Pre-Admission Testing Part 1

On Monday this past week I called the clinic to ask what I should expect at PAT because I couldn't remember and after reading all the posts on this site I needed to emotionally prepare myself for the possibility of an endoscopy or colonoscopy. Turns out there will be no oral or anal probes for me...woo hoo. My PAT is this Thursday 3/20/08 they will do blood work, chest x-ray, gallbladder ultrasound, EKG, and a pulmonary function test. I'll meet with an internist (not the surgeon) he is the one who will clear me for surgery. I asked if I will meet with Dr. Boe the surgeon and they said typically not until the day of surgery. That troubles me a bit as I only met him for a few minutes at the informational session. Lastly I'll meet with the dietitian. The process typically takes about 3 hours.

As I mentioned in a previous post my good friend Pam had WLS surgery a year ago and is doing great. I am including her response to my email to her expressing concern about not having quality time with my surgeon. I will add our correspondance from time to time because I think her experience will help others on this forum.

To end my thoughts.....Thursday is fast approaching and I am so excited to start this journey!

Pam wrote: I saw my surgeon only for a consultation, and then not again until the day of surgery, and all was fine. The surgeon, in my case, is just the surgeon. Following the procedure, he wanted to see me in a week, then every month for 3 months. After that, it was 6 months. Essentially what he did was check the incisions, ask if I was following the diet, having any problems, etc. If I did mention any gastric problems, high sugar readings, or eating problems, he referred me to the specialist in that area (gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, dietician, metabolic doc, etc). I came to realize that he (my surgeon) is a wonderful cutter and sewer-back-upper, and he is extremely knowledgeable about the benefits of the surgery. He is also very proud of his successes, not only for his own ego, but he is genuinely happy for the people he has helped to start living again and being healthy. But he may never be the go-to guy with questions or concerns about the "complications" or issues you might experience in the aftermath. Just as a for-instance, when I had such terrible diarrhea, he sent me to the gastro guy, who fixed me up.

I should note, however, that when I landed in the ER with such horrid stomach pain, they called him first, and he came right away and did exploratory to check the pouch because the pain extended from below my sternum (which is where the pouch sits) clear to my crotch. He also had a gynecological surgeon in the OR with him because they thought they saw something on my ovary. In addition, I called him the first time I had back pain on the right side and he knew right away it was the gall bladder. He also took my gallbladder out because he is licensed in general surgery as well, and he considered it a complication of the surgery.

Hope I'm not giving you too much to digest, but it's all related. My point is that your bypass surgeon will probably respond to any followup issues by sending you to a specialist in that area unless he thinks there may be an issue with your pouch, although the likelihood of that is pretty slim. The after effects would more likely be the squirts or constipation, or gall bladder (which wouldn't happen right away anyhow) not the surgery itself.

whew (Did I mention Pammy can talk a lot?)

Incidentally, I had bloodwork recently (which has to be done every 6 months forever and ever to check all levels of vitamins, organ function, etc. I had to start on Slow FE yesterday (slow-release iron) because I'm anemic. I have been experiencing some extraordinary tiredness of late, but I just figured it was from working too much. Hopefully this will resolve the (not so terrible) issue. He said I'm also dehydrated and need to increase fluid intake. I'm not worried about the dehydration; every time I've ever had blood work they always tell me I'm dehydrated, so I think it's normal for me, but I AM trying to drink more, despite the fact that when I drink what I'm supposed to I don't get hungry because my pouch belly is so damned full.

Anyway, none of it is a big deal. I'm still taking 2000mg of Glucophage for the sugar, but my level was 6.4, and it is supposed to be under 7, so I'm good to go. My attitute is that if I have to take sugar pills for the rest of my life, it's still better than 7 injections plus pills all day every day. Yahoo!!