Pre-Op Consult Today - ThinnerTimes

Vertigo · 09-28-2005, 06:28 AM

Well, I leave in about 20 minutes to go to my pre-surgery consult with one of the attending doctors. I've got a short list of questions for him. Such as:

1. Do I need to fear diarrhea and vomiting post-op due to strain on surgical area?

2. How much strain on my abdomen can I take from things like getting up from a chair or having my child climb into my lap?

3. What's a reasonable weight goal for my build?

4. What kind of diet do I need to be on (I'm about 10 days out).

5. My anxiety before surgery will likely be pretty high, is there something I can take to calm me down so I don't have a panic/anxiety attack since this will be my first time in the hospital (besides ER and my daughter's birth)?

Am I forgetting anything?

Hrairoo · 09-28-2005, 07:29 AM

Hi Mike,

I don't have any words of wisdom because I am still pre-op and waiting for Insurance Approval, but I wanted to say hi and good luck today!

LizardQueen · 09-28-2005, 08:14 AM

Those are good questions! I'm sure you will get all your answers. I know what you mean about hospital anxiety-they can calm you with something-well, the morphine will help quite a bit with that too.

Vertigo · 09-28-2005, 08:42 AM

Well, that was fun...

I had to go get some blood drawn, because the batch that I had done 4 months ago was too old for their approval, so I ended up having to go to the hospital and that took about 45 minutes longer. But no big deal...I just didn't like it when I saw "student" on the badge of the person sticking me.

All is well though. I hope...

Doc said that the last blood work I had done showed elevated liver enzymes. He said that if they remain elevated, he will do a biopsy of the liver at the time of the surgery. He also said he may request an ultrasound prior to surgery to check my gall bladder...which may be removed at the time of surgery as well. Fun!

I asked all of my questions and got them answered. I feel so blessed to have such a great team of physicians and staff that are so good at what they do and leave me feeling like I made the right choice.

With my liver, I know it's because I haven't watched what I ate and barely, if ever, exercised -- but that's changed, and hopefully it will get better before surgery and after surgery improve altogether.

I did go to the bariatric wellness place that handles the nutritional side of things to get a copy of the book they give to new patients -- since my initial consult with them was about a year ago. They wanted $5 for a new copy and wouldn't have it any other way. How disappointing...I didn't have any cash on me, so I just left.

The hospital is great, and I'm feeling good about my choice there as well. I just hope my nerves allow me to rest before I go under -- I don't want to be a bag of emotions.

Thanks for all the support!