On the Bench

Congratulations Keith!  The first I did not feel great either, lots of crushed Tylenol and the pain meds helped.  I found I was always either sipping, taking vitamin, walking, logging my food, sleeping.  It is a full time job for the first while.  Let us know how things are going, this group is so helpful pre and post op.

Hi Keith and hope for a speedy recovery...I just found out on May 15th that I am scheduled for the sleeve

on July 1st and they told me that it would be at Toronto East General...I have been hearing a lot of negative feedback for that hospital on bedside manners etc.  I was so hoping it would be at TWH.  Can you tell me what to expect the few days you were there.    Thanks

All in all my experience was quite positive. The nurses were friendly and attentive. They seemed to be genuinely concerned about my well-being and comfort. I did not see much of Dr. Aarts, but when she popped in she took lots of time to find out how I was doing. My stay was quite uneventful and I really did not have many things I needed help with. I was able to walk the corridor a few hours after the operation and the nurses teased me about it.

My roomie was not so fortunate as me. He had lots of pain and a very high heartrate- several hours over 110 BPM. He ended up going back to the OR where they found a leak and drained off a liter of blood and put in a drainage Tube. During his troubles the doctors had given instructions for his care which the nurses were obligated to follow, but as far as I could tell, they did everything they did everything they could to make him comfortable.

We live west of Toronto and were also hoping for TWH rather than TEGH. It is more of a pain to get to, but one advantage is there seems to be an abundance of metered parking on the streets around the hospital. You won't be bankrupting your visitors.

You have the same wait that I did for your operation. I was amazed at how fast the days flew by once I got my date. I hope your remaining prep time goes well for you and that your surgery and post op are according to plan.