Sleeved on 8/6/2010.....

[goal160 0]

I'm not a big poster,but thought i would share my story. I was sleeved on the 6th(Friday) at 12:00... YEAH!!

Morning of 6th- I had to be there @10:00 for all the normal admit stuff. The nurses came in and asked a bunch of questions,then came the anastesiologists,and then my surgeon. They let me know that they were going to inject some feel good stuff in my iv,and that it would relax me. I don't know what the heck they put in that thing,but i LAUGHED the whole way down as i was wheeled to the operating room. I don't remember much inbetween,just remembered hearing them tell me they were going to give me something else,and LIGHTS OUT!!

When i came to it was about 2:00 pm,after recovery. I remember the nurses helping me to the bathroom,and helping me into bed in my room,and from there i slept more,got up every few hours to breathe on the spirometer(sp) and walked. The next morning i got up,and had a leak test. It was some yellowish nasstttttyyy bitter drink ugh,but it went right down,NO LEAKS!! I did/still do have a decent amount of pain right under my ribcage area,but i felt NO tightness in my chest. I have NO heartburn,NO acid reflux and i am NOT hungry at all. It's pretty strange to be 4 days into liquids only and not be hungry.( No pre-op diet) While in the center,i recieved everything from Water,crystal light,chicken and beef broth to different Protein Fruit drinks. The Alpine Punch ISO Pure Protein Drink is very good! I ordered all different flavors of the Isopure drinks.< /p>

The staff- OMG everyone there is so ridiculously nice. I was called sweety and honey,pretty and everything else nice so many times while there. The whole staff at Forest Park Medical Center are all extra attentive and just really darn nice. Even the security guards are nice. Someone stopped my husband and 2 kids to give the kids some little knick knacks, the tech(Lecia- a total just all around nice person) gave my husband a big turkey and cheese sandwich at 3am because he was hungry lol. She went and fixed me broth at like 1am because for some reason i thought i wanted some.(I never drank it because i fell asleep) The respiratory therapist i had,my nurses and techs all treated me like family. If i had to go there for any other procedure and this center did it,i would go back 10000%

What you get- They gave me a blue therapeutic pillow which has a drawing of the esophagus,pylorus,stomach that remains,stomach that was removed and the duodenum,and it sais sleeve gastrectomy on it. One of my wonderful nurses signed it with the words" You are a star" so cute!

I also got a big bag full of all kinds of post op goodies. Everyone gets this,because she(dietician) had a few on her arm for her next stops. It had another book with what to do from this stage... and loads of Vitamins and Calcium lozenges and different flavored Iron pills. There was also a cute little tape measurer and a 40 oz cup,and some other little stuff.

Doctor-10/10.. He did a great job,i have no heartburn,no acid reflux,no hunger and appear to be right on track!

Forest Park Medical Center- 10/10... This was the best hospital/center type stay i have ever had!! If you are under insurance,then you can have it there or at Baylor hospital in Texas!( Baylor doesnt accept carecredit) I was self pay with half care credit,so i had to use FPMC and am very glad i did. The rooms are huge,there is a pull out couch/bed in each room in which my 2 kids slept on the first night,a reclining chair in which my husband slept on,and flat screen tv's with all channels. For your family there is a cafe and StarBucks! Also,i brought things but didnt need anything. They have the no-slip socks,gas x strips,etc. Basically everything i NEEDED was right there!

Cost- Under 10,000!

P.S. If there are a ton of typos in this please just ignore it lol... Im just coming off from a little liquid loritab!!

[Dansha 16]

Wow... sounds more like a vacation than major surgery. LOL.

I am glad to hear everything went so well for you. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Please keep us posted with your progress.

Deb

[Garyb_58 1]

Congrats on your surgery and welcome to the losers bench.

[meriteri 1]

I'm soo glad you finally posted an update! Sounds like you had an good experience with your surgery. You replied to one of my posts & told me about Dr. Veninga and today I scheduled a consultation with him for Aug. 19th! I'm so excited & can't wait to meet him. I also scheduled an appt. with the dietician and mentioned I'm coming from out of town. She said that she just took care of someone that was from Oklahoma...I'm assuming that was you! Anyways, glad to hear everything went smoothly! I'm so happy for you! Let's keep in touch.

P.S. Why didn't you have to do a pre-op diet?...Just curious

[Donna4545 13]

Congrats on your surgery! Your hospital stay sounds like mine--so glad to hear it!

[goal160 0]

Thanks everyone. I feel pretty good! I only took the liquid loritab 2 times yesterday and twice today... 8am and around 11pm... its just those darned bubbles/gas on the left side by the rib cage.

Meriteri- yep that's me lol... the one from OK!! To answer your questions,he does have a 2 week pre-op diet however the way i had to schedule my appointments down there made it to where it was only a week between my pre-op appts and sleeve surgery. I went in on July 29th to see Dr. Veninga,the dietitian( Nurse Bauman-she has RNY and her husband recently had VSG) and the psychologist( Dr. Golden).... and a few days prior i had already scheduled my date for the 6th,so no time for a 2 week pre- diet. The dietician said if i could get a few days of it,that would be fine however i could never do it. Every time i smelled fast food,or something yummy i would cave in. That is the reason i needed surgery anyhow,food was in more control than it should have been.

Not sure how far you are,but if you go to the FPMC and any family comes with you,tell them to stay at the Embassy Suites -Park Central. My family thoroughly enjoyed their stay their and especially the free cooked to order Breakfast each morning,which consisted of pancakes,sausage,bacon,eggs,custom omelettes,etc as well as fruit, Cereal,yogurt,etc. They are all WELLl under 200 lbs so it was no big deal for them to eat those things. They love that part of their stay though lol....

Lastly,Meriteri you can feel good about Dr. Veninga as he is also FACS certified, ASBS(American Society of Bariatric Surgeons) and all those other good credentials one would want their surgeon to have. He's a very laid back guy so during your first visit,expect him to sit back,talk to you about how things used to be vs. now,evolution,any questions you have,etc. I mean he was in absolutely no rush to get out of there,even had a few jokes for me he he. His nurse Barbara is extra nice also. I could go on and on...... Keep me posted on your initial consulation and surgery,etc!

[samb21 0]

hi!

Im soooo glad i came across your post! I am looking to get my sleeve done by Dr veninga and am dying to find out about people who have had him! Can I ask you how much weight u lost the first month out of surgery and how was ur experience with him? Also are you planning to have kids in the future? Im very worried about the effects of the sleeve on my wanting to have children in the future.

I will be looking forward to hearing from you soon :thumbup:

Sam

[Mary Gordon 3]

good to hear you're doing great!!!....sounds like you had a great time....welcome to your new journey to weight loss!!!:thumbup:

[goal160 0]

Hi Sam,i am now almost 2 months post op(wow time flies) and have lost 36.6 lbs. At my 6 week checkup i had lost 26 lbs,which was about 3 weeks ago and had been at a 2.5-3 week stall. I started at 269,am now 232.4 so i would say i am doing good. As far as kids,i am 29 and have 2 already but i am married and although we are not actively trying,we wouldnt prevent it from happening once i am far enough,so yes another child is possible in the future,and once i lose more weight i am sure it will happen probably tooooo easy! LOL.....I am still very happy with my choice of surgeon,my stay and price,cha ching! If you have any specific questions,i will be more than happy to answer! :thumbup:

[goal160 0]

Thank you Mary!:thumbup:

[samb21 0]

Well honestly i dont really know what to ask but im kind of scared! Please tell me what to expect! I will be flying from Miami for the surgery, do u recommend i do the 2 week liquid diet? And how much did you pay for the surgery altogether?

Sam