"First Impressions: Office environment - a bit harried and maybe could improve in some ways. Silly things, like the couch in the waiting area is VERY low to the floor and sucks you in. I have pretty good muscle tone and I still made funny noises getting up - can't imagine a superobese patient managing without help. Also, when they go to measure your height, the yardstick is tacked onto a doorframe with a cabinet right beside it. Like probably most MO patients, I'm a bit wide in the bumper, and the cabinet made it so I couldn't stand up straight, and the thing measured me at 5'4\" even tho I've been measured three times lately at 5'5\". rnrnStaff: I'd already dealt with Allison via their Yahoo-group site, and while she was sometimes slow in responding, she was very nice. At the office, I thought the staff was terrific, but I could see that they were busy to the point of frantic, and I thought they probably could use some help getting organized.rnrnDr. Metz himself is everything I'd heard he was. He's very young, also very nice. He took a lot of time with me explaining the procedure and patiently answering the LONG list of questions I'd come up with over the 8 months I've been planning for this surgery. He hasn't done as many VSG's as I might like (he's fresh out of his fellowship, where he did \"a bunch\", but he's only done 5 since coming to Denver), but I'm confident that he knows what he's doing. So far I feel very good about him. I also followed with an email with a few clarifying questions, and he responded within 24 hours. rnrnAfter surgery: Several members of the staff came to visit me while in the hospital. Very, very nice and very helpful! There still seems to be some organizational issues, e.g. moments where not all the people know what's going on, though. I had one person telling me my post-op diet was one thing and another person saying something different. Some of this could be the hospital, which kept putting \"gastric bypass\" on my chart, even though I told them I'd had the sleeve. rnrnDr. Metz is not only quite a talented surgeon but he's also a very nice guy with a great sense of humor. rnrnSumming it up - At a month out, I'm feeling great, and thoroughly enjoying my sleeve. It seems to me my experience has been unusually easy, compared to others on the sleeve forum, and I credit Dr. Metz. He explained that he goes to some trouble to avoid narrowing at the curvature of the stomach, and to leave a bit of extra room at the bottom, which can help with nausea and acid. He also takes care to get most of the gas used to make space during the procedure out of the body before he closes, and because of this I had very minimal gas-related discomfort. I highly recommend Dr. Metz to anyone in the Denver area who is considering Bariatric surgery."
"At check-in, they had us arrive at 5 am, BEFORE the registration staff arrived. And the only place to sit was a little room with small chairs - with arms - hardly a great idea for bariatric patients. I fit in the chair, but anyone who was much larger would've had to stand until they were checked in. Also, post-op, I was in recovery for about two hours longer than I had to be because the hospital took its sweet time finding a room for me. My family was misdirected and had trouble reconnecting with me. And finally, evidently someone put "gastric bypass" on my chart, so periodically someone would come in and start giving me instructions for bypass post-op. They didn't have a lot of experience with the sleeve gastrectomy, so they weren't all that well-versed.
The staff was very helpful and responsive, and my surgeon and his staff were just awesome in addressing my concerns and needs. Once I was in my room, there were plenty of people dropping by with various ways to help me - physical therapist showed up to walk me around and gave me a pilates band to exercise my arms, nurses were unbelievably busy but quick enough with meds to help with nausea and pain as needed.
All in all, the experience was pretty good, despite a few frustrating problems. "
"I wanted to find a non-whey protein source because I seem to have problems with whey. I bought samples from Jay Robb's site, along with a tub of the chocolate- big mistake. I probably should have mixed with milk, but I didn't have any. With water alone, it tasted a bit too sweet and "watery," - the latter point I don't fault them for. My biggest gripe is the stuff doesn't mix. Let it stand for five minutes and the protein has separated and is floating at the top of the glass - looks like a chocolate-colored egg white, which I guess is what it is. Anyway, I wasn't likely to try it again, so I took the rest of the samples and the tub to work and left it in the break room. Someone else must've thought it was OK, because it was gone the next day."
