amwlady

Hi. I don't know the answer, but my mom is a real estate agent. She'll know. I'll ask her for you. My email is: amwlady@charter.net Just remind me to give you your answer, ok? Oh, and welcome to Massachusetts.

testing my signature.

Can anyone help me out a little on this site? I find it difficult to navigate. How can you see the most recent posts first?

Hi there!!!! Can you help me out a little on this site? I find it difficult to navigate. How can you see the most recent posts first?

Hi everyone. I was banded on 4/2/07 at UMASS by Dr. Kelly. I had my 1st fill last Thursday. amwlady@charter.net

had surgery on 4/2 My surgery journey: Sunday: I had to do clear liquids. I sure missed my coffee. I slept fine, and thought that my nerves had vanished. Monday: got up at 4:30 to wash again with the antibacterial that they gave me at my pre-op. I missed my coffee. Left the house at 5. Checked in, asked for my valium. The girl at the desk said to ask the nurse and she brought me to my bed/curtained room. I was given a Johnny…looked at my husband and said that I wasn’t sure I could do it. He told me I didn’t have to if I didn’t want to. I told him I wanted to, but I was afraid. My valium came right as they were bringing me to surgery. Allot of help that was. LOL Before I was brought into the operating room, my surgeon came over, told me not to worry everything would be fine. I met the anesthesiologist, and the anesthesia nurse. He was wonderful. I asked him to make sure everything went well, and not to leave me until I went back down to my cubby. He put the IV in and then said he was going to inject some good medicine. Then it was off to the operating room. They put the booties on me. I really liked them. LOL Then they moved me to the operating table. Then Paul woke me in recovery and gave me oxygen. My surgeon told me everything went well, and he was going to go talk to my husband. I had no problems waking or breathing. Went to my room/cubby place. My husband was there. When I got there, I asked to use the bathroom. The nurse asked me if I wanted to go home, and I said yes. Put on my clothes, my husband got the car. They wheeled me down and put me in the car. I was home by 1 PM. I’m sore and it’s hard to get up and to get comfortable, but on a scale from 1-10, my pain is a 1. Soreness a 4. Tuesday: I experienced THE gas, but even that was only about a 2. I am sipping, and to tell you the truth, I could take large gulps, but I do know better. I don’t feel my band at all. I have 6 incisions and they are sore. I’m doing well. I don’t know how people can go right back to work. Just getting up to the bathroom wears me out. I’ve taken small walks in my house. I’ve only had water and half of a popsicle. My doc said I could go right on to full liquids when I was feeling up to it. Wednesday: Feeling stronger, pain pills take care of incesions. I can hear the gas, but so far no gas pains. Thursday: Feeling better. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try some nectar. I was very nervous for nothing. It wasn’t bad, and it was quick. I hope that I’ve calmed any fears anyone on deck has. Thanks to everyone who said a prayer, sent a hug, well wishes, and support.

You're welcome. Best wishes for a safe and uneventful surgery. I was sooooooooooo nervous........I really shouldn't have been. I had to be at the hospital at 5:45 AM and was home by 1 PM.

((((((Rene)))))) THANKS!

I'm feeling so many things. I started this journey almost a year ago, and felt impatient allot of the time. Now? I feel excited and sometimes nervous. I've never had had general anesthesia before, so i think that is what I'm apprehensive about, not the surgery itself. I can't wait until April 3rd. LOL! Best of luck to you and the entire 4/2 gang. I hope I can figure out how to navigate myself back here so we can all compare notes next week.

My surgery date is April 2nd, 2007. My surgeon is John Kelly, MD @ Umassmedical Center. I very excited and sometimes nervous. I can't wait until April 3rd when the surgery itself is behind me and my new life is in front of me. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANKS!!! I'll head right over.

My surgery date is April 2nd, 2007. :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: My surgeon is John Kelly, MD @ Umassmedical Center. I very excited and sometimes nervous. I can't wait until April 3rd when the surgery itself is behind me and my new life is in front of me.:clap2: Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh honey! I'm praying for you! I understand. I'm up on 4/2 and have never had surgery.

I never heard of this. Please tell me more.

Hi GeezerSue. I, too, am a Bush supporter and I promise you that I would NEVER post something like this. I'd never disrespect or publicly ridicule. Peace.

1. There's one in the medical journal......hmmmm, can't exactly remember the circumstances...maybe surgical perforation? I'll check and let you know the reference. 2. Then the man in Boston who woke up during surgery and had a heart attack. 3. A woman in NY a couple of months ago had an asthma attack during surgery. 4. A woman in Texas about 7 months ago (she and her husband were both MDs). She needed and unfill but didn't get medical attaention and her electrolytes were off and she died. (shouldn't have happened) Moral: 1. Make sure you have a skilled surgeon. 2. Make sure you have a GOOD anesthesiologist. (I'd drop dead if I woke up during surgery! How scary!) 3. Disclose all medical problems. Make sure you have asthma, apnea, all breathing problems and concerns under control. 4. If you can't drink/eat don't wait until you are dehydrated to get help. Only one of these deaths are a direct result of the surgery, but the others occured because of the surgery or band. These are the only ones I know of, but there could be others. PS. I'm not banded yet. Waiting for a date. Re: #1: 1: Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2005 Sep;26(3):297-301. Links LAP-banding obesity: a case of stomach perforation, peritonitis, and death. We present a case of peritonitis and death due to the misplacement of a laparoscopic adjustable band inserted through, instead of around, the stomach. This represents the first case in the published literature where a LAP-BAND perforated the stomach, followed by peritonitis and death. The morbidly obese female patient with a history of hypertension and arthritis was 47 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighed 361 pounds, and had a body mass index of 58.3. She underwent a 2-hour, elective, LAP-band insertion operation to achieve weight loss; 27 hours after band insertion, following the conduction of all FDA-mandated Lap-Band postoperative protocol (including a radiologic Gastrogrografin swallow), the patient was discharged with "no evidence of esophageal stasis or obstruction." She remained out of hospital care and in her residence until she called for and was taken by an ambulance to an alternate, local hospital (57 hours after band insertion), when gastric perforation was confirmed via x-ray and CT scans. No open surgery was attempted to repair the damage, and cardiac arrest ensued 7 hours after admission to the second hospital. The patient was pronounced dead 64 hours after LAP-band insertion. This unique case is significant, given that there were no deaths of this kind reported in The LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System Summary of Safety and Effectiveness Data by the United States Center for Devices and Radiologic Health, of the food and Drug Administration, or in searches of the published literature. PMID: 16121091 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Re #2:Panel urges standards for obesity surgery By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff | August 5, 2004 Responding to a sixfold jump in the number of patients undergoing obesity surgery, a state public health panel yesterday recommended that Massachusetts hospitals and doctors adopt strict standards to reduce deaths and complications. The report includes recommendations that hospitals and surgeons perform a high number of surgeries in order to stay in practice, which ultimately could force some smaller programs at community hospitals to close. Based on their review of medical studies, panel members said hospitals that do more than 100 surgeries a year, and surgeons who do 50 to 100 cases a year, have lower complication rates. "This is going to send a clear message about what you need to have in your surgery program, and if you don't, you should rethink it," said Christine Ferguson, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, who herself had weight-loss surgery a year ago. Ferguson, who up until now hadn't spoken publicly about her surgery, said that because of her experience, she made sure the panel developed information that patients could use in choosing a surgeon. Ferguson, 45, has lost 100 pounds -- halfway toward her goal -- since having "lap band" surgery, in which doctors tie a silicon band around the stomach to shrink its size. "People should look at all the options, but they also need to know there's hope," she said. "They shouldn't withdraw from society." The January death of Howard Reid, a 37-year-old computer technician and Harvard University security guard, shortly after obesity surgery triggered the expert panel. Six other deaths or serious complications related to obesity surgery in Massachusetts have been reported to public health officials since 1998. But Ferguson said yesterday that all surgery is risky: Obesity surgery carries up to a 1 percent chance of death. The other impetus for forming the panel, she said, is the growing popularity of the surgery. Massachusetts doctors did 2,761 gastric bypass operations and other types of obesity surgeries last year, compared to the 402 cases they did in 1998. The 17-member panel, including many surgeons and nurses, reviewed the quality of hospital bariatric surgery programs. Their detailed report includes guidelines for nearly every aspect of obesity surgery including exactly which patients should be allowed to undergo the procedure, to how to tailor anesthesia for obese patients, for whom surgery is especially risky. One guideline recommends surgery only at hospitals that perform 100 or more cases annually. Only 14 of the state's 24 hospitals that do obesity surgery perform that many, said Dr. George Blackburn, vice chairman of the panel and a physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The panel also recommended that hospitals adopt strict standards for doctors before allowing them to perform obesity surgery. For traditional weight-loss surgery, during which doctors make a long incision, hospitals should have an experienced surgeon monitor a new surgeon for 10 cases. The hospital should then review the next 15 cases of the new surgeon, to make sure standards are met, before granting full privileges to the surgeon. Ferguson said the Department of Public Health would review the recommendations and consider whether to adopt actual regulations. But she said she is reluctant to do so, because medical practice changes so quickly. Instead, she expects education and peer pressure will force all hospitals and doctors to adopt the standards. Patients also will vote with their feet, opting for surgery at hospitals that meet the "best practice" standards, she said, while insurers may pay for the surgery only at hospitals that follow the recommendations. The Public Health Department will post the recommendations on its website. "I can't imagine anyone who's doing this surgery who wouldn't integrate these guidelines into their practice," said Nancy Ridley, an assistant commissioner of public health and head of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction. "I expect every hospital will do this."

Tell them you are having surgery. If pressed, tell them it's personal. It's YOUR medical care. You don't tell these people about your pap smears, do you? Right. It's personal. That's why your medical records are personal. Hey, this is my first post after being a member and lurking since MAY. Good uck. Don't let anyone bully you about your medical care/decisions.