Starting to feel MUCH better/the whole ugly/stinky thing

Not yet.  It should be open next month, they said.  You could tell they were painting down there.  Except for the roommates from hell, Bayview was a good place for me.  The nurses were great, as were the residents.

So sorry you had the room mates from hell. I kind of wonder had you been able to rest properly if some of your oter issues would have resolved sooner. At least you are home with Kevin and Madeline now. Welcome to the Losing side of life.

I'm glad your feeling better!! Thankfully the hospital I had my surgery at has all private rooms. I don't know that I could have handled a roommate lol. But then I know I cried a lot (I heaved constantly for the first couple days) soo I would have probally not been a very good room mate lol. Ours had no age limit on kiddos either, although sometimes I wish they had. The lady a couple rooms down had a couple screaming toddlers and 5 or 6 year old running up and down the halls. Crazy I'm so glad you got to see your little girl and vice versa! Will the new bariatric wing have private rooms? Will you be able to have children there??

Edie, wonderful to hear that you are feeling better. Sounds like Bayview was the place for you to be, they did everything right for your situation. Did they ever find a reason for your oxygen level being low? Kristin may be on to something, with a faulty Pulse Ox machine?? Sorry you got the hellish roommates. Thankfully, I'll be having my surgery at GBMC and the ward they use, bariatric patients don't get roommates. I'm a TV person, and I sleep better with it on. But, I'd be constantly worried that I might be keeping someone else awake. Seems that not many people worry about things like that, the way I do. Did you ask the doc why you can't drive for 3 weeks? They told us at the GBMC info session that you could start driving as soon as you were no longer taking narcotic pain meds. Well, I'm sure you will get things worked out as best for you and your family. You shouldn't stress about that, only concentrate on your continued recovery.

Re the pulse ox machine.  Yes, right before I left, we did find that one of them in use on the hall where I was gave significantly lower results than the other ones.  A nurse and I tested a few out in the hall because we were wondering why my numbers were jumping up and down.  But, immediately after surgery, I was definitely having problems.  I felt like I wasn't getting enough air and it was scary.  A chest xray they took looked appreciably than the pre-op one I'd had.  It's possible I caught a little something right before the surgery and wasn't having major symptoms.  I was exposed to a child with brochitis 2 days before.  Re driving, remember bandsters have ports and we have 1 longer incision where the port is placed.  Mine is high, above my waist, just under one breast.  According to Pat, Dr. S placed it up there because I'm (relatively) slim around the waist -- boney, they said, if you can imagine that! -- and it was much easier for him to place it there than to dig through all the "fluff" on my tummy.  Given the location of the incision, that may make my healing time a bit longer.  They were upset with me when I suggested I'd be driving in a week.

Well, I've learned something new. I knew that you would have a port, but didn't know it was a different incision than any of the others.  So, they will let you go back to work in a week if you feel up to it, as long as you don't drive yourself I get it now. I'm so glad you're on the mend! Good luck on the losers bench, hopefully I'll see you there soon.

Edie I was not able to drive, they say you have to be sitting in the driver seat and be able to do a quick turn and that took me a week, Careful! Hugs Kristen