Update on my surgery with Dr. Garcia!

[LaserSkinGirl 147]

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update! We are in San Diego awaiting our flight hme now (flying first class! Yippee!). My recovery has gone SO smoothly! I feel very blessed to have had such an easy time of. I'm not sure if it's because I have had two previous abdominal surgeries or not (appendectomy and c-section) but I seem to have rebounded pretty quickly.

My drain site is almost all the way healed! They said it could take two weeks' date=' but looks like it will only be about 6-7 days for me. I credit my very careful wound care once released from the hospital for this! I brought neosporin, a small bottle of antiseptic spray, and the extra large antibiotic band aids. I cleaned my wounds each day with dial antibacterial soap in the shower and then let them air dry. I kept my drain site covered in the shower because you don't want any Water eating in there and then uncovered immediately after getting out. Once the sites were dry I treated with neosporin and the spray. I also made sure to bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer. If nothing else PLEASE pack these items! They are very small, but can make a world of difference. Wound infection is Dr. garcias most common complication. They send you to the hotel with gauze and tape which is helpful, but no cleaning stuff.

As far as packing list, I packed VERY light...but still felt I overpacked. The items I used and brought were:

Clean underwear for each day

2 lounge sets (the loose pants and zip up jacket style) with clean tank top to wear underneath each day

One pair pajama pants, 2 pajama tops

Tennis shoes

Flip flops

Slippers

Gas X strips

Hygiene items (you don't meet much unless you are particular, they provide Shampoo and conditioner at both hotel and hospital). Definitely bring deodorant!

The stuff at the hotel is all bath and body works!

iPad and charger (FaceTime worked great, no need for cell phone really!)

3 soft bras, two sport style and one sleep bra

Small bag of makeup...just used foundation and mascara most days.

Ponytail holders! I didn't "do" my hair at all while I was there

And the wound care items I mentioned earlier

Also my PCP prescribed Nexium and that stuff has been a god send!

Light cotton robe (a must for the hospital!)

I wish I had brought a couple packets of crystal light (but only like 2 because you really won't be able to drink much at all)

I also brought a larger 24 oz tervis cup which I used a lot for sipping, the kind with travel lid.

Hope this helps! This really was all I needed and used. I only wore the hospital gown, robe and slippers while I was at MiDoctor.[/quote']

That's such great advice and update!! Thank you so much!! Did you get a spirometer to take with you?.

[scsleever 104]

Armywife29,

Thanks so much for this great information! Questions: did you take any special care of your incision and drain sites while in the hospital? I've read that they make you shower each day, and I'm wondering about keeping the incision and drain areas bacteria-free. Also, how did you cover up the drain site to keep it waterproof while you showered? I'm picturing your abdomen with a saran wrap shield!!

[lwilliams65 102]

Hey everyone! I just wanted to update everyone on my experience so far. I know on the roll call there were some questions about the Marriott, so I will start there. We arrived on 1/21 and everyone was very helpful, I DID opt to give them my credit card number to hold for incidentals, but I believe this was optional. My total bill for the first night was $27, and that included Internet for my mom (the complimentary code is only good for me device, and I wanted her to be able to use her iPad as well), my moms room service Breakfast ($13) of an omelet, fruit plate, toast, coffee, and orange juice, and my mom buying a soda from the mini bar later that night. I didn't think $27 was unreasonable for all that.

Make sure to bring lots of $1 & $5 for tipping bell man, room service, and drivers. I tipped the drivers $5 per trip and bell man $3, room service tips obviously depend on the amount of your bill. We were instructed to be in the lobby at 10:15 am on 1/22 to go to the hospital (MiDoctor). The shuttle was very punctual and it only took us about 5-7 minutes to get there. Once inside we came to the third floor administration to turn in paperwork and were brought to our rooms. I used Ready 4 a Change and Melissa was waiting for us as soon as we got here. She is adorable and EVERYONE has been so friendly and helpful!

The only bad thing was that they couldn't get my IV in...and tried twice which hurt like hell. But Dr. velasco said they would just do it in the ERnafter I was put to sleep (fine by me!). The phlebotomist who took my blood draw was VERY good. I barely felt the stick. And she wore latex gloves the entire time. All of the nurses have been wearing gloves and using the hand sanitizer at the nurses station, I have seen them use is before entering each room.

Dr. Cabrera was awesome! So warm and friendly...and good looking, great personality! We walked me through everything regarding anesthesia. Dr. Garcia and Dr. Champos were more amazing then I could have hoped for. They were both soooo nice and patient. Dr. Champos speaks slightly better English, but I had no trouble at all understanding Dr. Garcia.

They took me in for surgery at 3pm and I was back in my room by 5pm, after spending a while in OR recovery. It took a while for the grogginess from the anesthesia to wear off and I had a good bit of gas sitting in my chest between my breasts that was REALLY uncomfortable. Felt like an elephant was sitting there. I walked the wing twice last night which really helped! I started burping gas up almost immediately. And today I have very little to no gas pain.

One this I have noticed is that the nurses here are very respectful. My assigned night nurse Dania was quiet as a mouse when she came in throughout the night to changensalinenbags and pain meds. She quietly asked me ow I was doing sodas not to wake my mom or disturb me too much from my sleepiness. I really appreciated it.

I also was able to make it the bathroom to pee on my own several times through the night, which I took as a good sign. I woke up early this morning (7ish) and am feeling really really good. No pain really at all. Took a long walk around the wing and am now settled back in bed. Think I might take a nap and then they are going to come help me shower. Looks like I will be doing the upper GI later today and then they will start me on ice chips as lngmas that comes back clear!

I will be sure to keep everyone posted through this thread as the week progresses!

Lauren

I love that this post is so informative and I hope your recovery is going well. I do have one question, you will probably laugh at me but.... what kind of vehicle did the driver pick you up in? I read about some lady that got picked up in a15 year old car with broken windshield. M dad is coming with me and I can just totally see him freaking out if that's the case. lol

[mikeross 216]

If your going with ready 4a change it would be a white ford windstar mini van... about 10 years old.

[Armywife29 90]

Armywife thank you, glad all is well..I need you to find one thing out for me please is there an,#800 at the marriot that families can call? I promise, I understand I am polite as well, nurses usually love me....again glad is well!

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you! I wasn't made aware of an 800# at the Marriott. But you could definitely ask at the desk. We used FaceTime the entire time to communicate through the Wifi and it worked great. We also used the phone at the hospital.

[Armywife29 90]

Armywife29,

Thanks so much for this great information! Questions: did you take any special care of your incision and drain sites while in the hospital? I've read that they make you shower each day, and I'm wondering about keeping the incision and drain areas bacteria-free. Also, how did you cover up the drain site to keep it waterproof while you showered? I'm picturing your abdomen with a saran wrap shield!!

I didn't need to do much at the hospital because the nurses did a great job on wound care. The morning after surgery they will ask you to take a shower. I brought two bars of dial antibacterial soap with me (one for hospital and one for other afterwards). You will get in the shower with all your bandages on and take off the incision ones while you are in there. You leave you drain wound covered the whole time you are in the shower. They want you to use soap and Water to clean your incision sites while in the shower. Once out you just let the nurse know and she will come in and take care of cleaning them with antiseptic and rebandaging. She will also take off the drain bandage and change it at that time. You want to keep your drain site covered in the shower until it is all closed (7 days out and mine is still covered in the shower....but probably only for another day). After my shower I take off the bandage and let it air dry then apply antiseptic and neosporin and re cover. My incision sites have been uncovered since Dr. Luna took my staples out at the hotel. Hope this helps!

[Armywife29 90]

That's such great advice and update!! Thank you so much!! Did you get a spirometer to take with you?.

The hospital provided a spirometer for me right away. dr. velasco will bring it to you before surgery.

[scsleever 104]

Armywife29,

Your information was great...thanks so much! I know that it must be wonderful to be back home. How are you feeling?

[lotti 154]

So happy things went well for you.

[MrsPiggleWiggle 65]

FANTASTIC information!!!!! Thank you so much for thinking of all of us and sharing your stories!!!! Great to hear you are doing so well!

[tessies 224]

Armywife29 how are you doing??

[Beth Williams Jarvis 1]

Today I am 19 days post up, down 23 pounds !! Wanting to eat real food, getting tired of pureed food, tried soft scrmbled eggs didnt do to well made me sick. I find I get tired very easy. Trying real hard to get fluids and Protein in.

[Armywife29 90]

I'm sorry to hear that Beth! I actually stayed on liquids longer because I really wanted to try and get to 60 oz per day before moving up to any more solid food. I'm 12 days out and just tried Greek yogurt this morning, it went very well. I added some sugar free vanilla Syrup to it. Just remember to not push the amount you eat, I have been eating with a shrimp fork and demitasse spoon which has REALLY helped me control my bite sizes.

[Diamondeyed 399]

I plan to stay on the preop longer too

[Rohler1520 119]

I'm sorry to hear that Beth! I actually stayed on liquids longer because I really wanted to try and get to 60 oz per day before moving up to any more solid food. I'm 12 days out and just tried Greek yogurt this morning' date=' it went very well. I added some sugar free vanilla Syrup to it. Just remember to not push the amount you eat, I have been eating with a shrimp fork and demitasse spoon which has REALLY helped me control my bite sizes.[/quote']

Kind of a silly question but I just seen somebody else post about getting paper panties before surgery at the OCC hospital. Does Dr. Garcia's patients get paper panties?