I have had an incredibly busy day! I'm getting sleeved on July 14 at St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way, with Dr. Myur Srikanth. It's official--I'm getting it done!!!

Now I'm going to crawl under my bed, suck my thumb, and curl up with my blankie, because I'm freaked out. :001_rolleyes:

Heheh. Seriously though, and all jokes in poor taste aside, I'm feeling really psyched right now. Nervous, yeah, but by tomorrow it'll have sunk in that it's really going to happen, and I can actually start making concrete plans. I handle stress a lot better when I can actually channel it into doing something constructive...like making hotel arrangements and scheduling the final pre-op, and blah, blah, blah that everybody's heard a million times.:biggrin0:

One little fly in the ointment is that I found out today that I have a sinus infection, which means that I'm going to be on antibiotics for two weeks. I've got a long history of sinus infections, and I figured it's better to get rid of it before I actually have the surgery so I'm not fighting that on top of recovering from the surgery, but it's not going to be especially fun if I experience some of the more common side effects associated with antibiotics. And I'm intolerant of a lot of antibiotics, too, so sometimes it takes two or three months to get rid of an infection. Everybody cross their fingers that it only takes one go-round for me, please? I can really live without dragging myself around swallowing decongestants and Tylenol, really truly...

hmmm - you are leaving the hot side and coming to the cool side! : )

Will be curious to hear how you like St. Francis. I don't think I have talked to anyone who has had surgery there. Are you traveling alone? How long will you stay in the hospital?

Good thoughts for a fast recovery - both the sinus infection and surgery!

Yaaaay! That is so exciting!!! I am getting sleeved on July 15th!! Best Wishes!!!!

hmmm - you are leaving the hot side and coming to the cool side! : )

Will be curious to hear how you like St. Francis. I don't think I have talked to anyone who has had surgery there. Are you traveling alone? How long will you stay in the hospital?

Good thoughts for a fast recovery - both the sinus infection and surgery!

Yeah, I grew up on the cool side, near Portland. Love the green, can't deal with the rain.

I've been to St. Francis Hospital several times--Dr. Srikanth's office is in the attached medical building, and I've simply gone ahead and gotten my testing done there--so while I haven't yet been inpatient at the hospital, I've seen a fair bit of the complex. I have been extremely impressed by the general attitudes I've observed of other staff and how they interact with patients. Also, it's scrupulously clean, and doesn't feel crowded, either in the public areas or the exam and testing areas.

The pre-op testing, almost all of which I've done over there, was handled extremely quickly and efficiently, with an eye to making it convenient for me to get multiple tests done in a very short period of time to reduce travel. I don't think I'm getting any special courtesies because I'm self-pay, either.

So far everybody's been very professional and very, very nice. This might sound a little weird to notice or care about, but every time I've walked into the lobby of the hospital, it feels sunny (even on a rainy day) and airy and spacious. The people going back and forth carrying out their business are friendly, smiling, and all of them seem to genuinely enjoy their jobs.

It makes me feel confident that I'm in good hands, not only with my surgeon, but that my care team will be kind and professional and knowledgeable.

I'm scheduled to spend one night in the hospital, and then I will be staying in Federal Way for a week before my post-op release to travel back home. My husband will be going with me and staying there throughout. I may end up doing a second night in the hospital, but the stay is really supposed to be brief, since the surgery is going to be done laparascopically.

One last thing I picked up on and thought was extremely encouraging, is that with all of the testing that I underwent, several of the people doing them commented that they thought Dr. Srikanth was actually a little over-cautious in his battery of required tests, compared to the other surgeons who do the same surgeries at St. Francis. They were off-hand remarks, made when I'd hand them my order sheet for a particular test. Frankly, I don't think there's such a thing as being too cautious about my pre-op health, when the results of it are going to be such a life-changing event. I don't think that caution counts negatively against Dr. Srikanth at all, and in fact makes me worry less about complications both short-term and long-term.

I'm considering blogging about the whole experience--I'll have nothing but time on my hands post-op, and I'll have a laptop and internet access, and I won't be able to walk, walk, walk all day long, that's for sure.

wish you the best i am sure you?ll do just fine.....welcome to the loser?s bench and be ready to enjoy your new journey to weight loss!!! :thumbup1: