I HAVE A DATE! AND I AM SCARED!

I NOW HAVE A DATE AFTER AN APPEAL! JUNE 1RST! IT WILL BE AT LEGACY GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPTITAL IN PORTLAND WITH DOCTOR HONG, FROM THE OREGON CLINIC. I AM NOW STARTING TO GET REALLY SCARED. I GUESS THIS IS NATURAL. ANY ONE WITH ANY PRE-OP TIPS FOR ME, AND ADVISE FOR THE FIRST FEW DAYS I AM HOME? YOU CAN E-MAIL ME @[email protected] I LIVE IN SANDY, OREGON.

hi joan, congrats on your date.. I don't know anything about the local doctors as I was living in florida when I had surgery. do you have help with your first days home? read everything you can even though most you won't understand until you actually live it.. especially the hormonal "thing" that happens after the surgery WOW is all I can really say. beware and warn others... hang in there and take it one day at a time... find people you can talk to.. get to those support group meetings even if it is a drive. the first couple of months especially.. good luck and hope to talk to you again theresa

Hi Joan, Congrats on your surgery date! I am almost 4 mo. out (22nd) and I have lost 58 lbs. and over 30 inches. I feel 10 yrs. younger and I have heard look it too. You will feel so much better, I would have never believed it, but it's true. I too was scared, my Daughter, my family. I got all my ducks in a row, including my will, and prepared for this wonderful journey.... I was in the hospital for 4 days, I really didn't feel like I had had anything done except for a bout with displaced gas. I subsided within a few hours, and I am the only one I know of that had a problem with it. I had Lap Rouin Y (can't ever spell that right). After I came home I slept on a big pillow for comfort and the rest was easy, it's amazing how fast you recover with lap surgery. Take a neck pillow, and some chap stick, and I took some anti-bacterial wipes which were what I used the most! When I got home I did everything for myself, just have your groceries already there so you don't have to go out if you don't want to. And walking helps, don't overdo at first but it gets your energy back up again. Good Luck with your surgery, heal quickly. And you'll be joining us loosers on the other side soon enough. It's the best thing and feeling I have had in years. Oh, here is a perfect example of the sucess of this surgery. My Blood Pressure was 200/110 the other day at the Dr. it was 112/64!

Hi Joan! You have a date and I don't yet.....I'll trade ya! Just kidding! I'm very happy for you. It is a scary thing, but a few weeks of mild anxiety and then you get a lifetime of good health....it's worth it, right? Of course, since I don't have a date...I'm not in your shoes YET. I'm sure I'll have my share of stress over it. My one suggestion, as a prior surgery patient...if your hair is long enough, braid it. It's out of the way and doesn't get matted or tangled while you're laying around in bed for a day or two before you can shower. Just remember....we're all here for you and rooting for you! Blessings, Michele in SW Portland

You will be so ready by June 1st. I spent most of my energy trying to get my house in order. I didn't ever really get there, but I did any shopping I knew my husband wouldn't be able to handle (like the stuff to go in my kids Easter baskets (my surger was a week before Easter), my mother-in-laws birthday gift, my daughter's bathroom/beauty supplies). I was most happy I brought two of my most comfortable pillows from home. The pillows, chapstick, and a long shower brush for that glorious shower on day two (with liquid soap and my own shampoo), was all I really used at the hospital. I would have really loved a big comfortable lazy-boy recliner, but we don't have one and I wasn't really willing to send my husband out for one on a S.O.S. basis. I survived with a whole bunch of pillows, but if I had had that I would have slept in it the first few nights. Good luck!

Hi Joan Congratulations!! I had Dr. Patterson from the Oregon Clinic and I can't speak enough praise about the treatment/service I received from Legacy Good Sam. You will be in fine hands. Pre Op -My suggestions are to spend time relaxing - pampering & preparing yourself. Post op - Make sure (if possible) you have someone to stay with you a few days. It really helps to have someone to help you up and down from the chair. Have a good chair to rest in - you may end up sleeping in it too. Rest a lot. Sip on water a lot. Follow the doctors orders. Take your pain pill (if you can't stand the bitterness - mix it with a mashed up peach - it really helps!) Be patient - your body spends a few weeks healing. Don't worry about the scale. I'm 10 months out and down 105 lbs. It was the best decision I ever made and I'd recommend the Oregon Clinic to anyone. Best wishes to you Kathy C

Hey all, I noticed that a couple of you mentioned having groceries ready. Can you post a sample shopping list? Blessings, -Perk Perry P. Perkins Author/Novelist Just Past Oysterville: Shoalwater Book One www.perryperkinsbooks.com

Oh I can relate big time, I know my decision to to have WLS is the best one I could make, but with a tenative date 10 days away, I can't sleep. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but I work night shift and have trouble sleeping anyway. I am no where near ready finacially, but I know that God will provide. I keep telling my self that 6 weeks isn't that long. To prepare I am trying to work everyday until the 24th and I changed my deductions with payroll to 10 until I come back. Uncle Sam will hate me but oh well. I'm on day 2 of overtime, if I can pick up Sun. and Mon. nights that will make all all of my five days on next week at OT. Nine OT days in a row, I figure it will keep my mind busy and help the time go by fast. As Catherine said, I also made sure that my ducks were in a row, We finished revising our wills this week, even though Russ said it wouldn't be needed, as a RN I am well aware of the risks. The kids didn't like the idea at all, Jeff thinks I should be happy with just who I am. I tried to explain to him thats not whats motivating me to do this. I want my health to be better, I take 11 prescriptions now, I feel like a pharmacy. Dr Flanagan and my PCP think within a short time I could be off of them all. My work insurance doesn't cover Weight Loss of any kind, I'm fortunate that my husbands policy does. You would think a hospital would see the long term benefits, them have been challenged a lot recently in our employee forum thanks to me. The first reply I got from them in the forum was " I just needed to show more self control and join a diet center and support groups- buddy system type" , that sparked a outcry from many other employees. In six weeks they have been onslaughted, had the nerve last week to say that there is no evidence that WLS has any long term health benefits, that the surgery is too new, WL surgeries have been around for greater then 25 years how much long term do they need. Ooops there I go... Off on my soap box. I thinks what us close to pre-op's need to is trust in our Higher Power and know that He is there for us.

Ginger - You sound a lot like me when I was getting ready to go. I was taking in all the OT I could and sleeping as little as my body dictated. That's okay - once you have surgery, you'll have lots of time to catch up on sleep! You just don't want to deplete your immunity, so start boning up on vitamins, zinc, c and all that other good stuff now. It feels like a frenzy up to the point you are ready to go and then all the sudden, time just slows down. This was a good thing for me! Dina