Do you feel your docs prepared you for the post-op experience?

[leebick 448]

I haven't had my surgery yet (canceled from May, rescheduled July) but the more I read here, the more unprepared I feel. I've had a meeting with the psychologist, 4 nutrition meetings, and 1 meeting with the surgeon, who described the surgery and "what to expect." That was basically an outline of what they do surgically and the diet I need to follow post-surgery. Reading here, I had no idea of how challenging the post-surgery experience can be. It never dawned on me that my insides will be so swollen that I could actually struggle to be able to swallow a sip of Water, or that my taste perception might change. No discussion of what to expect for pain, or healing time, challenges with following the diet, bowel changes, etc. No discussion on what NOT to eat and why. Maybe I expect too much, but it would make more sense to me if they explained what's happening internally during those first few weeks and why it's important to NOT eat anything solid; who knew something could get caught in the staple line and become an irritant/infection? I kind-of feel like I agreed to this surgery almost blindly. I think I have learned a LOT more from reading these boards and learning about what people have really experienced, than I learned from what my doctor told me. Anyone else feel like they weren't really prepared for the post-surgical experience?

[grandmaofone 411]

My doctor, nut and exercise therapist spent tons of time explaining all this is me, so much so that I started to not listen anymore because they kept repeating the same important info each and every meeting. Plus I had a binder that had all the same info in it that I read the night it was given to me. So yes I was prepared and I didn't find this site until a few days before my surgery.

[4u2nvyme 96]

My surgeon is the same way. he is a great doc recommended to me by 3 other friends who got their sleeve with him but he is straight to the point. They do ask me is there any concerns or questions and gave me packets but I wish he would just sit and explain everything in detail but then again Im guessing if you want this surgery they think you have already researched it which luckily I have. Years of research and a lot of help from this site has given me all the info I need. good luck

[VEGAN ME 117]

Hi, I wanted to tell you my experience so you will feel better. I had surgery on the 6th of june. it went wonderful, i had some nausea but that's it, not even a sore throat. Of course there was pain in my tummy but it was handled well with pain meds. I have no trouble drinking Water or eating or anything else and was surprised to hear that so many people did but i think we are reading about it so much because just like everything else people only talk about the bad stuff.!! so relax, take it easy and you will be fine.

[ssflbelle 829]

Yep my experience was the same as the other two. I was given what my surgeon called the sleeve bible and read it many times over before the surgery. He was available at all 6 of my pre-op diet weigh ins to ask any questions. Believe me I did. The surgery was good but I had 3 procedures done. Went in on a Tuesday and was back home Thursday before noon. I was on this site the day after I saw the surgeon so I read all kinds of postings during those 6 months. I feel this site and the Big Sleeve Book I purchased helped to fill in the gaps of what I had no idea to ask about.

Follow up I don't feel has been as good as it should have been and for that I am a bit upset. I had no problems with drinking and was able to follow the different eating phases but since my 2nd month I have been having trouble with pain whenever I eat any dense Protein. The surgeon at 3 months said it was my signal that I am full. Now 5 months post op I still can't eat more than 1/3 of a cup of food without getting that pain. I see him again in July and will let him know again that the pain is still just as intense. Someone suggested I might have a stricture, but I have no idea what that is and what can be done about it. I will be discussing this with the surgeon when I see him again. In the mean time I am very pleased with the 65 pounds lost since surgery.

Hope this helped you a bit.

[becomingmandikaye 262]

I was pretty thoroughly prepped as far as food goes, but not so much about the actual experience of being post-op. But I'd done so much reading here and elsewhere that I was pretty confident that I knew what to expect - and I was right. There have been no surprises or anything.

Edited June 23, 2016 by becomingmandikaye

[UalreadyKnow 843]

I wasn't sufficiently explained how this process is just about as tough mentally as it is physically. probably harder

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[CelesteMarie 129]

Everyone has a slightly different experience. I didn't even see my surgeon until the day of. Expect the worst and you will be surprised how easy it is. Walk, walk, walk, sip, sip, sip. In a few weeks, you go back to semi solid food and you just can't eat like before.

Good things come to good people.

[jeannepetty605 6]

My doctor met with me twice before surgery. I had 3 meetings with the dietitian and exercise physiologist. They gave me a book with great information in it. I use it a lot.

I also did a lot of my own research.

[ccflotron34 55]

I feel the exact way. I met with my surgeon once, besides when I had to have a scope done. But he basically just said to learn the most go to his website. Well their wasn't to much on there. Thank god I found this page and have read people's story's as much as I have. I had a 20 minute phone call for my pysch evaluation and one 15 minute meeting with the nutrition. Where all she did was go over a slide show that I had already got a week before. Besides that all my institutions have came from emails from the Drs office. I too had no idea about your stomach being so swollen, the horrible sounding gas pains, I don't know how much Protein and Water intake I'm suppose to have after surgery. My surgery is Monday morning. (6/27) so hopefully I find a lot a lot more then. Because I am a nervous wreck.

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[cindyw41 761]

I went to the seminar, Met initially with the Doctor, I had to complete a 7 month nutrition course, meet with a nutritionist 2x, meet with a physiologist 2x, meet with a psychiatrist once, Plus all of the pre-op testing. This was my Drs requirement. My insurance required much less. I was extremely prepared and at ease with the whole process. He informs all of his patients to the same degree, which is why I chose him.

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[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

Yes.

I did my research before I met him the first time and I had a list of questions I made him answer even though he was trying to rush me.

The book I was given and the class pre-op were very informative. I still refer to my book even now sometimes when I have a nutrition, OTC med, or Vitamin question.

I had the choice of a lot of programs to use within my insurance and I picked the one I had because I felt they would best meet my needs.

[bini120 163]

My doctor met with me twice before surgery. I had 3 meetings with the dietitian and exercise physiologist. They gave me a book with great information in it. I use it a lot.

I also did a lot of my own research.

What book did they give you? I bought Through Thick and Thin by Dr. Huberman (he did my psych analysis), which is an OK read from the mental standpoint, but would be interested to read a good book from the physiological aspect of sleeve surgery.

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[Beck90 189]

Nope.. lol I've posted about this before but though they did a good surgery and the nurses were great during my hospital stay, my bariatric team definitely let me down on preparation and on responding to my concerns post surgery. I sort of got stuck with the surgeon and the team I had because of insurance requirements so I really didn't have a choice but had I had a choice I think I'd have gone with someone else.

But.. I had six pre-opp weigh ins that weren't even at the place I was gonna have surgery because it was an hour and a half away. They were with my PCP instead.

I went to a seminar that had so many people with so much range of knowledge (from knowing everything to asking if they could have a big mac in the hospital after surgery - literally that's not a joke) that it was a gong show.

I had one 30 minute consult with my NUT about 8 weeks prior to surgery that left more questions than answers.

I met my surgeon two times probably a total of 15 minutes if that before the procedure and one of them was when he came back to say hi to me in pre-opp just before they took me back so that was about a minute.

My surgeon dissed my plan for weight loss using Water exercise and told me it was a waste of my time and I can't lose 130 pounds doing that. (I plan to prove him wrong and let him know after I hit goal that I did it all in the water)

There was no discussion of nutrition or how to eat if you need to make your own meals.. they gave you three options of meals to eat on each diet (liquids, puree, soft foods) and apparently you're supposed to repeat those same three meals without any variation throughout those entire stages (yeah right..) Instead of teaching you what to eat and why they just gave this very limited three meal menu and said stick to this - I think to save time because there were so many of us.. in the seminar - which was just people being sleeved in the same week I was there were about 30-40 people.

I won't see my NUT again until July which will be 7 weeks post opp (and mind I haven't seen her again since 8 weeks pre-opp) because they couldn't work with my schedule (which is pretty dang open.. ) because both their NUTs were going on vacation back to back so their schedules were very busy and the one slot they had for me was the same time as one of my counseling appointments that I didn't feel I could miss for personal reasons so since I couldn't take that EXACT time I was shunted out until July - which is fine with me I can research what to eat on my own but did make me feel not cared about..

I wasn't given very limited reading material that stuck to the anatomical descriptions of what happens and what to expect during the healing process with basic wound care info and that was all.

When I called in with a question post opp I had to wait 5 hours for a nurse to return my call.

They never talked to me about bodily changes like possible Constipation or pain management after I went home or how to handle these things or even mentioned that they might happen.

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Now I'm not posting this to diss on my surgical team.. I'm merely posting it because the OP asked if we felt prepared and I wanted to show how... bad.. frankly it can get in terms of bariatric teams not preparing you.

In my case my team is a very busy team.. every step of the way with getting insurance clearance if I didn't call and bug them almost every day it wouldn't get done. I know because my initial referral sat there for three weeks without them doing anything with it or calling me to schedule to come in to start doing testing for insurance clearance.. and everything else was the same way.. I'd call and ask and they'd say "Oh that hasn't been sent off yet / done yet.. I'll get right on it" and then it'd take another 2 weeks with me calling twice more in the mean time. This hospital mixes bariatrics with general surgery so it's always cram packed, extra busy, and no one who specializes in taking care of the bariatric patients.. you're just left to compete with everyone else having surgery to get your needs met so you have to be your own advocate. I'm sure if I hadn't called as much as I did even though I started in October of 2015 I probably STILL wouldn't be scheduled for a surgery date..

However, I feel that no matter how busy your team is there's no excuse for the minimal amount of pre-opp care I received and no excuse for the dismissive care post opp. If you're going to offer a procedure to people you need to have a more structured schedule with real time put in for these things...

Thankfully, I know how to research and I did.. I looked up binders and handbooks other hospitals give out to their patients, looked up different diet plans for after, found recipes, read and posted as much on this forum as I could, read medical journals.. but I will say that this forum did more of a job preparing me for my surgery and life after than my bariatric team did... which is a little sad. I worry about the people going through the program who came to the seminar asking if they could eat a big mac in the hospital post - opp.. because left to their own devices they're never going to come out okay and they clearly haven't researched on their own and the team won't prepare them any better than they did me soo

[kjr2016 17]

• ccflotron34, good luck with your surgery! I had mine on Tuesday, 6/21 and am doing very well. Just a little sore but able to get my Water, Protein and walking in. I think I was pretty well prepared, but one thing i noticed is they don't tell you everything up front -- maybe trying not to overwhelm you with a lot of information. The hardest day for me was finding out I had to do the pre-op diet only one day before I needed to start it. I would have liked more time to mentally prepare for that. If you are anything like me, right now and just before you get wheeled into the operating room are the two most nerve wracking times. Oh, and maybe waiting to get discharged from the hospital -- I was so ready to go home. But now I'm very happy I did it, even with almost a month of mushy food ahead of me and a sore tummy.