Central DuPage Hospital Hospital
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My stay at CDH was excellent. I was particularly impressed with the professional and friendly staff. I especially liked that the nurse from the shift that was ending, along with the nurse from the shift coming on and together they went room to room. I was introduced to the new nurse and the one nurse "gave report" to the nurse who was starting her shift. I thought it was a great idea for them to do that in my room. I was never surprised with who was my nurse and I also was comfortable that the new nurse was updated on my condition. I will definetly go back to Central DuPage Hospital for any future needs. (Keep in mind that CDH is located 30 mins away from my house. There are 3 other hospitals that I could go to that are closer.)
my surgeons will be dr. van vallina and dr. johnathon spitz. i thought dr vallina was very down to earth, and very qualified. i did not meet dr spitz yet. the office staff was very friendly, professional and efficient. he strongly stresses proper after care and they have an excellent pre and post surgery care program. i think he was very up front about the risks of surgery, thus a thorough workup before surgery to minimize the risk of complications. i believe him to be a skilled surgeon and also a person with compassion and humanity. the hospital is central dupage in winfield, il. i first attempted to make an apt. with the university of chgo. hosp. they never answered my apointment requent on line. when i called they acted frazzled and like they were doing me a favorby talking to me. they wouldnot make an apt. without me giving them a credit card number to charge me $125.00 for info about the program and to determine if i was a candidate for surg. dr vallina purchased the bariatric surgery info program and emails it to you for free.
The nursing staff was WONDERFUL! They were right there for me at all times. However, in general, I felt that pain control is not the strong suit of this hospital- or maybe it's the anesthesiologist I had. Who ever heard of giving a patient a PCA without any base level pain medication in the IV? That means IF you can sleep, you'll wake up in a few hours in intense pain, and it takes a good hour to get your pain med dose back up to a level that is comfortable. Talk to your doctor about this ahead of time!
The nurses made comments that I didn't really need the surgery (wasn't big enough); they continued to give me 5X gowns when they could see they were falling off of my shoulders & always ordered the "bariatric" wheelchair when I fit into a regular one. The larger wheelchair was so big for me that I couldn't put my feet down. Many of the nurses were bigger than me and their behavior seemed rather passive aggressive. They seemed to spend their time talking with each other or charting. They only came in my room at change of shift. At night they came in constantly, I finally told them to get everything done at once and leave me alone, which they did for that night. I figured out how to unplug my IV and disengage the alarm to go to the bathroom myself so they pretty much left me alone. No one ever came to make sure I was walking. I did it on my own. After about the 4th day, one asked if I wanted a "comfort bath". I had visions of soap & water, which really sounded good at that point. Instead, she tossed me a pack of baby wipe things. I went home w/ a drain but they did not tell me the pump has to be pushed in or it doesn't drain. As a result I had a drain that wasn't draining. Luckily I did not have a buildup of fluid or an infection but I had to have a CT scan to make sure. I was on 4S and it was not a good experience.
Great bedside manner. Cares about patients.Shares info about himself. Not the usual surgeon arrogance. Extensive pre op testing, post op followup. Risks were addressed. Would only do surgery if he met with my husband so he knew what to expect. My husband said he felt much better after the meeting. Long wait to see him - sometimes up to 2 hours after appt time. I ran into pain problems and ended up in the ER where they did $9,000 worth of tests to tell me it was muscular pain from the incision.
His only recourse was to suggest rehospitalizing me so I could get morphine, even though the Bariatric Clinic is next to the Pain Clinic. After I insisted on going to the pain clinic, he facilitated it and I was taken care of. I was able to get strong enough pain meds and stay at home.I was never sure why he didn't refer me right away.
Dr. Vallina is terrific! He is not only a skilled surgeon, he has the "bedside manner" so often lacking in most medical professionals.
Dr. Vallina made my wife and I feel like we were important. We felt like we knew him and that he really cared about us as individuals.
We highly recommend Dr. Vallina!
