I'm Back! My Surgery at Lourdes :)

I feel so blessed to have had such a good experience this week! I wanted to tell everyone but especially those who are seeing Dr. Greenbaum and will be having surgery with him.

First of all, he has the best bedside manner I've ever experienced from a surgeon! He really cares about his patients, listens patiently and answers every single question and concern. I have bipolar and depression and most of those meds don't come in IV form so I was really worried. He reassured me--I would have a feeding tube so that my medication could be given to me that way. Hooray!

When I went for my surgery, I was totally relaxed and not afraid. After all, he'd also done the switch on TB in November and had taken such good care of him! The last thing I remember was being wheeled to surgery. After that, I saw Dr. G smiling down at me and telling me everything went very well!

The nurses in recovery were great. I asked them to bring my husband and daughter back and they did. It really means a lot for family to be able to see each other!

I was up and walking that night. I had the real privilege of being cared for by Danuta for the first couple of nights. Danuta treats you like a beloved child. She anticipates your needs, encourages you and just goes the extra mile with her. I think Danuta has angel wings hidden under her uniform! :)

I was up and lapping around every chance I got. I passed my leak test. I was started on ice chips and sips of water, oh, they tasted so good!

On Thursday I was moved from ICU to the newly opened and dedicated bariatric wing. Hey, it was like being moved to the Ritz!!! I'm definitely bragging on it at our next support group meeting! The director on the floor really is dedicated to serving the needs of the patients and the nurses are all hand picked. They were all wonderful! Our suites came with plenty of chairs for visitors, a lot of room to move around and a big comfortable bariatric lounger. I was doing six, seven and eight laps around the nurse's station and they all said I was their poster child! :)

I'm having little or no pain and am able to take in all my protein plus lots of fluids. My baby tummy is acting like a tantruming 2 year old. "I want, I want, I want!" But Mommy has to say NO very firmly. Baby Tummy pouts. More about that later.

When bariatric patients are moved to this new wing, they will have the strong advocacy of the new manager there, Frank, and Tina Marie, both of whom are super strong advocates for your needs. All you have to do is open your mouth to ask for something. You can have your privacy if that's what you want--the rooms are humongous--or you can go out and meet other patients as they stroll around the nurse's station.

The patients coming in after me are in for one terrific experience I do believe! Believe me, I will be singing the praises for Lourdes Medical Center and Dr. David Greenbaum at our next support meeting!

Here is me, first post-op picture. A dear dear friend of mine crocheted the shoulder wrap.