St. Lukes Hospital in Phoenix - Questions

I plan to have my mom stay with me overnight while I'm in the hospital because I've read horrific reviews on here on St. Lukes. (I've read good ones too, but the bad ones outweigh the good.) Is there room for a rollaway bed in the rooms at St. Luke's? I've stayed with mom when she was in the hospital at Banner Thunderbird (55th Ave/T-bird, Glendale), but rooms there are nice and roomy and all are private. I heard St. Luke's are pretty small. Did any of you have a family member spend the night? Were there any problems getting a rollaway? Any problems with space? Next question, are the TV's mounted on the wall or are they the small kind on a swing-arm-stand coming out from wall behind bed? I worry that my roommate will have their tv on too loud. Did any of you experience that and how was that problem solved? I've heard at other bariatric centers they provide patients with long tongs to use to wipe yourself after you go to the bathroom. Are those for open-surgery patients, or do laproscopic patients need them too? Do they automatically provide them, or do I need to ask for them? Is it a challenge to wipe post-op laproscopically? lol (Sounds silly asking that.) If I have GBS laproscopically, how soon can I take a shower? Will I need assistance? Do nurses offer assistance, or do I have to ask? If you stayed at St. Lukes, what were the NAMES of nurses that you LIKED??? What days/shifts did they work (if you remember)? Thanks for any info you can provide!

Hi Trisha! Best of luck on your surgery coming up. I am sure you are excited and nervous at the same time. I had my surgery at St. Lukes approx. 3 months ago. I can only speak for myself, but I thought it was great! The nurses were very friendly (I am sorry, I don't remember any of their names). I felt I had great care. But remember, some of it is the attitude going into it. I made up my mind that if I needed pain medicine and there were no nurses around, that I would get up and walk to the nurses station and ask for it. We are supposed to walk anyway, so it was a good motiviation. As for going to the bathroom, I don't think you will need a tongs, I think you will do just fine. I didn't have a shower while I was in the hospital, I had my surgery on a Tuesday and left on a Thursday. Yes, my hair felt a little gross, but honestly, I didn't care about a shower while in the hosptial. I only concentrated on sleeping, walking around every couple of hours, and keeping the pain in check (I don't say that to scare you, the pain was not that bad, but you just need to keep on top of it so it doesn't get away from you, make sense?). I took a shower by myself once I got home, no problem, I just moved very slowly. You will do fine with that too. As for the rooms, I thought they were standard for a hosp. I had a roommate, which I actually enjoyed. I don't know about roll-a-way beds. My parents drove from Iowa to be with my husband and I, but for the few days I was in the hospital, I didn't really care if they were there that much. They came to visit of course, but you have to remember that you will be awfully sleepy. My parents and husband would spend a few hours checking in on me, then I sent them on their way. Finally, as for the TV, if you have a roommate, each of you will have a TV hooked to the wall in front of your bed. We had absolutely no problems, we watched different shows and neither of us bothered one another. Whew, guess that is all I can tell you. Just remember, have a positive attitude going in. This whole hospital stay/no shower/sharing a room is so temporary---just a few days. If all else fails, just lie there in bed and daydream about the new you that will be emerging!!! This is an exciting time Trisha, don't sweat the small stuff!!! Best of luck, keep us updated! Nancy 280/230/???

Hi Trisha, I too was wondering same questions. Thanks for asking them I have been in the hosital a few times and have had good experiences and bad. I mostly am worried about having open RYN and being able to wipe and get in and out of bed. I have read the reviews and I know for sure their parking is the worst. Let me know what you find out. When's your surgery? mines Dec 14th. Later Teresa

My hubby was there for a while but I sent him home. I decided if he stayed he would get no sleep and I did not need him, there were nurses around all night and why should he have to wake up every two hours when I had to walk. He needed rest. I had Open RNY, I was tired, between walking and keeping the pain in check, I never watched TV, never really wanted to. I rested, walked, rested and walked, they had me walking every hour and every two hours at night. Going to the bathroom and wiping was no big deal. I had a binder for my tummy that helped me when getting up to move around. I did take a shower and it felt great. I could do it by myself. The pain meds allow you to do alot. I was just determined to do whatever they told me and make it work for me and I had no challenges at all. Still to this day, 8 weeks out, no challenges, no dumping, no vomiting, very pleased!

St. lukes has had a change in hospitial staff due to all the complaints. I was there in july and very pleased with all the staff. There was a male nurse on nites his name was john he was oriental. He was extra special very funny guy. They really dont like people staying over night is my understanding so you better check before you go. I really believe your experience will be good. If you do have a problem with a nurse let your dr know as soon as possible he will handle it. I was told that by my dr. juarez because I brought up these concerns also. Good Luck and welcome to the losing side. Kathy

I agree with the advice to just not sweat it. But, having said that, I would still make sure my loved one spent the night. I know too much about people dying from stupid mistakes in hospitals to think it's not important. My mom walked in on her friend after the friend had her bypass (20 years ago now), and found her unconscious with the blood running out of her arm onto the floor after her IV bag had fallen off the hook. I don't mean to scare you, but stuff happens and you want a loved one with you - yes, losing sleep if they have to be - whenever you have major surgery. In my case, the stupid TV didn't work and I had a roommate who shared hers with me, which was O****il Jerry Springer came on! But you know, it all becomes a blurr six months later and you seriously will be sleeping most of the time and won't care one bit if your slippers match your robe or much of anything else. I look at those lists of what to take to the hospital and just laugh. If I had it to do again, I'd just take myself. The suitcase I brought hardly got opened. Good luck. - Stephanie J

Thanks everyone for your replies both on here and through e-mails! I appreciate it. I feel better! Not as worried. I went to Class "A" Tuesday night this week, and before class I took a stroll through the bariatric ward (6th floor) and I was impressed. Looked nice and rooms are standard size, no one seemed to be ringing the nurse at the time I was there, no one was screaming or anything . LOL So I feel better.

Hi Trisha: I had surgery 9/7/04 at St. lukes in Phoenix my husband stayed all 4 day's on his aero bed. the staff was great I would not worry about that at all. Put your thoughts on getting better soon. GOOD LUCK !!!!!!!!!!! BARBARA

Hi Trisha. I just went to St. Luke's on October 7th and I had an exceptional stay. It was wonderful. The nurses were great, however, I do not remember any of their names. Floor 6 is not just a Bariatric unit any more, they also have knee/hip replacement. It is a surgery recovery unit. I was only there for 2 nights instead of 3. I requested a private room so that my mother could stay with me and since they have additional patients (not only bariatric), there were no private rooms available, so my mother did not get to stay. But that was okay. I had a roommate, that had surgery the day before me so she was released a day before and I had my own room for one night. The TV's are set up directly in front of your bed on the wall. When my room mate had the TV on, I just flipped it to the same channel and watched whatever she watched, most of the time it was a good choice. There were a couple times that I just wanted to watch something different and I did and then she followed me. We were good roommates. Before surgery, I left instructions for my mom to make sure I had the leg squeezer things on, and immediately after surgery, get me up walking. She did not need to do anything, they had the leg things on me before I went to surgery and the moment I woke up, I asked to get up and walk. My mom said "Jen, I don't think you are ready to walk, it is too soon" I told her she was fired!! LOL Finally, I did not need anything like tongs to use the restroom. I had Lap surgery and it was not hard to maneuver at all. My surgeon told me that since there were so many complaints about a year or more ago, they stopped using "traveling nurses", which is where all the bad care came from. My surgeon told me that if I received bad care what-so-ever, to page him and he would come right down to get it straightened out for me. Best of wishes on your surgery, Jennifer -32.5 (-47.5 since July) 237/222/189.5/135 54.5 more pounds to go!!

Hi Trisha, Uh-oh, I'm going to be the bummer here on the staff at St. Lukes! Sorry about that! The nurses for the most part were too busy to nurse! When I needed pain meds I waited over an hour most of the time. There were one or two good ones though. The nurse the day I left was very sweet and thorough. Even more importantly then the nursing care though, I did feel in good hands in general (of course with Dr. Zahn!) but in general I felt they were monitoring my condition pretty well. I got up and walked and walked and walked almost right away and all the time! I was the first of my "group" to leave. Had surgery Tuesday am and left Thursday am by 10am! I had and am having a speedy and good recovery. I went back to work full time last week (had open rny Nov. 2). The rooms are slightly small but comfortable. The tv is on a swing thing on the wall and surprisingly enough you can watch something different than your roomate and still focus on it. My advice is don't be afraid to use the nurse monitor to call them whenever you need them. I was relatively easy to care for I think because I didn't need much and was up and walking quickly, but I did call on that button whenever I needed something, including putting those funny slipper things for your circulation back on after I got back from a walk. And if I didn't get my pain med by an hour I kept calling on that monitor about every half hour until someone came. All in all, take control of your recovery - walk walk walk. The staff does know what they are doing even if the service is slow. Sincerely, Julie