity and prioritized for evacuation. Patients had to be carried down many flights of stairs in the hospital to be transported across an elevated pedestrian walk-way to the Tulane garage. As the visitor car park did not have adequate height clearance for ambulances, patients were loaded on flat-bed trucks owned by hospital personnel and driven up to the top of the garage. One patient who was awaiting cardiac transplant had to be transported together with several hundred pounds of equipment. Another patient recovering from gastric bypass surgery weighed over 400 lbs. Faculty, residents, nurses and hospital personnel performed heroically. Imagine carrying these patients down a hospital stairwell lit by flashlights, and not one Tulane patient was lost during the emergency or the subsequent evacuation.
On Thursday, September 1, 2005, National Guard Blackhawk and Chinock helicopters started to arrive. Although not equipped for patients, they were able to start evacuating medical personnel, their families and others who had sought shelter from the storm and subsequent civil disorder. The larger helicopters would keep their rotors going to minimize weight on the parking structure, given the uncertainty of the building's ability to tolerate the strain. Without these larger helicopters, evacuation of the Medical Center would not have occurred in a timely fashion.
