Anyone had surgery ar UMASS Memorial? A couple ?s for anyone. Thanks.

Hi there. Has anyone here had the surgery at UMASS Memorial? I'd love to chat with you! To those of you who have already had surgery, I have a question that may sound silly to you, but it's very important to me. When you had your surgery, were you put on a vent? The reason I ask, is...my sister died on a vent. I can't even peek at a movie or tv show if someone is on one. I get sick and cry. I understand that the best answer the healthcare team can give me is that if it's necessary, they will use it, if it's not, they won't. I'm just looking for some sort of stats. Thanks for understanding where my question is coming from.

I had my surgery at UMass in March 2005. You can email me directly with any questions if you like. If you do that, I can also give you the link to the yahoo support group for UMass people. It's not always that active, but it's a good resource. Mary Ellen

Hi, I did not have my surgery at UMass Memorial but I had my babies there and was very happy with the care. About the vent, everyone is on a vent during any kind of surgery. They take it out as you are waking out. I guess that there are some very minor pediatric surgeries that are done with a mask instead of a vent, but the vent is standard. I was worried about that too. I just remember waking up and they told me to take a big breath and cough and they pulled it out. Best wishes to you! Carrie

I had RNY on 10/28/05 At UMASS. I had Dr. C. Have lost 125 so far. As mentioned above everyone has a breathing tube installed during surgery. I can say that I have no memory of it going in or coming out. Email me if you have any other questions. DC

Man I have got to change that picture DC

I know many people who have had the surgery done at UmassMemorial. My mother being one of them. She did fine with it. I am having my surgery at Newton-Wellesley because I have worked w/ many of the nurses/doctors at Umass. As far as the vent issue, like everyone above said, everyone in surgery goes on a vent. If they put you to sleep for surgery without putting you on a vent, you would not breathe. The good part however is that they give you a ton of medication (usually versed) so that you don't remember being intubated, on a vent etc. The ET tube is usually out by the time you are waking up. However, everyone is different, depending on the case.