DS Scheduled w/ Dr. Stewart June 19 - OMG!!!

Welp, I am taking the plunge...insurance or not. I will submit my hardship withdrawal from my 401k tomorrow. I still have to get one last set of labs drawn, do a stress test (ugh!), a barium swallow and an ultrasound. Those should be complete next week.

There are so many extras to do too - FMLA paperwork, short-term disability, cashiers checks, deep cleaning the house, shopping for super loose pjs, find a good lawn boy to take over for a few weeks (gotta love being single).

Good news - The 4-day hotel stay is free because I have tons of Hilton Honors points, after five days MetLife pays 60% of my salary (saving me a ton of vacation time), and best of all....no liquid diet!!! I just have to go on clear liquids the day before and nothing after midnight.

Question - Has anyone actually followed their surgeon's vitamin regime? Results? The surgeon has his own brand of DS multi-vitamins. He has his patients take two DS multi, 1200 mg calcium, and vitamin A (forgot amount) daily. Then he gives a vitamin D injection annually (like 600k mg or something). They give you a 30-day supply of the vitamins then you have to place an order after that. Umm, does that seem like enough? I need to see what's in the multi before I decide. And maybe it's enough to start then I can adjust after my first set of post-op labs...?

Question - What can I expect with the stress test? Is it just a nurse monitoring my heart while they watch my fat ass try to run on a treadmill?

Okay that's it for now. I am super excited and even more nervous. Here comes Freak Out Mode!

Congratulations on your surgery. That's very excited!!! 

I hope you end up with a sexy lawn boy to give you something interesting to look at while you recover! Ha!

The stress test is not a big deal.

They start an IV for contrast (depending on how it was ordered). 

They have you walk or run on an incline until you reach your peak target heart rate and blood pressure. They have you hooked up to an EKG and you let them know if you have chest discomfort. The faster you reach your peak heart rate the faster it is over. There is a nurse there and usually a tech and a cardiologist hanging around just in case things get interesting. 

For me, this happened relatively quickly because I was so out of shape. 

Then they take you back for the imaging (if it was ordered) after you are back to your resting heart- rate.

Sometimes, they do it with a medication that makes your heart race (for the patient's that can't get on the tread mill.) I've heard patient's say that they thought they were going to die and that it was terrifying. If you are getting the meds, don't worry, its only a temporary feeling. It goes away. 

Congratulations!  I think a lot of Dr Stewart but not too sure about his vitamin deal. I'm a Vitalady groupie though. I tried my surgeon's vitamin thing but we jus****ched my labs fall. He approved Vitalady's for me when I was 9 months post-op. Wishing you all the best.

--gina

Thank you both! I hope it's just the treadmill. Pretty sure I'll face plant on that thing quickly. I used to be able to jog at 4.5 mph for 1 hour! Can't wait to get back to that level! Until then, they can watch all my jiggli-ness jiggle for this darn test. Funny story you might enjoy - I was going to a personal trainer (she was the tiniest thing ever). We were doing burpies (google it, they are awful!) and she heard a break/crunch/slap every time I did one. After about 10 she was super concerned and stopped me to make sure it wasn't my bad knee. All I could do was laugh until I was crying and explain to her that it was my boobs slapping against my stomach. We literally stopped the workout and rolled on the mats. Workout over!

And I'll have to see what's in his multi-vitamin. I'm curious! Then I might just skip on over to the vita lady regime. I don't want to have to recover from bad advice.

Thanks again! Can't wait to post in the daily vits as a post-op!

When I had a stress test, it did not involve contrast or anything.  Basically, I was walking on a treadmill, and the incline kept going up and up.  My blood pressure was monitored the whole time, and I had EKG leads on.  I had the option to stop the test, or they would stop it when they needed to.  

His Vitamin D injections are interesting.  Sounds like the "Stoss therapy" which is popular in Europe.  I'd actually be willing to give that a try--but would check my levels in 3 and 6 months.  So, for example, right now I'm taking 50,000 IU 2x/week to try and raise my low D.  I could also take 300,000 IU in one or two doses.  The injections are no doubt to eliminate the absorption issues.

 

Good luck!

I am 6 weeks out from Dr. Stewart. I am on his vitamin regimen. It is the minimum needed to sustain and they tell you that but they do check your labs three months out and tweak it. So you will not be JUST on that regimen forever. The amount of vitamins in his multi-vitamin are like triple what normal vitamins are. You also start them the 8th day out from surgery so you start them earlier than most surgery patients do which is a good thing. I will continue to follow his vitamin regimen until my first labs then start tweaking. They are just a starter pack to give you a jump start.

Dr. Stewart has an awesome diet regimen as well. Most surgeons do not have such a good well written diet plan from what I have been reading from all the newbies on here.

Dr. Stewart is awesome. I have referred back to my book several times. It is nice to have. 

Congrats and good luck.

This is great to hear. I've been wondering what my experience with him would be like. Do you live in Texas or did you travel there for surgery?

I am just south of Dallas. =) 

I may switch to vitalady further out after I see my labs. I will just see how it all goes. If my labs start dropping then I will find another path. 

Dr Stewart did my surgery last year 2012

He is a good cutter, that's all.  His office staff although nice, is not as knowledgable as they want you to believe.  Stay with this board, it is a lifesaver!!!

His vitamins are not enough for a DSr, they will argue with you about that.  I also got very ill when I would take them.  I switched to Vitalady's plan, now buy my own vits based off my labs.  My follow up labs are now done by a Hematologist every 2 months.  I will keep everything under control and NEVER let it go  EVER!!! This is your life!!! 

I do recommend getting the Vit D shot the day of surgery.  I did not, I just got mine last month.  It will help w/your healing.

ITA with MajorMom... Vitalady is the way to start...

The issue is with a lot of vetted surgeon's their support staff thinks they know this surgery but haven't even had this surgery.  You need to learn the term "Your Mileage May Vary".  YMMV

His $350 program fee is totally bogus but you have to do it to get him to do surgery, anyone who's been on this board for any amount of time, can teach a better class about the DS than any of his people.

Good Luck to you, if you have further questions feel free to PM me.