My experience so far....Surgey date Oct 17th

Hello folks,

My first post here...

Going for surgery on October 17th so I thought I would help those of you who are booked for later with some info.

I just had my medical consult yesterday in Richmond. The Doctor was an internist, great guy and very friendly and patiently answered all of my silly questions.

I think his name was Dr. Yeung or something?? Definately started with a "Y."

Basically, its a doctor's check up. He will review your files which have been sent to him about your progress. He'll ask you lifestyle questions and talk about family history, heart or respiratory conditions, and anything that may make surgery more challenging.
He will also check your blood pressure, and look at all the medications you are on, or have taken in the last 6 months.

You will then lay on a bed, and he will check your heart, lungs, and check to see if there's any sign of edema by checking your ankles for swelling. Its a very short visit, 30 mins or so, but completely unrushed.

I drive back over into Richmond tomorrow for a 2nd to last pre-surgery meeting with the Dietician, see Dr. Sampath for the last time before surgery on Monday, and later next week have a consultation with the Anesthesiologist.

Thus, the next 7 days will be very busy, as I start my pre-surgery liquid diet on Sunday.

I recommend that you try your liquid diet in advance of the official start date. I experimented with it this week. It gave me time to try different flavours of the meal replacement drinks, gauge how hungry I got, and how to space my meals out. It also told me how tired I got and thus, when the best time to exercise would be.

By the way, those of you who will be on liquid diets, DO NOT buy ensure or glucerna (if you are diabetic) from Safeway. Their price is higher than anyone elses by at least a couple of dollars. I have found London Drugs to be more reasonable, although Safeway carries the Weider brand of protein powder (1 gram of carbs per serving) which I really like.

You can also pick up a shaker bottle from Star-Frit from London Drugs for less than 5 bucks.
This is great for protein shakes.

For those of you who are on CPAP for sleep apnea...like me...my sister is a nurse and told me to bring my machine to the hospital during my stay for sleep, and to ensure I let everyone at the hospital know about it.

Also...remember when you are in a post-op state you probably will be busy easing into your diet, and your life. As a result, I contacted the dietician, the internist, as well as the psychiatrist and booked my post-op appointments already.

I will be back here regularly to keep you all informed of my experiences in order to help those who are steps behind me, so they know what to expect during this process.

As a 30 year old male, I haven't met a lot of people who have had surgery in my demographic either, so hopefully this is a unique perspective.

I have researched the CRAP out of this stuff up at SFU library, going through medical journals, etc. so hopefully I can pass some of that knowledge along.

And please ask any questions you may have!

It's great to hear about your journey, and CONGRATS on you soon to be surgery.  Which surgery will you be having?  I look forward to seeing more posts from you about your journey, and  GOOD LUCK!!!! 

You probably saw Dr. You, an internist at Richmond Hospital.  I agree that he is very nice and easy to talk to.  I will have my RNY on Monday, October 3rd with Dr. Sampath.  I have my last three pre-op appointments tomorrow.  Nooshin @ Richmond Hospital for my final pre-op weigh in and to get my first post-op liquid food schedule.  Then to UBC for the pre-op physical activity assessment and to get my post-op physical activity schedule.  And then to Coastal Sleep to get my CPAP adjusted and set for in surgery which the anesthetist said I will have to wear because of my sleep apnea score.  It's a good thing I am on liquids because I don't think I will have time to stop for lunch.  I am now down 52pounds, since my first visit to Dr. Sampath in mid March, and am still finding in hard to believe (could not have done it without Nooshin's help).

Thanks for sharing, Barb Friesen

Yes it was Dr. You. He was very nice.

I haven't heard anything about UBC yet, but I have had a physical activity assessment done there before.

Congratulations on the 52 pounds. I have only lost about 20 lbs in the same time period, but have lost about 5 inches off of my waist.

Oh yeah...and I am having sleeve surgery (I like how it sounds like an arm surgery).

Hey, you're my surgery twin!!!!!!!!  I'm having RNY with Dr. Sampath on October 17!!!  I did all of my pre-op at the hospital yesterday, saw Dr. You, the pre-admission nurse and the anesthestist.  I also had blood work, ecg and chest x-rays done.  I did see Nooshin for my last pre-surgery dietary meeting and she was very happy with my weight loss in the last 6 weeks, now I just have to email her my weight on the 14th.  She also went over the post-op diet for the first 2 weeks after surgery.  the final thing that I did at the hospital yesterday was to meet with Mark from the PAL line and do the physical activity assessment, it was easy peasy and he's so nice too.

Good luck to you and I look forward to hearing how your journey progresses after surgery.  Maybe we'll even get to meet while we're in the hospital.

Jayna

It's great to hear the progress and find out what others are going through before surgery, so that those of us who are coming up have some insight on what's going on. Jaynak, how did the physical activity assessment with the PAL line go? Congrats to you all on the success so far, and this is good to read, as I have mine Nov 14th.

The physical activity testing was so easy.  He starts by putting a monitor device on your wrist and a bp cuff on your other arm, this is suppose to measure how your arteries response when they are put under a little stress (by the bp cuff being inflated).  I think that part took about 10 minutes.  Then he has you put a  heart rate monitor band around your chest and do a 6 minute walk (basically going back and forth over a set distance) and every minute he asks what your pulse is and how you're feeling (shortness of breath or fatigue).  He did say that if needed you can sit and rest and then carry on to complete this test, there is no hurry to get any of this stuff done.  He also does a few balance tests and has you do a sit to stand from a chair 5 times as fast as you can.  The final thing that we did was to time how fast I could walk a very small distance.  He does have a very short questionnaire for you to fill out as well, basicallly asking the same question with increasing amounts of distance involved, ie. have you been able to leave your bedroom this week and if so how often and did you need any assistance (another person or a device like a wheelchair or a cane).  It then asked about leaving the house, leaving the neighborhood and leaving your town I believe.  I believe that the whole thing took about 45 minutes.  Hope that helps a little and feel free to ask any questions about any of my appointments, I really don't mind answering them.  Jayna

Well I am coming to Richmond for my Pre Op at the Hospital on


Oct 17

I just may have to do some of my walk that day with the two of you.

If you are up to it!

Sure, at least a short visit if possible.  Don't know what time surgery is at yet.  I'm heading down on Sunday to spend the night at my Dad's, I can text you with more info when I get there if you'd like.  What time do you have to be at the hospital for your pre-op stuff??

Just got the call to be at the hospital for 11am for surgery at about 1pm.  I must be his last surgery of the day.  Prplady, what time do you have to be at the hospital for your pre-op stuff???

I have to be at the hospital for 1pm... I think I will be there for like 3 1/2 hours I am booked for two appointments back to back...
darn you might not be ready for a visitor that soon! I will be sending good vibes for you! for sure you can text me the info... umm I need your last name to be able to get your room info at hospital.. you can send in text or private message.. Thanks for well wishes and right back at ya!