"Post-Op: 7/18/04rnJust wanted to update my surgeon section to say that I'm now 5 months post-op, have lost 107 pounds, and feel GREAT! I've had ZERO complications from the surgery, largely due to the expertise of my surgeon and his team. Retrospectively, I never cease to be amazed that I was able to have this done laparoscopically with such a good outcome. With a pre-op BMI in excess of 66, many, in fact MOST surgeons would have laughed at me if I asked about laparoscopy. But Dr. Frantzides is the reigning King (or should I say Greek God??!) of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y. If you think you can't have this done laparoscopically because of what you've read, or heard from other patients or surgeons, stop right there and RUN, don't walk to consult with Constantine Frantzides. It will change your life. Dr. F told me in my first appointment that he would give me my life back. He wasn't kidding.rnrnPost-Op: 2/14/2004rnThis surgeon and his team are the BEST! The combined skill, experience and follow-up of these people is phenomenal. Back in October when I had my surgical consultation, the docs told me that even though I am very large (66 BMI), I was still a good candidate for laparoscopic surgery because of the way I carry my weight down low. In reality, however, when they got inside me in the O.R., they experienced some unusual difficulty because of the way I’m built and distributed inside. The operation took about an hour or more longer than usual. They had to use longer than normal instruments and in Dr. F’s words ‘had to use more torque than normal.’ I don’t know about you, but to me using the words ‘surgery’ and ‘torque’ in the same sentence doesn’t paint a pretty picture. Bottom line, however, here’s the thing: they were able to complete the procedure laparoscopically and very successfully. I asked Dr. F if at any point he considered converting to open. His response: ‘Not really, but I would describe it this way. It’s like a mountain climber who’s just made it up a very challenging precipice and looks down and thinks: How did I get up here? And how am I going to get back down?’ I am absolutely convinced, without a shade of a doubt, that in the hands of many or most other surgeons, I would have been converted to an open incision. I cannot adequately express in words how grateful I am that I have 6 small ports instead of a long incision. These guys are absolutely the best! Thank you, both Dr. F and Dr. John, from the bottom, middle, and top of my heart. If any of you pre-ops are reading this wondering about whether of not Dr. Frantzides is the right choice, stop wondering. Assuming you’ve already made the decision to have the surgery -- run, don’t walk to your consultation and get on his calendar!!! Beyond the surgery, they visited me in my room the night of my surgery, twice the next day, and again on the day I was discharged. They took the time to answer all my questions and allay any fears. What else can I say? Other than again THANK YOU!!rnrnI met with Dr. Franzides, his associate surgeon Dr. Zografakis, and his registered nurse, Karen Thomas on Halloween Day, 2003. Fortunately, it was NOT a scary experience! Everyone in his office was very cordial and helpful. Both doctors have a friendly, comfortable manner with their patients and took their time to answer my questions thoroughly. Karen is a valuable asset to the office since she herself has had surgery and is very qualified to answer questions and give advice.rnrnI was initially surprised when Kathleen, Dr. F's administrive coordinator, came in and told me that she had scheduled me for a date. At that moment it seemed premature since I hadn't even met with the doctor yet. But, retrospectively, I realize that they are very busy and in high demand -- there were 4-6 other patients there at the same time I was. I guess they assume that once you've taken the step to contact a surgeon, you've done all your research and are ready to go. This was, in fact, the case for me, but I just didn't realize it would move so fast!"
"<br><br>
Updated 2/23/2004 -- Hey, ObesityHelp.com website adminstrators -- why is this review showing up twice??
<br><br>
In general, I think Evanston is a clean, well-maintained hospital. A big problem however is being understaffed, especially overnight, but I'd imagine this is problematic is all hospitals. I had a very nice bed, designed for large patients, with lots of controls and adjustments.
<br><br>
The biggest equipment problem I had was the bathroom. I was told I couldn't use the normal commode because it's the kind that hangs on the wall and is only rated to 350 lbs. So, they brought in a portable commode which, while oversize, was not big enough for me. After a very frustrating and maddening conversation with the night nursing supervisor, nothing really happened and I told her that if push came to shove, I would have to use the regular bathroom toilet, even though I was "forbidden" from doing so. Eventually, my overnight nurse picked up the ball and made a phone call and soon I had a much larger portable commode which was OK, albeit not real comfortable and out in the main hospital room. Why couldn't the confrontational supervisor do that in the first place???
<br><br>
The other problem I had was that 24 hours post op, I'd still not been offered a sponge bath and I was in great need of one. When I mentioned this to the overnight nursing assistant, she was incredulous that the daytime shift hadn't taken care of that, but informed me that she was overwhelmed with new admits and heart patients that needed special attention and she'd try to help me later on. This was extremely upsetting to me, because after all, I'm a patient too, right? To her credit, however, she did come back a couple hours later and get me cleaned up. I think she knew how upset I was, because after that, she really did pay alot of attention to me and help me greatly. It's too bad that the quality and amount of attention I got was directly related to the specific personnel. I realize that's human nature, but in a place like a hospital, seems to me that the standards should be more consistent.
<br><br>
Back to the bathroom inadequacies, Evanston Hospital is obviously in the embryonic stages of accomodating bariatric patients. Now that Dr. Frantzides is operating there, the volume is increasing significantly. I also heard that yet another bariatric surgeon is soon joining the staff. The hospital administration is going to have to plan and budget for bathroom upgrades. Not only are the commodes inadequate, but the showers are way too small for large people, and there is generally not nearly enough room for a big person to maneuver, especially around the commode. The couple of times I did sit on the commode out of necessity, I was cramped on both sides, and the TP dispenser was jammed into my left leg. Nice, huh? Bottom line... if the Evanston administrators are reading this... you can't have it both ways. If you're going to grow your bariatric surgery program and, thus, benefit from the new and added revenue, you MUST upgrade these facilities to accomodate the patients. Anything short of that would be insensitivity and consumer abuse.
<br><br>
Last, but not least, I was not able to rest overnight. Seemed like there was constantly someone coming in to do something or give me something, or check something. There are many different people working that each have there own orders and agenda, but the overlap means that a patient can't rest at night. There ought to be a way to balance all this during normal hours so that a patient can at least get 4-6 hours of uninterrupted rest. At least for me, it was only 3 days. If I'd had an open procedure and had to stay 5-7 days, I think I'd have gone insane!
<br><br>
Oh yeah, one last thing. I was given these nebulizer Albuterol respiratory treatments every 6 hours or so. One of the nights I was there, the overnight respiratory tech wrote down on my chart that I'd refused a treatment. NEVER HAPPENED!! Interestingly, this person wrote the same comment on the chart for all 3 of Dr. Frantzides patient who were in that night. Yeah, right, like we're all gonna refuse a treatment our doctor ordered for us!! What a lazy slug. That person should lose their job!"
