"Of course, with all hospitals, the first day or so post-surgery is disruptive. Social work comes in, the chaplain comes in, lab techs come in at the crack of down, nursing staff comes in constantly to check things, but that is the nature of a surgical stay. On the other hand, I cannot say enough good about the superior care I received here. Most of the RN's were not only competent, but friendly and personable as well. One nurse went out of her way to help me because she saw that my pain level had gotten out of control and that I wasn't self-managing it with the pump well. The unit was quiet while I was there, and the nursing assistants treated me as if I were a guest - if I got out of my bed to walk, I'd return to a freshly tidied bed, with my ice refreshed. I received a lot of encouragement for getting up and walking. Everytime a nurse or aide would see me in the hall, they would say "way to go! you are so motivated!" The only major complaint that I had was that the nursing staff was very accustomed to only treating RNY patients and felt that it was necessary to attempt to push me out the door the next day. DS patients have bit of a rougher recovery road, even lap ones, because more maneurvering takes place surgically and more suture lines. The doc had already told me to expect to stay three days. Apparently the nursing staff felt I didn't need to stay that long, and kept trying to push my protein supplement down me, chastising me for not being able to drink one ounce per hour. Only one in particular was that way, and interestingly, she was the only one that would breeze in and out of my room without making eye contact. Other than that, I really can't say enough about how kind everybody was, right down to the surgeons, who took the time every morning to sit down and chat with me a while. I would definitely have another surgical procedure there in the future!"
