Getting ready

My surgery is Nov 19. I am a little, what is the word, not scared but concerned or something? I dont know I just thought i would post maybe someone could give me some tips on what to expect. Dr Winn and Irgue will be doing the surgery at Christiana. I dont know really what to expect . Thanks to anyone that can let me know what to expect. Tina

Hi Christine, I have Dr Wynn also. I havent had my surgery yet my date is Feb 2nd. I have had gall bladder laproscopic surgery at christiana before...this is what normally happens. you will go to your room and change into the dredded gown and the nurse takes all your stats and such. then you wait and they wheel your bed to this large room with a nurses station in the middle. The different surgeons are bustling about and the surgery nurses introduce themselves and all that and your surgeon will pop in around that time briefly. Then the antestesiologist comes in and introduces him/herself and will put in your iv to get you started. Then you start to feel pretty darn good they wheel you into the operating room and scoot you over to a cool (as in cold) table. 'you are pretty darn drowsy then' then they give you a last dose of anestesia and 'blink' your out they wheel you into the recovery room has other patients comming out of the anestesia and the nurses wake you and ask you what your pain level is from 1-10. then they will give you the magical meds you need and eventually you will be moved to your room. thats the gist of it. Im sure after a bit they will make you walk and such which is the best thing to do because of gas and it help you heal better. practice breathing exercises you'll need that your belly will be quite sore and it will hurt to take in those deep breaths so practice ahead of time welp hope this helps some feel free to email me anytime

Thank you well that gives me jist of what will happen i love your little guys. Good luck to you when u get yours done. did you use dr winn and irgue?

Christine, I just went through the surgery on Wednesday. It really is much better than those things that our minds start throwing around as the time gets closer. I have had a bit of a rough morning here (babysitter problems) and I am a little too tired to write much now, but I will email tomorrow with details of my surgery if you like. Take care, and CONGRATULATIONS!!! Tammy

That would be great! I would like to know how will i feel afterwards, what did you bring to the hospital did you buy your stuff before you went to the hospital? I guess i am getting a little excited 15 days left. did you have a problem not eating before surgery?

Tina, I am feeling so good. While in the hospital, I was walking as soon as they gave me the go ahead. They never had to come into my room and tell me to walk. Walking felt good to me. The hospital beds were a little hard for me (bad back). So walking was a great relief. Already I am able to walk up my stairs without the pain that has plagued me for a very long time. Today I walked a POWER mile ... this is so exciting to me. I have energy that I never dreamed possible in just one short week. Losing just the 20 pounds has given me new life. I know I have lost 20 pounds before and not had this kind of relief, I don't know why it is so different this time, but it is sooo different. I have even lost an entire shoe size already. Imagine that? As far as what I took to the hospital. CHAP STICK ... don't leave home without it! Toothbrush, toothpaste, deoderant, brush ... you know the stuff. I took shampoo and all, but never used it. I was not allowed to get a shower while there. They told me I could wash my hair in a bowl, but my hair is long and that would have been way too hard for me to do. I took PJ's. They had big gowns, but they were hard to come by, so I am so glad I had my own. Plus it was nicer when I walked the halls to have my own clothing. If you have a small fan, you might want to consider throwing in your trunk so someone could bring it up to you. Fans seemed to be something hard to get hold of while I was there. I brought my own pillow. The nurses made me a cough pillow out of a blanket, they folded it and then taped it. It was wonderful. Wish I could have taken it home. I had things prepared for my at home, but my tastes have really changed since surgery. Things that I used to like, I don't like now, things that I used to not like, I like now ... I hear this is common for the first few weeks at least. So my adivice there is to not overbuy anything. Have a good selection ready, but not too much of any one thing. Also, I needed my pain meds when I got home. My trip home was hard on me. Hubby had to run out and get the prescription filled. So I was alone and a little scared, but everything worked out just fine. Also, the scripts cost a little more than we had hoped. The pain meds were not bad, but the med for the gallbladder cost us almost $100.00 dollars. We were not expecting that one! Oh, BTW, the pain med is in liquid form with corn surup. I was confused as to how to take it. I didn't know if I had to mix it with applesauce or take it straight. A quick call to Dr Irgua told hubby to have me take it straight. I did and it worked ... quite well as a matter of fact. I guess that I all I can think to add ... again, I wish you the very best. I am praying for you and excited for you!!!

Tammy Congrats! Glad to hear you had your surgery. Best of luck. I'm awaiting a surgical date, and so envious. Dianne

Dianne, Thank you. I am excited for you. Please let me know when you get your date!!! BTW, I am doing wonderfully. My life has changed for the better already and it has only been a week. It is so hard to believe. (see profile) Anyway, please be sure to let us know. We are all here to help support you through this! Hugs, Tammy

Christine, my surgery was on 10/15 with Dr. Wynn & Dr. I. Dr. Wynn is my actual Dr. - I only met Dr. I for a moment in the OR so I cant comment too much about him other then he seems nice. Dr. Wynn I find to be fantastic. She is very caring, thorough, intelligent and over all just very nice. She has done over 300 surgeries and has not lost anyone (Per the P.A.) I have total confidence in her & I would recommend anyone to her. She does other surgeries as well. The other lady nailed it on what happens at the hospital that morning. After the surgery you will go to recovery for a while and then up to your room. More then likely you will have a morphine pump attached to your IV and you will be able to give yourself a hit of it every half-hour as you need it. I was in an unusual amount of pain the 1st day, I believe it was due to being placed on a broken bed & needing to "shimmy" to a new one in the recovery area. (A serious fluke mishap - nothing like that has ever happened to me at Christiana - and I have been there a lot). So, since I was in a lot of pain they had me on a continuous drip of morphine for the 1st day plus I could hit the button if I needed. There will be leg things on your calves that blow up every so often to help with circulation. If there are no complications, you will probably come out of surgery with just the I.V., the catheter, and possibly oxygen. I has oxygen - no big deal it was just a thin tube that went around my ears and then under my nose with2 little short tubes for the oxygen to go into the nostrils. Also on day 1 or maybe 2 they will give you a shot of heprin in your stomach - I was really upset - I asked why not in my arm like they did when I checked in? The nurse said because it needs to go in your stomach... So, I closed my eyes and honestly - it was nothing like I expected, not bad at all. Just close your eyes & breathe.. They will more then likely get you up and walking that evening, your catheter will come out the next day. They will give you some unsweetened apple juice that you can sip on. Walk as much as possible on day 2 it really helps. I found the bed uncomfortable to I spent most of day 2 in the chair, edge of bed or walking. Next day a resident will come & take out the J.P. drain and you will get to go home. The JP drain is a really flexible tube that will be tapped under a bandage from 1 of your incisions (Assuming you are having it Lap) there will be a very flexible tube with a bulb on the end. The nurses will come & empty that a lot day 1 & 2 it is some dark pink color fluid (at least mine was). Honestly, I did not really feel the drain much at all. The drain does not hurt when they remove it, the resident will tell you to breathe deeply and it just feels like a flutter as it comes out. Hope that helps!! Congratulations & best of luck! ~Kathy V.

Tina, all the reply's above are great ... The only thing I can add is that after my surgery I had to have a leak test (still not sure why). But I had heard all kinds of yucky stories about the stuff they make you drink for it. Really, it was not bad. The only part of the whole thing that even bothered me in the least was the guy had me climb on the table (this hurt because I not only had RNY, but I had a huge hernia repair at the same time). Anyway, they had me sip a very small sip of the "drink" twice. It was not near as bad as they told me it would be. Then they stood the table on the end so I was standing when they took the pics. Then they were done. I asked if I could get off the table while it was standing rather than trying to get off in the laying down position, they said yes. If I had to do it again, I would ask if I could get on in the standing position. The whole proceedure took maybe 2 minutes? If they tell you that you need one, don't lay around and worry about it like I did. Really, it was easy! I wish you the best! Dr Irgau is WONDERFUL as is his whole staff. Dr Irgau and Dr Winn and the entire surgery team were excellent. My anesthesiologist took my hand in the OR and told me that he would take good care of me and he was an excellent hand holder. His calmness and gentleness gave me a sense of security. Since I had already met my surgeons and had complete confindence in them, I found it wonderfully reassuring to feel that comfort from him. Also, they woke me up in the OR after surgery. I don't even remember going to sleep. They put the mask on me and asked me to take a deep breath a few times and that is the last thing I remember until the surgery was over and I heard ... Tammy, wake up hon. Everything went very well. A little confused, I asked them how my surgery went and again they told me that everything went very well and I was doing good. And that they were going to move me to recovery. In recovery, I had the most wonderfully caring nurse. She babied me, she tucked my in. She put pillows around me. I only wish I knew her name. I felt like I had my own special angel right there with me. And even though the nurses were so busy taking care of the little gal next to me (she was in horrible pain and crying out ~ not RNY surgery), they still took care of all my needs, even the ones I didn't realize I needed (ie tucking in the blankets and etc). Tina, you are going to a wonderful hospital, with a wonderful surgery team! We are all very blessed in this area to have such wonderfully skilled surgeons and back-up team. Sorry it took a while to get back with you. Bet you are getting excited!!! It won't be long now!!! Hugs! Tammy