Last Appt With Surgeon Before My Date. Help Please.

[Priscilla Johnson Wright 9]

Tomorrow I have an appt. with my surgeon. What should I ask him? This is our last time together before my surgery. Any suggestion would be great. If I don't know what to say I may sit there quiet just nodding my head. HELP!

[LadyL 7]

My final appt is 2 weeks away. I suggest you write your questions down before the appt and if possible have someone with you, sometimes its tough to recall all the details.

As of now my concerns are:

Energy level

Anesthesia reactions

Generally what to expect the first 7 days post op

Hope that helps...

[teambrown4 19]

My pre-op Questionaire was like this:

Do you use a drain tube?

How many incisions will I have? (what he failed to tell me until I went to the hospital in horrible pain on day four po was he has to cut into a muscle to get to my stomach then stitch it and it'll hurt like hell and affect every movement u make and do not ice it after day one, use heat or it'll spasm (which it did) & feel like an alien popping outta your side)... Yes I wish he prepared me there!

.......(cont).....

Will I see you before surgery?

How long will it take?

How long should it take for me to come out of anesthesia?

How long will I be in recovery before I see my family?

Will u update my family?

Do I have a private room for my family to wait in?

What type of pain should I expect?

What type of pain signals a problem?

Will I be allowed Water or ice after?

What medicine will I be on after?

How long until you do the upper gi for the leak test?

How long will I stay in the hospital?

Are u avail 24hrs by phone?

Ok..... Now here's the things that I wasn't ready for while in hospital....

*Nurses walking me very two hours without fail!

*The shot in the tummy before and after aurgery(I for one say it hurt)

*breathing treatments every 4 hours (even tho I'm not asthmatic and had an oxygen line in my nose try say its standard to clear out the lungs so u don't get phenumonia)

*the alien muscle-lol

*itching at the incision lines

*how horribly bad & painful the burping is trying to get out the gas they inflate U with (walking, sitting up at an incline and having someone rub circles on your back like patting a baby will get that out)

Otherwise I think I was very prepared!!! I had a rough first few days but now I'm two weeks po and started mushy food on day 10 and I think I'm doing pretty well.

I haven't lost anything near what the most people post, I was -8 week one and -11 by this second week but as long as I'm at least two pounds a week my dr says its a success. so I have to have patience!!!

Good luck

[Thomas CPA 496]

Based on surgery last august

They will want to pass gas to relieve pain - ask doctor about this, what you can do to help in process

They will want you to drink - with IV I never felt thirsty and doctor had it removed so I would start drinking

Clarify Vitamins and diet

Schedule of follow up appointments

Other than that this is what you may expect

walking - do it soon to help with blood flow, do it often

shots - they gave me twice daily in side, no pain, just to stave off infection

drainage tube - annoying, more painful when they took it out than anything else

breathing device - never used it, probably don't need the oxygen (nostril tube) but hey enjoy clean air to breath

[andi0120 41]

My doctor had a ton of prescriptions for me to fill. I made sure to take a pen and paid to write down all instructions because there are a lot. Also if you are currently taking meds make sure to ask if you should stop those pre surgery.

[want2bthin 93]

I'm off to my last Dr. appointment before surgery in the a.m. so I'm so glad you asked this Priscilla and thanks to those who responded.

I've just started writing a list with these so I don't forget. Otherwise I would probably leave the office and then think to myself "I should have asked.... I wish I had asked.... What about this...?, etc."

[Priscilla Johnson Wright 9]

You guys really made my appt. count. I asked:

1. Bougie size? He looked at me and laughed and said that it was a 36 and that no one ever asked!

2. How long would I stay in the hospital? 1 night maybe 2 depending on how I feel.(Did you know my kids wont be there!! May push 2 nights??!!LOL)

3. Drain? Yes, with removal instructions

4. Energy level? May be low can get b-12 shots if needed.

5.How long before I can drive? 1 week

6. Prescriptions prior to admittance? 1 Nausea med to take on the way to hospital.

7. Can i compete in the 10k that I have been training for 10 days post op? YES!!!

Hope this helps others because it really helped me!

[LadyL 7]

Awesome. Your posted question and replies are helping me develop my list for the final pre op doc visit.

What in the world is a bougie?