Anyone curious how the pre admission testing went..
I thought I'd let ya'll know what to expect as far as Preadmission testing goes... I went through Bariatric Treatment Centers, so yours might be different.
I got there at 7:15am and went directly into admissions where they got some medical information, gave me a wrist band, went over my insurance obligations (thank GOD i don't have to pay this up front, it's over 1800 bucks), and had me sign my life away.
From there I went into the "blood room" (nice name, eh?) where the indept plebotomist (im' sure i spelled that wrong) failed miserably at drawing several vials of blood from both arms. Usually I can handle this okay, but it was awfully painful. 
From the blood room i went into the medical practice area where I met with a wonderful nurse who weighed me, took my temperature and BP (which was sky high as a result of my trip to the blood room). Then she put me in a gown, which was HUGE for once 
From there I went to X-ray, where they took a few x-rays of my chest.
From X-Ray, I went back into the little room where I met with the Respiratory Therapist. She introduced me to my new best friend, the incentive spirometer. She also did a pulmonary function test and a 16-lead EKG.
Then came the dreaded Arterial Blood Gas. This sucked. She did this at least six hours ago and my arm still throbs. For those of you not familiar with this procedure, they take blood from your artery, which is deeper in your arm than your veins. I think they only do this if you're a smoker or on CPAP (or have some significant respiratory issues).
After the blood gas I met with the Physician who again went over my medical history, and the medical history of my family. She asked me dates of surgeries that I've had, as well as what medication and dosage I'm on. So if you have prior surgeries and you're on medication, make sure you have this info written down.
After the physician left, I met with the nutritionist who went over what post op life would be like, and she gave me a wonderful shopping list of things that I would need after surgery. We also discussed my current eating habits, which was kind of embarrassing to admit to someone.
After she was done I met with the nurse again, who went over all of my medical history AGAIN, as well as surgeries, medicines etc. She gave me some paperwork on how to prepare for the surgery the night before and day of.
Good lord my surgery is three weeks from today.
I guess BTC does not supply CPAP's for their patients, because she said I needed to bring EVERYTHING except for water with me.
It was a lot of hurry up and wait, but overall very educating.
An interesting sidenote... I woke up five minutes before I was supposed to leave this morning, the alarm clock didn't go off. So my husband and I ran around like psychopaths trying to get ready and out the door in a matter of five minutes.
From the blood room i went into the medical practice area where I met with a wonderful nurse who weighed me, took my temperature and BP (which was sky high as a result of my trip to the blood room). Then she put me in a gown, which was HUGE for once
From there I went to X-ray, where they took a few x-rays of my chest.
From X-Ray, I went back into the little room where I met with the Respiratory Therapist. She introduced me to my new best friend, the incentive spirometer. She also did a pulmonary function test and a 16-lead EKG.
Then came the dreaded Arterial Blood Gas. This sucked. She did this at least six hours ago and my arm still throbs. For those of you not familiar with this procedure, they take blood from your artery, which is deeper in your arm than your veins. I think they only do this if you're a smoker or on CPAP (or have some significant respiratory issues).
After the blood gas I met with the Physician who again went over my medical history, and the medical history of my family. She asked me dates of surgeries that I've had, as well as what medication and dosage I'm on. So if you have prior surgeries and you're on medication, make sure you have this info written down.
After the physician left, I met with the nutritionist who went over what post op life would be like, and she gave me a wonderful shopping list of things that I would need after surgery. We also discussed my current eating habits, which was kind of embarrassing to admit to someone.
After she was done I met with the nurse again, who went over all of my medical history AGAIN, as well as surgeries, medicines etc. She gave me some paperwork on how to prepare for the surgery the night before and day of.
Good lord my surgery is three weeks from today.
I guess BTC does not supply CPAP's for their patients, because she said I needed to bring EVERYTHING except for water with me.
It was a lot of hurry up and wait, but overall very educating.
An interesting sidenote... I woke up five minutes before I was supposed to leave this morning, the alarm clock didn't go off. So my husband and I ran around like psychopaths trying to get ready and out the door in a matter of five minutes. 
What a day you had. Glad you are finally thru it all and now all set for surgery. UCLA does it differently. I did go for pulmonary function tests then to see a critical care doctor. During the pulmonary function tests, they tested for arterial blood gases. The tech was GREAT!!!!. He took it from my wrist and it really wasn't bad, no worse than normal for blood work. What a relief!!! Then I went to my personal physician for a complete physical and blood work. My pre-op consists of a weigh in and turning in my complete medical records, lab work and physcial results and then talking to the anesthesiologist or nurse. So all the labs etc are done with before the pre-op. My surgery is in 22 days!!!! Doesn't seem possible.
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