My Surgery

Background:

My referral went in July 31st, 2017. I had my orientation meeting at the Guelph Bariatric clinic on September 28th. I went in there with my sleep study done and my blood tests complete. I had the 3 visits with DT/SW and the nurses and had my surgeon appointment on January 15th with Dr. Jules Foute-Nelong. I was scheduled for Feb 9th and did my 2 weeks of Optifast.

Day 0:

My surgery time was 10:30 so I arrived at 8:00am. It was a long drive in the snow from Toronto and my wife and I were both a bit nervous. The Optifast had left me a bit drained of energy but my pre-surgery weigh in of 329 (home) and 333 (hospital) cheered me up. I'm down significantly from my starting weight of 374. After the check in and weigh in at the day surgery desk, we were lead to the day surgery / pre-op area. The nurse their did another background allergies meds etc check and then gave me a pre-ordered heparin shot. Those were some of the most unpleasant parts of the stay. at around 10:15, my wife was excused out to the waiting room and I was wheeled next to the OR's. It was a bit surreal to be there as you could hear and see them cleaning the OR's and getting ready. My Anesthiologist stopped by checked my throat made sure I knew what I was there for and was just an all around comforting guy. He explained that I'd go in the room after it was prepped. He's start an IV and put me on oxygen. Then My surgeon stopped by. He was relaxed and comfortable (just another day at the office). Finally the room was ready and the surgical nurse came out and asked me if I'd be ok to walk in to the OR. I said sure and walked in and laid on the table.

It was a bit cold and intimidating but they did all the pre-op gown wrestling and then asked the normal questions. Name, Birthday, Why I was there etc. You kinda get used to answering all of that. Then the mask went on and I remember waking up briefly in recovery. Finally I started to come up from the fog as the nice lady took me to my room. I remember her saying there will be a small bump and my thought was Owww.

I got checked in to my room and was very well taken care of. The first day I tried to get up and walk but I was a bit dizzy so that wasn't happening. Had one of those odd nights. Had a great night nurse (Hi Danielle). Next day I started my laps. Everyone says, walk, sip, toot and they are all correct.

Day 1:

So Day 1 was fairly uneventful. Had the normal hospital food, decaf tea, jello, juice (that you need to dilute). I wasn't too interested in the food. Had a bunch of tummy pain mostly from gas pressure. Finally that started to pass. That was a lot of Walk, Toot, Sip, Nap. The surgeon came in first thing in the morning to tell my the operation was textbook. So was fairly bored but lots of napping.

The night of Day 1 I had another great nurse Julie. She came in and in about 15 minutes had all of the meds done, the vitals (they do this every 4 hrs), the room darkened and I got some real sleep. My first indication that I'd be going home was when she gave me the morning shot of heparin (every 8 hrs), She said with luck that would be my last one.

Day 2:

My wife came back from the hotel and we waiting for the Dr. I have to admit they work so hard. Here it was a Sunday morning and he was in by 9am. He said that if I kept up my water intake he saw no reason I couldn't go home after noon. (Woot we had a plan). so I kept up my water intake Basically drinking 4-5 of the little 30cc sippy things an hour along with more laps and tooting. Nurse Hazel finally walked me down to the front door to meet my wife and begin the drive home.

All in all an amazing experience. If you are in Guelph and especially have Dr. Jules you'll be in amazing hands. They are pro's at this and know the ins and outs. I've been told not to weigh myself for about a week. So I'm living on the broth, jello and juice until Day 7. The Guelph program is strict on the diet but the program works so I'm going to follow it to the letter.

--Joe

Thanks for sharing your detailed experience. I loved reading it, being that I just started the process I can have an idea of what to look forward too. Am happy you are doing great and had no complications so far.

I am them We it all went smooth Joe! Welcome to the Bench. Also congrats on the huge success of Opti!

Glad to hear that all went well! I'm a Guelph graduate lol, and their program is strick but it sets you up for your WL journey. All the best!

Welcome to the loser's bench Joe! It sounds like all went super well. Keep it up. :)

what a great recount Joe. congratulations. I agree that the staff at Guelph are fantastic. I had a great experience as well. The program guidelines are strictest with Guelph but it is for the best and I have had no complications at all - I am almost 1 year post op and it was the best decision I ever made - not to confuse that with the "easiest" decision as this year has been a rollercoaster for sure - but my worst day post op has been better than my best day pre-op. Best of luck for continued success.

My experience to a T it's like De ja vu I had same surgeon same time and nurses exactly same great experience good luck to you.

Thanks for the great recap, I'm having surgery at TWH on the 26th and although I keep asking questions been difficult getting some answers, like how long I'll be in hospital, my surgery isn't till the afternoon, which will make for a long day for my Husband hanging around. I assume best case scenario I'd go home on Day 2 post surgery like you, but my husband is less than thrilled about having to get back downtown by 9 am just in case. But hey if I'm not going home I'd expect him to come and see me by then. It's tricky when you're not having surgery in the same city you live and when going into TO you always have to worry about traffic, it took us 3 hours to get there for my pre-op.

Good luck with your journey, looking forward to being on that side soon.

Hi Michelle, I can tell you that from my experience, these programs are really well done. Let your husband know that from my limited experience most of the stuff in the hospital happens in the AM.

i understand the driving part, we live on the East side of Toronto and we're sent to Guelph.

You our will be in the losers bench soon.

Good Luck

Joe

Thanks for the in depth post. Going for surgery in just over two weeks at Humber and hope my experience is as good and uneventful as yours!