SJH Regional Medical Center Hospital


I arrived at SJHS-Vineland at 6am on the morning of my surgery. Upon entering the surgical ward I was greeted by the familiar, smiling face of the lady behind the registration desk; I had been there a couple of times in the weeks prior to surgery for pre op testing and the upper endoscopy. I checked in any my fiance and I waited for me to be called back. The nurse who called me back was imformative and thorough, less than personable however. I then met the anesthesiologist, who was amazing. He answered questions that I didnt even think to ask and assured me he would be there the entire way. I then met his 2 nurses and the nurse who would be assisting the surgeon. They were all amazing, very friendly and made me feel very special. My fiance and my mother were brought in just before I was whisked off to the OR. The last thing I remember was being pushed down the hall by 3 of the 4 nurses, teasing my about having to remember all of their names, after reciting the second nurses name I was off the "la la land". I was awakened in recovery, which I dont remember; when i had my senses about me, I was already in my private room. My fiance said my surgeon told him everything went well. The nurses on the sugical ward were fabulous! Very attentive and caring, although I was pretty spaced out my entire first day. One of the nursing assistants was a male, who appeared quite young which alarmed me a little but he was great also. The only negative part of the hospital experience was when I was taken down to radiology for the leak test. The radiology assistant took me into the xray room and left me sitting there; my IV machine started beeping and blood was beginning to fill the IV tube which really freaked me out. She had no idea what was happening or what to do, I began to feel a panic attack coming on and she again left me there alone for what seemed like an hours. Once the xray dr finally arrived, did the leak test (GROSS) and i happily went back to the surgical ward... ahhh, what a relief. All in all, the hospital experience was really good, although I didnt feel that after only 1 day I was ready to be sent home; but I went home.
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one thing i can remember is, I had just come out of surgery & has a breathing tube & was still 1/2 asleep & 2 men were transferring me from the oporating bed to the regular bed & they attemted to lift me @ 286lb & said uhhh, no wonder she's having the surgery. You know that is horrible! they didn't know i could hear & w/ the breathing tube i could't speak. But they were sooo rude & lucky I couldn't speak @ the time!

The SJHRMC is a great new facility. I found during my pre-op tests that some of that equipment is not designed for super obese patients, but during my surgery stay everything was great! I got a "big boy bed" with plenty of room. I stayed in the surgical ICU as a precaution due to my weight. The nursing staff was excellent and very responsive to my needs. Most of them had either had the surgery or had friends who had. They were always checking on my pain and discomfort (which was minimal) and were eager to take care of my needs. In short, they were superior!