Madigan doctors

Hello!

I am so excited-- I am almost done with my pathway. All I have left is my gall bladder ultrasound on Tuesday & I actually see my case manager right after that appointment the same day. Then I get to send off everthing to the surgeon. I really REALLY wanted doctor Sebesta but I heard that he went on deployment-- Does anyone know if that's true or just a rumor? I know he books up really fast too. I'm truly not worried about which surgeon I get because I have heard amazing things about all of them. I would love to hear everyones story on their surgeons though (if ya have time of course). I know you can read about them on here but there isn't a lot of posts-- and a lot of the post seem to be pretty old. I know I don't want Doctor Carter only because I want the surgery laparoscopicly. I have a couple other question too...

Is there anyone in the Bremerton area?

What did you guys think of Madigan? How are the rooms & nurses?

How long did you stay in the hospital?

How hard is it to get family on to visit? (new to the whole military thing hehe)

My hubby is going to be deployed-- How long do you think I will need a "babysitter"? I love my grams to death but I don't know how long I can stay away from my animals.

How long did you take off of work? I'm an Esthetician, so I don't do a lot of activity at work but there is a lot of standing. I co-own my day spa so getting time off is very easy but I LOVE my clients & dont want to leave them very long.


Thanks guys!
Crystal

Hello. Congrats on being almost done with the pathway. I am scheduling my appt with the surgeon today....whoohoo. Yes Dr. Sebesta has been deployed. I have met a lot of people at the support groups that have different surgeons I am not sure who I want yet. I live at Fort Lewis, and gave birth to my son 3 years ago at Madigan and the nurses and rooms were good the only thing I hated was sharing a room after giving birth. It's not very hard to get family to vist if they are not military you might want to get them gate passes at the visitor center before hand so you don't have to deal with that mess. Keep me posted on your progress!

Hi...

I am non-military but I do live in Bremerton... but missed this month's  support group meeting at the Naval Hospital...

There is also a support group at the Bremerton Harrision on 3rd tues

How exciting you are so close to getting a surgery date.

Helen

Hi Crystal,
Well, you already said that you know you don't want Dr. Carter because you want Laproscopic surgery, but he was my surgeon and I want to tell you about my experience and why I am VERY happy that I had him.
When I met him he told me he prefers the open surgery but he would do the lap version if I wanted. But then he explained why he prefers open, and I chose to go the open route.
During a open procedure he also removes the gall bladder and appendix so there will never be problems in the future with those 2 organs. He also removes the cut away portion of the stomach. He said that the cut away portion has been known to develop ulcers in the future and then it would require another surgery to fix that. He also said that if you develop any problems with the cut away portion that there is no way to "scope" it in order to diagnose the problem.
I also liked the idea that he would be able to actually see and feel my insides without relying on a television screen and instruments only. And he said he would be able to arrange my intestines to prevent future twisted bowel problems.
Now I know that many, many people have this surgery done as lap surgery and never have issues......and many have it done open and do have issues. We all choose the type of surgery we have on a personal level. For me, open was the only way to go, and I have no regrets. The scar is barely noticeable. It is a very, very fine line and perfectly straight. And once I have a tummy tuck, it will be pulled so low that it won't be seen. So, on to your other questions:
The rooms at Madigan are okay, pretty much no different than other hospitals in the Tacoma area. The nurses on the other hand I wasn't too pleased with. My first night I had a wonderful nurse who checked in with me at least every hour. The next 2 days I barely saw a nurse unless I called them. I guess they figured since I was up and walking the halls every hour that I must be okay. They didn't help me get out of bed, and they never walked with me. As I walked around the floor and passed the nurses station I could see them playing on computers watching You Tube videos. I basically was "on my own". Thank goodness for my husband and son who spent a lot of time with me and helped get me in and out of bed, and walked with me.
The other issue I had with the nurses was on my second night. A nurse came in with a syringe of insulin and was prepared to just give me 60 units. I asked to have my sugar reading done before she gave me that shot. And I'm glad I did! My blood sugars were at 120, and a shot of insulin would have plummeted that number to a very low reading. I told her I did not want her to give me the insulin, and I have not had a shot of insulin since! That was 8 1/2 months ago. I am no longer considered diabetic!!
Now that being said, I had my surgery very late on a Friday night. Was back in my room my 9-ish and up and walking by 11. Then I spent Saturday & Sunday (which might be why the nurses were so "lazy" because they didn't appear to have any supervision) in the hospital, and discharged first thing Monday morning. I spent the rest of that week and the next at home and went back to work on the following monday. I was out of work for 2 full weeks and one day. My first week at work (I'm a bookkeeper) I was very tired and had to take several short naps during the day, thank goodness my boss had a couch in her office and allowed me to lay down whenever I needed to. Every week after that just got better and better.
To get my son in to visit me, he just went to the main gate of Ft Lewis and told them he needed a visitors pass (and the reason why). He had to show his drivers license and proof of insurance, and they issued him a pass good for a week. From that point on he just entered through the madigan gate when he came to visit. Very easy!
Okay, that was a long story of my own personal experience, but hopefully it gave you some insight.
Good luck on your surgery and welcome to the losers bench.
Fran

Hi Crystal!

As far as work goes I think after 2 weeks you could go back to half days and see how you feel from there.  I only had a "babysitter" for 3 days, by then I was ok.  When you go home though you will have to be careful of the animals, no letting them jump on you!

Madigan is ok but you need to be proactive, you are supposed to be up and walking four hours after surgery, get who ever is with you to make the nurses get you up.  Bring earplugs or headphones, you won't be in a room by yourself and others noises bout drove me crazy.  Your on a pain pump the first 24 hours after that orally, ask for you pain meds before you think you need them, if you wait till you actually are in pain, you will be in pain for a while because it can take them awhile to bring it.

Good luck, and make sure to post your date when you get one!!

Hi Crystal,
I live in Bremerton had surgery with Dr. Sebesta and his residents.  My entire experience at Madigan and the surgery clinic has been amazing.  Everyone is so caring and helpful.  Yes, you do need to be proactive - get up when you need to and make sure you ask questions and let them know your needs.    I stayed in 2 days and felt really good when I left (well, reasonably well-just tired and sore) .  They're a teaching hospital so they have medical students and student nurses, always accompanied by trained staff, I believe they are really careful because they're just learning and don't want to make any mistakes!  I really didn't need a "babysitter", but havin someone around for 2-3 days was very nice.   I took off 2 weeks and was still tired the first week but took care of myself and went to bed early every night.  Good luck on your journey!

k

Hi Ladies,

Congratulations on completing the PATHWAY.  Good luck with getting your surgery date. I am sorry I don't have any information to provide about Madigan, I am just starting the Pathway on Feb 2nd.  I have been waiting since September 2008 to get my first appointment, I thought it would never happen.

If anyone can help me, I have a couple of questions.

They asked me to provide the name, address, and phone number of two people that know me, but do not live with me. Do you know what type of information they will be asking them? 

I spoke with my older sister, who is naturally thin and never weighed more than 130 lbs a day in her life. Anyway after talking with her, I have doubts about whether I want to submit her name.  She says she will support me, but I don't want her to mess this up for me.

Also, they told me that I need to bring my support person with me for the first appointment. Will I have to bring the support person for each appointment?

The reason I was told to provide two names and numbers ...so they can get in touch with you... they like to see how you are doing up to... 10 yrs out.....and being miltary (active duty )  you may move.....no contact will be made unless they can't reach u.....that's what i was told....ur support person......mine went with me thru the hole thing.....the group i went thru with.... none of them brought anyone.....and nothing was said.......I wish u all the luck in the world on ur journey....belive me it will go FAST.....and its one hell of a good ride..... 

Thank you for your quick response. I was nervous that they would send a questionnaire requesting information about how well I deal with situations. I feel silly now for thinking it. However, as many of you know, the last thing you want is someone throwing a monkey-wrench in your plans. LOL!!