I am a curious, and worried 19 year old

smilingcourt
on 1/5/09 3:51 am
Hello Everyone!
I have a few questions and concerns that I would like to address.  I was just wondering when you come to the hospital on surgery day, what should you bring with you? Also, I am very modest and I was wondering if you are able to wear any undergarments under your gown during surgery and after? And also, what pre-op tests are they going to do, that I may not feel comfortable about?
I worry so much about tests. I want the surgery very bad, and I know it will be the best thing for me. I am just trying to get an idea of what I have to look forward to with the testing, so I can be prepared.   I am a Dr. Baker patient, so anyone who has been through the process with him, your replies would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all so much, and I hope everyone has a fantastic week....
susandoeshair
on 1/5/09 5:13 am - Alexander, AR
Hi Courtney,
Glad to see you here!  Do you have your date yet?  As far as the tests go, there's no studying!  LOL, that should make a college student feel better, huh?  They will hook you up and get a reading of your heart, take a bunch of blood, blood pressure, etc. No big deal at all. Not too different from the labs they'd draw for a physical.
Now as far as the modesty thing?  Sorry....:(  no undies or bras allowed. Trust me, these folks have seen so much on so many it's all just routine. You'll be sound asleep and doped up after, so don't worry.

I really recommend people take their own pillows. Make sure it's in a pillowcase that's a bright color so it doesn't get confused with the hospital's. Of course, no one in their right mind would own a pillow that could ever be confused with one that belonged to a hospital!  That's why I suggest it. People will tell you to take an i-pod or magazines, or books, chapstick( which is good) and all sorts of things to the hospital, but your family will be there and can bring you whatever you need. No sense toting all that stuff with you because you probably won't feel like doing much. The pain meds keep you pretty sleepy, and when you're not sleeping, you should be up walking the halls. 

Okay, that's about all from me. Gotta go put away the groceries.  Take care!

Susan

 

jackntom
on 1/5/09 5:32 am - Mabelvale, AR
Unfortunately you will not be able to wear anything under your gown during surgery, but once I was able to get up and walk the halls I asked the nurse to unhook my IV for a mintues so that I could put my bra on and some comfy clothes, so I wore sleep pants and a tshirt while I was in the hospital.  My dr was Dr Gibbs and I didn't really have any pre tests other than lab work, not sure what Dr Baker requires.
smilingcourt
on 1/5/09 9:52 am
Susan-----
I am doing very well. I am getting excited the more I think about the surgery, and am dying to know what I will look like after. Surprisingly, I don't have a date yet. I have a seminar to go to tomorrow, and the dietary conference call to do. Thank you so much for your reply. I feel a whole lot better. I am happy there is no studying to do. (You were right, college students love to hear that). 
 The underwear thing is kinda saddning, but I agree with you on the part of being doped up and sleepy. I remember you saying something about bringing one of our own pillows and have a different colored pillow case, so we can do our coughing comfortably. Thank you so much for all your kind words and making me laugh today... You're awesome : ) 

JacknTom's------

Thanks for letting me know that. I do feel a lot better. I am sure that Dr. Baker has the same routine for the tests. Thanks for your advice. I will keep yuo all updated and let you know when I get a date....

Thanks again,
smilingcourt
wendy_fou
on 1/5/09 12:29 pm - AR
Not surprising about the date.  Dr. Baker is very strict that all the steps must be completed before you get your date.  In fact, usually he doesn't even let people have an appointment with him until they have done the seminar, support group, dietary conference call, etc - although in some cases due to insurance I think he has made exceptions for insurance companies that require an intial consult BEFORE all the rest of that stuff. 

But most of the time, for insurance payors, you have to have the consult and the insurance approval before they will set a date.  (For cash payors, they usually get their surgery date over the phone the same day that they receive their CONSULT appointment over the phone.)  Because of insurance submission/precert/preauthorization/approval issues, insurance payors usually have the consult with Dr. Baker (after completing all the other steps), then get their insurance submitted, then wait for the insurance to do their thing, THEN get a surgery date after the insurance approves.  Then if it's been longer than 30 days since you saw Dr. Baker (if it takes over 30 days for the insurance to approve), sometimes they make you come in once more for a consult again. 

Every insurance company has rules about how long they are allowed under their own policies to approve or deny.  My Anthem BCBS had 14 days under their policy to approve or deny me.  I called my insurance company every single day and they took the whole 14 days to approve me.  As soon as my approval was faxed to Dr. Baker, I was on the phone with Christi and had my surgery date scheduled as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately, you are in the jumping through hoops phase, which can be a time-consuming bugger.  It's like wanting to run up a flight of stairs, but instead having to take one step... then wait for 30 seconds... then take another step.... then wait 30 seconds.... then take another step.... etc.  It's frustrating.  BUT SO WORTH IT.

Good luck!!! 

Wen
mommychan
on 1/5/09 10:32 am - North Little Rock, AR
Hi Cortney!

I was so excited to see your post, because my 17 year old daughter and I just had surgery on December 3rd and I know she would love having another teen to relate/talk to.  She's a bit shy as far as posting on this forum is concerned, but we will be at the support group meeting this Thursday night at Baptist...will you be there?

Our pre-op tests were very simple.  They drew a few vials of blood then had us practice the spirometer, and that was about it. They give you a little bottle of hybiclens to wash with on the morning of your surgery, to cut down on surface bacteria.  The morning of surgery we gave urine samples and met the OR nurses and anesthesiologist, then they put in the IV's, dressed us up in that pretty little blue surgery cap, and off we went!

Mallory (my daughter) was freaked out about the modesty thing too, but got over it quickly because the staff at the hospital was so friendly that they put her immediately at ease. Like you, I worried about what to take to the hospital and even asked Lauren at the pre-op seminar at Baptist.  She said don't worry about pj's, but take a robe and slippers for when you walk around the hallways.  We also packed our own pillows and personal hygiene items...lip balm came in very handy...and I wished that I had thought to pack hand lotion!  I had only packed one pair of underwear for each of us to wear on the way home (along with sweatsuits for the same occasion), and lucky me....my period started the day after surgery. **moan**  It was no big deal really, but I had to ask the RN for a couple of pair of "sani-panties" and those were kinda scratchy.

Honestly, try not to worry about the modesty thing.  At night there were two young (cute) guys on duty monitoring our vitals and at first I thought Mallory would completely freak out.  However, they were both sooooo nice and polite that it didn't bother her at all!  The one guy wasn't even phased about bringing me the sani-panties and sanitary napkins.  They've seen it all and aren't silly about a thing.  It's all just science and nature and part of medical training, and they know what to do and say to keep you from being embarrassed.

Get excited, girl!  This is a wonderful opportunity!  Lisa
smilingcourt
on 1/6/09 1:18 pm
Hello Lisa!
Thats pretty exciting that you and your daughter both had surgery. I was going to do that with my dad when he was thinking about surgery, but he ended up having the surgery without me because he said the bypass wasnt for someone my age. I was 14 at the time. I went to the support group on December 11, and I went to the seminar on Jan 6th. Sadly, I live very far away from Baptist, and I am not comfortable driving by myself all that way, so I will not be going to the support group meeting on Thursday. Does she like to text?  I have unlimited text and she could text me if she wanted to.... Or, I have a myspace :) she could find me on there by typing in myspace.com/smilingcourt   I am always on there and I would be very happy to talk to her....  As far as the tests, I am very glad that its just vials of blood and such... I dont have a problem with needles so thats ok with me. I was worried about the underwear thing when we were walking the halls mostly. I realize when your heading to surgery, you will be so zoned  out, you wont care.

Do they do an enema to clean you out before surgery? I was told about the bacterial wash. Dr. Baker told me that. And my dad said that they will cover you with sterale sheets in the operating room so your not just all open.  My dad tells me I worry to much about everything. Im a young girl, I should worry.....  This is alll new for me... he's been there before, I haven't...

Anyhow, thanks for everything you have told me. I will look for your daughter on myspace... Tell her she can message me anytime she wants. And as far as the cute boys, I would of been the same way... She's a smart girl... And you are brave for asking them for the sani-panties. I agree that we dont have anything they havent seen before or been trained in... Its just the fact there guys.... Oh well, Im not going to worry about it... Im EXCITED and thats all that matters..... I am READY!!!!

*Courtney Coleman*
wendy_fou
on 1/5/09 12:21 pm - AR
Hi again!

When I went to the hospital, I didn't take a lot.  I think I took:
1) usual things I would have taken for a 3 - 5 day hotel stay (extra clothes, undies, socks, PJs, toiletries, etc)
2) puzzle books and notebook paper (for down time)
3) a bunch of WLS cookbooks to look through recipes (I couldn't imagine pre-op how very LITTLE I would be interested in food as a new post-op.  So I didn't even crack those books for a few weeks post-op.)

As far as the undergarments, they put a cath in - so I'm sure I probably woke up without them.  However, when I woke up, I was so drugged that I didn't even care.  But after you wake up in your room and start getting up, you can wear whatever you want!  My mom even put on regular clothes during part of her hospital stay.  (I mean like jeans and a shirt, shoes, etc.  She wanted to go shopping in the gift shop, etc.  So she'd wear regular clothes so when she was doing her walking, she could go where she wanted without being stared at.  LOL)  So I guess the short answer is, you don't initially wear your undergarments in the surgery - but as soon as you are "awake" enough to CARE about that, you can put on whatever you want. 

The pre-op testing done by your PCP is just regular blood work stuff.  The only thing different than that is the hemocults (which is just GROSS because you have to poop on a stick and rub it on a card for 3 days in a row before sending it back to your PCP to test).  That's nothing to be SCARED of.  It's just gross.  The pre-admit testing that they do at BMC is just normal blood draw kind of stuff, medical history questions, etc.  The only thing "worrisome" there is the pulse-ox blood draw.  It is a deep blood draw, so the needle hurts on that one.  But it just hurts like a bad shot.  Nothing to worry about - just uncomfortable.  That will be when you get your spirometer and anti-bacterial soap that they want you to wash with pre-op too.  So you'll leave your pre-admit testing with a bag of stuff.

It will all be fine.  The pre-op and pre-admit testing are really NOTHING as far as pain/suffering go.  They are just inconvenient and time-consuming. 

Have you already done your initial testing (first lab series) with your PCP???  The pre-admit labs at BMC aren't much different than those (minus the hemocults). 
smilingcourt
on 1/6/09 12:44 pm
Hi Wendy!
Thanks for easing my mind a little. I loved how you put it step by step.  I am just a little worried about the cath. Will I be asleep when they put it in? I hate those. Thankfully, needles don't bother me. So the bloodwork will be no problem for me... And I agree with you on the heemocults(very gross)... Thats good that I can walk the halls dressed. I didnt want everyone to see everything I own.... Thats the main reason I was asking was for when we were wide awake and aware of our surroundings. When in surgery and a little after, I will be in la la land and wont care.... But, thanks SO much... I appreciate your reply... You're awesome and I hope to see you at a support group meeting after my surgery....

*Courtney*
wendy_fou
on 1/6/09 8:56 pm - AR
I don't REMEMBER if I was awake or not for the cath... so I must have been asleep.  LOL.  In fact, the only reason I even brought up a cath is because I know there HAD to have been one - they put them in for all surgeries pretty much.  So I know, even though I don't remember it, that I must have had one. 

See you at support group! 

Wen
Most Active
×