Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville?

Is anyone considering (or already had) bariatric surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL?

I'm having my consults there on October 7th, and am wondering if anyone else has had experience with Mayo.

Yes, I am.  On May 6th.  I will have Dr. Bowers who will do a RNY.  I haven't met him yet but intend to on April 7th.  Would love to hear your experiences and any advice you may have thanks!

You will really like Dr. Bowers.  In fact the entire bariatric team is very nice, helpful and supportive. 

I lost enough weight pre-op so I didn't have to do their liquid diet for the week before surgery.  (I pretty much stuck to a high protein, mostly liquid diet myself - I just got to eat/drink what I wanted).

Do you live locally or do you travel to get to Jacksonville?  I live about 4 1/2 hours away in Sarasota and the Courtyard Marriott is my home away from home when I have appointments.

Be sure to bring a loose bathrobe to the hospital; they will have you walking with your IV pole in no time.  They will "give" you no slip socks if you don't bring your own non-slip socks or slippers.  Biotene mouth spray is helpful if you get dry mouth easily.

The nurses are fantastic.  The first pain med they gave me was giving me migraines, so they not only got the pain med switched they got an order for my migraine med too (during the night).

They pump you full of IV fluids to keep you hydrated while you are in the hospital.  One week post op I was up 8 pounds.  Don't get depressed, it's only fluid and comes off quickly.

When my catheter came out, I couldn't go by myself for a while.  I was told that was not uncommon.  They straight cathed me about 6 times before my own plumbing started working again.  (Those IVs really fill the bladder quickly.)

Plan on staying in the hospital an extra day or two if something comes up.  My stomach tissue was very delicate (years of gastric problems) - so I had a NG tube (nose into pouch to keep the pouch empty) to give it extra time to heal.  Surgery was on Tuesday, I went home Friday.  Then I stayed at the motel with my husband 2 days to make them happy (in case I developed any complications).

Oh, and while you are in the hospital you will need to call dietary to order your liquid meals.  They will tell you what you can have, and you pick.  Then sip.  They automatically send up protein shakes in between meals.  They have vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.  The vanilla and chocolate were good, but unless you are a huge fan of strawberry, I'd call dietary and ask them not to send any strawberry.  It was a slimy texture and had an after taste.

Also, you will be on either the 6th or 8th floor post op.  The nutritionists told us they have the 6th floor well trained, bu****ch out for foods you shouldn't have and straws on the 8th floor.  Sure enough, I got a straw on a tray.  I felt like I was being tested!

If you have any questions, or just want to talk - feel free to email me:  [email protected]