OWLS / Legacy

Hi everyone!   I don't normally post on this board, since I'm not from Oregon (though a lot of my family is!)  but I figured that there are people here with experience at OWLS and Legacy. 

On Wednesday night I went to the Informational Seminar sponsored by the OWLS, which is who will be doing my surgery should I choose to have it. I left work in plenty of time to get to Southwest WA Medical Center (coming from Olympia, WA) AND eat dinner that I'd brought with me, but the directions they sent me were totally HOSED! I was in the not-so-great part of town and pulled into an Econo-Lodge to ask directions and the desk guy could barely speak English and got me lost even worse...

So I'm sitting on the side of a freeway on-ramp (I'd been going in circles for a half hour! during rush hour!) calling my husband to have him google for the center phone number (which was NOT included on the directions!), yelling at him because he is NOT very computer literate and couldn't figure out how to do it, sobbing hysterically, telling him to let my son get on the puter and google for me...told him I'm just going to forget about it and come home (after a 2-hour drive!)...THEN in the midst of mid-sob/scream my phone dies!   (My emotions have been crazy for the 6-7 months or so...I think it's perimenopausal-related and I do have an appt on Monday to hopefully get some relief ).  Anyway, the phone's been acting really funky and I've already gotten a replacement for it in the mail, but of course, I hadn't switched it out yet. *sigh*   That REALLY almost did me in...I very nearly pitched it out the window to the middle of Hwy-14. 

So I get back on the freeway and find the exit with the main street that I KNOW the center is on and find a 7-11...then asked a really nice woman if she knew where the medical center is...God BLESS her! She gave me directions and I made it, only 5 minutes late (but totally frazzled, and not having eaten).   The first thing I said to the person checking us in was "I have been hopelessly lost for over 40 minutes!  These directions do NOT give me a high confidence rating in your center!"  

In the meantime, my husband and kids are freaking out because they couldn't get hold of me and they didn't realize my phone was dead. It didn't just die, it was fried....actually HOT to the touch.

Anyway...the seminar was done by Dr. Valerie Halpin.  Good grief, she looks so young! Probably mid-to-late 30's. She explained all the different surgeries they perform, the risks, who is and is not a good candidate, etc. etc. She said that she does bariatric surgery because it is the most rewarding thing in the world...when people come back to her after surgery, no longer morbidly obese, healthier, thanking her for giving them back their lives, able to bend over and tie their shoes for the first time in 20 years....she said that is why she goes to work every day.

She also said that unless we are committed to changing our lives completely...eating differently, exercising consistently, then we are in the wrong place because surgery will not fix our problem...it is just a tool, WE will still have to do all the work.   I can deal with that.  I know how to eat, and how to exercise...I just get so FRUSTRATED when I get no results after busting my butt.

So I got the application...the woman said I can fill it out now and get things rolling, even before my insurance referral. So I'll fill that out and get things going...and get an appointment with the nutritionist that my case manager was telling me about. 

I'm on SB Phase 1...I am not making much progress at all towards my 5% loss insurance requirement.  I was hoping to have been there weeks ago.   I'm going to make an appt with a nutritionist on Monday...right after I see about getting the damn hormonal issues taken care of.

Anyway, Dr. Halpin says that they require a sleep study for everyone.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?   Everyone who goes through OWLS is required to have the sleep study thing done?   I don't have sleep apnea!  

That is such a total waste of time and money to me!   The only time I snore is if I have a cold, allergies kicking in, or too much alcohol.  

Haha.  I was the opposite way.  I volunteered to have a sleep study HOPING that I did have sleep apnea!  I was scared that I wouldn't have enough things wrong with me to qualify for WLS!  It sounds silly, but I was under the BMI requirement and I'm healthy except for asthma.  I dont have sleep apnea, but I don't get to REM sleep until about 2 hours prior to me waking up it turns out.  Crazy!  THANK GOODNESS they still were able to approve me. OMG I was scared to death of not getting 2 have the surgery!  I don't need sleep as long as I can be skinny some day.  LoLLLL

I think most places require it now.  I'm not really sure why if you have other comorbidities or have diabetes, which generally qualifies you for surgery.  In my case, my comorbid WAS sleep apnea, so I was grateful for the test and did it willingly.  The CPAP was a total flop in my case -- I could not stand to wear it.  I did try, but just a few weeks to a month after surgery, I could tell I no longer needed it.  My type of sleep apnea prevented me from dreaming.  When I started having wild and crazy dreams, I knew I just didn't need it.  I'm so grateful for this surgery.

I'm also grateful I had my surgery done at OHSU -- their offices are so easy to find!  Right by the Ross Island Bridge, at the foot of the Sky Tram!  You can't miss it!

Linda

I've got high blood pressure for which I'm on two different meds and high-cholesteral.   I have dreams, usually I can remember them every night, and I know that there is NO WAY I'd be able to sleep with a CPAP.

I'll be having my surgery at Good Samaritan in Portland.   I think that's pretty easy to find?

I am going to be having my surgery at Good Samaritan in Portland too.  I don't think I have sleep apnea either but I'm willing to have the test if it's required, it does seem like they should be able to have a less major screening tool to screen out those who probably don't have sleep apnea but I'm sure they have their reasons for doing it. 

~Melody

Yes, Legacy tests everyone for sleep apnea.  I've got it--they tell me and I've got the CPAP machine now.

Let me tell ya, I can't sleep with that thing on.  I've tried the mask and the "nose pillows" and both are HORRIBLE.

I'm giving it my best shot, but after a couple hours of tossing and turning, I just have to take the thing off.

I didn't snore either, I didn't have any of the "symptoms" of sleep apnea but they tell me I wake 30-40 times an hour.

I'm tossing this machine after the surgery------did I say that it's HORRIBLE!!!!!?????

 

Mine bothered me at first too. I didn't use it consistently until I moved in with DH - he insisted I wear it for my health (altho it was more likely to stop me from rattling the windows with my snoring).

Do you start at low and ramp up?

I am sorry you had such a bad experience, HOWEVER, I went through Legacy and had my surgery on Tuesday and don't have anything bad to say.  Dr. Halpin was my surgeon. I love her.  She checked on me at least 2 times everyday in the hospital.  Not just the customary once, has great bed-side manor and I'm doing great for where I'm at.
I live in Vancouver WA but had to go to Portland to be at a Center of Excellence.  SW Washington is a great hospital, but Good Sam was full of caring, knowledgeble folks as well.  I had a private room and good care.
Your frustrations seem more geered to outside incidences.  In my opinion, Legacy/OWLS did exactly what I expected them to do.  Feel free to contact me if more questions.
Good Luck in whatever you choose.
Debbie

btw, my husband and I both use CPAP's.  I have not used one since surgery, but once you get used to it (and it does take time) you love them and the difference they make in the quality of sleep you get. 

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I also went through Legacy Good Samaritan/OWLS and I think they are great. I have sleep apnea and had no clue. I had dreams, never snored but after being on my c-pap I see a huge difference in how I feel during the day. I didn't even realize how tired I was. Maybe I just got used to it. Come to find out I had a pretty severe case in which I had 60-70 episodes an hour.
 I love the staff at OWLS and Dr. Patterson is great. They all work very well together to get my appointments scheduled just right so I don't have to make more than 1 trip a month. (I live 5 hours away).  They have been great at accomidating me which I really appreciate.

I also got lost coming up from Salem to an OWLS seminar in a north Portland location. Since I had a map from OWLS, I didn't Google map it - big mistake. The seminar I went to was around Christmas time, and they had printed the map on red paper - how seasonal and also illegibile. Not an easy thing to try and follow while driving in Portland traffic. I ended up at the zoo, as I had missed a turn off. I also arrived late and stressed. I made a point of letting the support staff know what a problem the map was. I hope they have improved it since then.

I agree with Linda that the OHSU seminar was so much easier to find.

In the CPAP issue, I think there are 2 reasons for the sleep study. (1) to document co-morbidities and (2) to make sure the surgical team knows about any special issues that could impact your anestheology.