Finally just got the sleeve, yay! My experience so far....

[snowkitten 371]

I FINALLY got my sleeve done!!! I was scheduled for 1pm but because the surgeon was delayed I ended up starting at 3pm. The longer I waited the more active and jumpy the little butterflies in my tummy got. I was so greatful to see the anesthesiologist lol.

I was told the procedure would take 1.5 hrs then have 1 hr in the recovery room before I would be transfered into a room to see my hubby. I was brought to recovery at 5 and woke up to the most horrendous pain and nausea. Every time they asked if the pain and nausea was improved I could honestly say no. After quite a bit of dilaudid, Tylenol, and anti nausea meds I finally started to get to a level I could tolerate without thinking I'd made a terrible terrible mistake. I was under the impression it would be the same kind of pain I I had with my cesarion section. SO much more.

I gotta say I was very upset with the staff. They didn't listen very well, and acted like I was stupid. My main nurse would ask details that I struggled to provide not only because I was in intense pain and the meds we're making me tired but also cause my throat was dry and on fire. One convo went like this.....

Nurse: "what kind of chronic pain do you have"

Me: "nerve pain, one at night like RLS in shoulders, arms, back and legs . And dif kind during day. (Should have told him that felt like when you hit your funny bone but it was too hard), and joint pains"

Nurse: "what do you take for it"

Me: "nothing, My dr wanted to give me something like gabapentin or cymbalta but I didn't want to add more meds till after (should have told him after we figured out my immune deficiency but that didn't come out)"

Him: "what dose do you take",

Me: none, I don't take it yet"

Him: "I don't see it in your chart"

Me: "I'm waiting on it"

Him: "Do you take narcotics for it"

Me: "no"

Him: "what's the highest number 1-10 it gets too"

Me: "gets to a 5-6"

He then hands me off to another nurse so he can go to lunch and I hear him say....

"she has chronic nerve pain in her back and arms and lives at a constant 5-6. She says she takes gabapentin or cymbalta for it but I can't find it in her chart. She must get it from another provider"

I wanted to scream "NO NO, It GETS to a 5-6, and I don't take ANYTHING for it".... But they walked away and I fell asleep. He kept drawing his own conclusions and it was really annoying. One thing that really hurt my feelings was he told a nurse that my son was waiting for me in my main room. Not normally bad but I'm 28 and it was my HUSBAND. I know in pain and right out of surgery I didn't look like myself but normally I'm told I look 16 and why the heck didn't he check my chart to see I was 28 not 48???

At 8 o'clock (yes that's right, 3 hrs in recovery not 1) I was finally sent to my main room where the nurses continued to try my patience.

Nurse: " oh you didn't tell me you had a son!" , hellooooo I JUST met you and we haven't said more than hi to each other!!! But I didn't say that.

The biggest problem with this bunch of nurses is that they didn't listen. I mean LITERALLY didn't listen to me. They sat at the comp in my room not saying a word and when I tried to ask a question I had to repeat myself 4 times and practically yell to get their attention. One nurse kept trying to take my pulse...RIGHT on the IV they put in my wrist. I told him oweee and he looked at me like a bother

Me: "Why didn't the dr switch the IV site like they said they would"

Nurse: "we can't take it out, you need it for the pain meds"

Me: "I don't want it out, I was wondering why they didn't switch it"

Nurse: "no we can't switch it somewhere else"

Me: "no I asked why the anesthesiologist didn't switch it in surgery like I was told they would since the site is shallow."

Nurse: "oh i don't know"

Me: "it's not in my chart?"

Nurse: "no, they only write why they do something, not why they don't. They must have forgotten. But we can't change it, you need it for pain meds.

Grrrr What is wrong with these people. I still know I was raspy but I don't have an accent or anything and I was speaking pretty loudly.

Im in so much pain I was told I need to start walking once the pain is managed. I asked if I can walk with the catheter in and they said yes. Seriously? Is this true?

I'm so shocked at these nurses! I'm used to going to an IHS facility (government run) with nurses who are attentive and read your chart. I was really expecting Providence would have been the same or better since after all it's supposed to be a hospital with a high standard of care . This is throwing me off!!! How do I handle these people?

So this is my experience so far. It's s been harder than expected, but Im trying to keep positive.

[haleytrim 244]

Where are you?

[snowkitten 371]

Anchorage , Alaska. Our care us notmally excellent.

[BitterSweet* 835]

Honestly, grin and bear it. You'll be out of there soon enough. Your other option is to dial the operator from your room and request that the patient care coordinator (may be called something else up there) come to see you in your room because of the care you're receiving.

The latter is almost a guarantee to be ignored even more by the nursing staff. They'll avoid you even more once you make a complaint while in the hospital.

My advice is to do what you need to do to recover and get discharged. When you get home and are up to it, write a lengthy, detailed letter (making note of names, behavior, and comments) and send it to human resorces at the hospital.

Btw, congratulations on your surgery and sorry about your crappy treatment.

[woo woo 872]

Maybe get your husband to help advocate for you with the nurses to get what you need/want? It almost sounds like they aren't understanding you or something.

Sorry you are having trouble with your care. It really makes things hard. But congrats on the sleeve!

[snowkitten 371]

Oh I did grin and bear it. It's just that right out of surgery and in so much pain I was extremely sensitive.

I'm not the type to try and get someone in trouble (unless they did something that could harm others if I didn't speak up) but I really needed to vent to people who would understand.

A new shift nurse is on and shes really great. They must put all the nurses who aren't good on at night lol.

Thanks for listening!

[snowkitten 371]

Yeah I think your right. I'm guessing my throat was so raspy from the breathing tube that they couldn't understand me. I guess I just had a higher expectation thinking since they do it for a living that they would be better at it.

Thanks for the suggestion but my husband had to be at home with our 2 y/o so he couldnt help much. Oh well, soon I'll be home. Thanks for the congrats! I'm so happy it's finally done

[snowkitten 371]

My sensitive IV placement and me preop

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[woo woo 872]

I just wanted to say that you are obviously in your twenties and those nurses are ridiculous for thinking otherwise!

[snowkitten 371]

I just wanted to say that you are obviously in your twenties and those nurses are ridiculous for thinking otherwise!

Aww thank you!!! It had me in such a tizzy. I've always been sensitive about my age because I've been overweight all my life so people have assumed I was older. It's not a fun feeling and it was the last thing I needed when feeling so bad. But thank u for that, I appreciate it.