i can't say anything but GREAT things about Newton Wellesley.  I did not want to deal with Boston either since I thought I would be more compliant with follow-up viists/support group at a local hospital, and I was right. 

Dr. Gazmuri was my surgeon and I love him, I've also dealt with Dr. Patridge and found her to be great too.

You're allowed visitors but they won't be able to see you until you're out of the PACU and back to your room. It all depends when your surgery is too.

Dr. Shikora will come to see your husband (or whoever is there for you) after you are done with surgery and are in recovery to let him know how you've done and how your surgery went. At this point you will be in the PACU (post anesthesia care unit) and recovering. You are not allowed visitors here. Once you are back in your room your husband and others will be allowed to visit.

My surgery was at 12 noon. Once they took me in for surgery my mom left and drove back home to get my dad after he was finished with work. While they were waiting they decided to get coffee and missed Dr. Shikora by 5 minutes and he ended up calling them on their cell phone to give them an update of how I did. My private room wasn't ready for me until the next day so I ended up staying overnight in the PACU (since I stayed overnight there my parents were allowed to visit as I did not have a room yet; otherwise you are not allowed visitors in the PACU.) The nurses there were awesome and I had one entire side of the PACU to myself.... I was still wicked sleepy from the anesthesia so I would pass in and out while watching tv lol!

You will be allowed to have as many visitors as you'd like the day after surgery and your husband will be able to stay with you for as long as you'd like him to (within visiting hours of course). My mom came to visit and stayed for a while. The nurses will encourage you to get up and walk with people who are visiting you... it passes the time much more easier than walking youself. At least you'll have someone to talk to :)

Thanks for the advice ladies.  My husband will be taking me in and picking me up, but he was going to wait around while I'm in surgery and I was curious how much the garage would cost for several hours.  I think I found on-line it's a $20 daily fee. 

Did you all have visitors, should I tell my husband not to bother hanging around and what about the next day?  I hate to have him come into Boston if I won't even be able to spend much time with him.

Thanks again for all your help.

 I haven't had surgery yet but I've heard that soon after you need to take tiny tiny sips.  Hope you can get more in soon.. Best of luck to you and Congrats!

Hello! Fellow Tufts girl as well (Dr. Shikora)
I absolutely love the Tufts Program and loved immersion day .. they really did an excellent job of presenting everything to you regarding pre-op, your surgery and the post-op lifestyle.
I do think that you should attend a HOWL meeting (3rd Monday of each month at 6pm - next meeting is the 24th) to gain more prospective as well. Like Corie said - the first hour is geared towards answering the questions of post-ops (but pre-ops are more than welcome to come) and from 7-8 is the Q&A session for pre-ops. I also attend a smaller, more intimate post-op group on the first Monday of each month. These you pay a co-pay for (HOWL is free) and are lead by either Dr. Power or Dr. Greenberg (the psychs.) I love these ... great help!

Where on the SS are you? There are a ton of us here on the boards who attend a monthly support group here in Bridgewater. This is open to both pre/post-op; spouses or anyone else you want to bring for support. There should be a thread a few posts below this one (or maybe on page 2) that lists all the details on the meetings... feel free to message me as well. This is a GREAT support group. We also see each other alot outside the meetings and have really formed close friendships. We recently had a Christmas party that a lot of members attended and we usually go on "exericise outings" as well ... trust me they are fun and don't sound as bad. hahaha Lisa and I did a weekend in NH and completed a 1/2 marathon ... a group of us completed a full marathon for the Jimmy Fund ... another group of us from the meetings sign up to do 5k's. I could go on and on about the group .. hahha

Please use this forum to ask any questions!! GREAT group of gals here!!!!!!!!!!!!