Tell me about your stay at Bayview

My surgery is getting really close now (less than two weeks!  Eek!) and I've started thinking more about how my actual hospital stay is going to go. I already know from all of my appointments so far that Bayview is VERY well equipped to deal with SMO patients, as far as having gowns that fit, wider chairs, bariatric scales, etc.  I am wondering what the rooms are like though. I read the reviews for Bayview here on OH but I think some of them pre-date the time when Bayview set up its dedicated bariatric area.  Are all of the rooms private? Is the bathroom there in the room?  Did they do a good job of managing your pain and helping you get up and walk regularly?  Did you have any kind of schedule explained to you so that you could anticipate when they were going to come get you to walk, etc?  What furniture is in the room other than the bed? Will my DH be able to sleep there if he wants to?  Are there specific visiting hours, or is it pretty open?   This is all stuff I can ask at the support group meeting next week also, but I know a lot of you folks had your surgeries there, so I was hoping you could help me have a better vision of how things will go. :)

My surgery was last January, when I was there you aren't in a dedicated bariatric floor.  You are in a surgical unit.  Not all the rooms in the unit are private, but I have been told that the bariatric patients usually get the private rooms.  Yes, you will have your own bathroom that was easy to use as a fresh post op.    I had absolutely no problems with pain, they were great about that.  Once I was switched to the oral meds, they gave it to me whenever I asked.  After the first time I walked they would just ask me if I had walked again.  However, that may be different if you are alone, after I got moving the first time my husband or mom was around to walk with me.  There was a regular chair and then a chair that turned into a bed type thing.  My husband stayed with me it wasn't too bad to sleep or so he said.   They were good about setting him up with a pillow and blanket.  I really don't know what the deal was with visiting hours they were there most of the time.  I hope this helps.  Good luck with everything you will do great!

My surgery was over 2 years ago.  The new Bariatric area was under construction at the time so I am not sure what it is like now.  I was not in a private room.  Yes there is a bathroom in the room. Pain was managed very well.  I had the morphine drip so I managed it mostly myself.  They walked with me the first couple of times and after that you don't need them.  They are close by if you need them though.  Your doctor will tell you how much walking you should do and then you are on your own.  The more you walk the quicker your recovery.  There was only a bed and chair in my room so it would have been difficult to have an overnight guest.  I don't know what the visiting hours are, my daughter came and went as she pleased.  As for the staff, they were very good.  I only had an issue with one nurse.  And it has been so long I can't even remember what the issue was.  lol.  I guess they took part of my brain when they created my new pouch and  rerouted my intestines.  Good luck.  You'll do great!

We are having our surgery on the same date!  Maybe if they are not private rooms we will end up together...  how cool would that be?

Purplekelly, Glad to see your post. I thought your surgery was right around the corner. I do hope you have an uneventful surgery and a speedy recovery. That would be great if you and Angie were together. She would be a good support person. Good Luck. Hope to see you at the Crofton meeting after your surgery.

                                                                                                                       Julie

Awesome Angie!  I am sure we will run into each other at some point - I think they keep all of the bariatric patients in the same area.  If you're on FB, add me so we can maybe talk more before the big day.  http://www.facebook.com/#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=704135132

I'm going to try to answer these 1 by 1.

I was in a private room which was VERY nice! I didn't have to worry about waking someone up or walking around with my gown open LOL. 

The bathroom was in my room.

They did a good job at managing pain and will help whenever you need it. I was up and walking right after. I even walked to the waiting room to let my mom and husband know they could come in.  The only trouble I had was getting the normal every day pills that I take. For some reason they didn't want to give them to me, I'm guessing because they weren't chewable. So that really affected how I felt.

They never really came to get me to walk. They just told me to walk as much as possible and if I needed help, let them know.   I mostly walked when hubby was there visiting. I did laps around the hall.

I believe there was a chair and a recliner in the room, if I remember correctly.

They pretty much let hubby's come and go as they please.  No kids are allowed though.

I had my surgery in feb 2008. i had my own room and bathroom. not all the nurses were good. one night they had a non bariatric nurse up there and she ended up causing a panic cuz she thought i was having a heart issue. it ended up being i needed to put my cpap on. dr. steele is awesome btw. she talked to me on the phone in the middle of the night and came to see me as soon as she got in that morning. she is a wonderful dedicated surgeon and truly cares about her patients. you may want to ask her to remove as much of the air from the lap procedure as possible after the surgery is complete. someone recently said you can tell them that. that will help w/ the pain caused by the gas after surgery. You are in very very good hands and will do wonderfully. tell dr. steele i said hi if you remember. my name is nicole tedeschi. (((hugs))) if you have any other questions let me know.

are they requiring you to do a liquid diet before surgery? I was not required but wish i had been. just curious. thanks!

I had my surgery at Bayview on December 15th.  (By the way, I too adore Dr. Steele.)  Generally the experience was a good one.  The floor they put you on post-op is a surgical floor.  They have three (or four) rooms specifically designed for WLS patients.  Those rooms are private - I was in one of them.  They are a good size and have a bathroom inside that's plenty big enough to move around in.  They have a recliner that my wife spent one of the two nights in - she had to be somewhere on Thursday morning so went home on Wednesday night.  They were awesome in terms of pain management.  The nursing care was good - except I too had a nurse one night who was not bariatric experienced and there was a big debate about whether the liquid pain meds I was taking counted toward my liquids consumption.  We got conflicting answers which panicked my wife.  It seems silly now but it felt like a very big deal then.  They let my wife come and go as she pleased and were extremely helpful to her - getting her extra pillows and blankets asking her if they could get her a tray from dietary.

Walking I pretty much scheduled on my own.  I was set on making sure I got up to walk early and often.  The first day I needed some help getting in and out of bed but on day two I was completely able to do it myself.

The biggest negative experience I had was actually trying to get a room coming out of post op.  I spent about 7 hours in post op while they were waiting for a room to clear for me.  I understand that this is an ongoing problem with bariatric patients so be forewarned.  If you're there for more than 4 hours or so and feel up to it you're going to have to insist with the post op staff to let you get up and walk. 

Over all though, I was pleased with the care I got at Bayview

I forgot to mention - I too had trouble getting a room after surgery. I (and my family) waited for hours. Plus they only let 1 person come see you in recovery for about 15 minutes at a time, every 1/2 hour. So most of the time I was laying there by myself.

As for the nurses - the nurse I had on the first night was AWESOME. I was none to impressed with the nurses the other nights.