(*WLS*) DURING KATRINA! OMG!!!!!

My surgery was on Friday Aug.26 2005. at METHODIST hospital in New Orleans, La. I remember ICU, barely. I barely remember the wind and lights going out, i remember the roof caving in my room, and a mad dash to another room. I got 1\2 cup of water about every 4 to 6 hours. sometimes not till i screamed and screamed for help to go the bathroom, or for medicine, it was a week in hell. I kept complaining about not being able to breathe, and I was told to quit whining I was told by nurse to get off my fat ass and climb to the roof all by myself. because i would NOT GET ANY HELP FROM ANY ONE. well i did it collaspsed lung and all. took me 3 hours. I am still in a hospital in Baton Rouge, La. with a collapsed lung, no contact from Dr. or wsl group or any Idea of how to get in contact with them. New Hospital still not sure what to do with me. so we piecing together meal i was 8 days of water then jello finally eating .. but i know we are not doing it correctly. It has been 13 days since surgery... and i have lost 30 pounds. severe dehydration and starvation was and is not part of the program .. I NEED HELP!!! WOULD YALL SEND ME COMPLETE DAY BY DAY MENU'S. WHAT EVER I NEED FOR A FEW WEEKS .... HUBBY NEEDS EXACT INGREDIENTS/NAME BRANDS ETC... I HAVE A COLLASPED LUNG AND CAN NOT HELP. AND MY DR IS GONE UNTILL GOD KNOWS WHEN. We live outside NEW ORLEANS, We lost all our food due to power outages. so please be specific. funds low. Thank you and God Bless

I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through that. Here is a link to a Gastric Bypass diet. Hope it helps scroll down to get to the menu. http://www.endowsec.com/pated/edtgs22.htm Need anything let me know we are neighbors.

I don't understand why this wasn't all very clear for you before you had the surgery. It sounds like your malpractice issues began long before you went to the hospital if you went in no better educated than that. I am preop for duodenal switch and, as a matter of researching options for wls already know the immediate and long-term post-surgical diet requirements for all three main options. Even if you didn't find out these as a matter of self-education beforehand, your doc office should have made darned sure that you'd know EXACTLY what to expect and what your protocols would be before you ever signed any consent papers. How can one consent without information? Not only did the malpractice start then and continue through that first devastating week, but apparently it continues. Why hasn't the doctor taking care of you contacted any one of the hundreds of RNY docs he could have picked up a phone to call so that they would know this stuff? Why aren't you under the care of a dietician who, if she isn't already familiar with post-wls diets, could easily do a little research and find out? It's time for someone to start making a great big stink and I don't mean post-wls bowel issues. Denise in Ark

I too, think you should know your diet before surgery, but I am assuming here that she was separated from her Doc and moved to another hospital and maybe her Doc does not know where she is. It is crazy in new orleans now. So who knows. I hope she gets better fast, what a nightmare. Kelly

While that is probably all true, it doesn't make any difference. Her current caregivers should be doing research on her behalf and then educating her on what they learn- and PARTICULARLY if she's still in the hospital. What's going on in NO right now makes no difference as to what's going on right now with her - she's not there. My dh is a nurse and ICU AND L-TACS at our hospital are completely full since Katrina's people were brought in - and you can be for darned sure that even if their docs aren't available that the staff is doing everything necessary to make sure that they avail THEMSELVES of the information needed, so that the people get the care they need and deserve. Doing anything less is the height of unprofessional behavior from a medical standpoint. Lookit - if you and I know how/where to get the information needed, then there is absolutely no excuse for professionals not to get it. All it takes is logging on to the internet or a phone call to another doc who has done the procedure. RNY docs aren't at all hard to find, and anyone who isn't making any effort to get her information in something as basic as this is guilty of malpractice. Denise in Ark

Although I generally steer clear of the pat answer to pre-ops such as, "wait until you have been there, yada, yada, yada" as it is somewhat dismissive I am forced to at least say, "Come on, give her a break!" I find no fault in your logic as to perhaps the weak precare instruction she may have received, but it is really too soon to judge her surgeon's program. The woman had a roof collapse on her, a lung collapse within her, suffered a forced evacuation immediately after surgery and is still under the effects of anesthesia, perhaps what she was instructed to do may have slipped her mind. In regards to the care she is currently recieving you speak like she is in th Mayo Clinic or somewhere like that. It is Lousiana, for goodness sakes, in hospitals with limited resourses, limited and exhausted staff that are shuffling between the dead and dying. And they are not able to network with other gastric bypass programs nationwide to coordinate an eating program for this women- shame on them! They are still waiting for electricity according to the news. All that being said, it does sound like you have found yourself a very good and thorough program and are going into this next step of your WLS journey well prepared. I do wish you the best results and good luck.

Denise, First of all, I cant believe your response to this poor woman! Here is someone post op that is going thru hell and you have to condem her for not knowing what she is supposed to eat?? How Christian of you. As for her Dr not calling, do you realize he may be dead, or a refugee, and there are no phones on in New Orleans yet. Dont condem from afar. My daughter is displaced right now from N. O. and its been a terrible time. You are pre op. I hope that you will remember EVERYTHING you are supposed to do after you have your surgery. but remember this, when you dont, (and you wont, nobody possibly can) you will be back here asking for help too. Do you want critizism or help? We are all here for each other in good and bad times. This woman is definitely on a bad time. Help her please by giving her the advise she asks for, if you cant then dont say anything at all. My 2 cents worth.

Oh just bite me. I wasn't criticizing her. I was criticizing the care that she is getting, and I was very clear about that. It is substandard. Her doc isn't the only person in the country who can give her current caregivers the information that they need to take care of her, and they are apparently not making any effort to do so. This is inexcusable and cause for a discussion with a lawyer. Even more than the advice she can get here, she needs to be making a huge stink with the hospital administration and demand that she get a higher standard of care than she has been getting. She began receiving substandard care LONG before Katrina even had a name, if her doctor's office hadn't given any education on her diet. She has been out of the NO hospital for at least several days now, and STILL is reduced to figuring out on her own what is next, because nobody knows what to do for her? There is no excuse for that and I won't back off of that position. My .02 is that if YOU think people should settle for substandard care, and be left on their own to figure out what to do, you are the last person I'd want ANY advice from. Denise in Ark

YOU ARE A VERY UNCARING ,UNSENSATIVE PERSON ,, HELLO THERE WAS JUST A MAJOR CATASTROPBE DOWN IN NEW ORLEANS , AND SHE WAS JUST NEW TO HER NEW POUCH ,YOUR FIRST RESPONSE IS NOT GOING TO REMEMBER WHAT THEY TOLD YOU TO EAT BUT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE GOING TO BE ON WHERES MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE THEY OK , ARE THEY SAFE ..HERE IS A LITTLE FYI FOR YA , BE A BIT MORE CARING AND UNDERSTANDING WHEN IT COMES TO SOMETHING HAPPENING AS THIS MAJOR DISTRAUT TAKING IN THAT REGION .. P.S. THATS MY .02 CENTS WORTH.....

I agree with you 100% on this post Nancy.