Wow...I have a date already!!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/9/2003 2:06:19 PM Central Standard Time,

deppitybob@... writes:

> whereas they might usually be 1 in 100, he

> says mine are about 4 or 5 in 100. That's REALLY

> worrying. It means a one in 4 or one in 5 chance of

> dying on the table! (

Hi Dep

I dont know if this will help you feel better or not, but if your chances of

dying from this surgery are 4 - 5%, it is a 1 in 20 chance of dying, not 1 in

4 or 5. Congrats on getting a date!

PS - the weight signature is like this:

Before surgery weight/current weight/goal weight so yours would be

540/540/230

~ami~

Lap RNY 5-13-03 stricture repair 9-9-03

216/193/130

[Guest guest]

I am by far no expert and still preop so maybe i am wrong but my dr pushs

walking ASAP after surgery for blood clots and gas. What will your dr be doing

to

decrease the chances of blood clots? Just curious!

Thanks

Crystal

Preop

365/???

11/17/03

[Guest guest]

hi dep. congrats on your quick date. maybe another group member

can describe their experience, what's your BMI? a month in the

hospital seems like an eternity.

lori h.

> I know I don't contribute much, but I finally had to

> write (and to three groups yet): I just got my date

> this past Thursday. And I only started this journey in

> August! I'll be in on Jan. 8, and barring any

> complications, will have my surgery that day! My

> surgeon is Dr. Millikan of University Surgeons

> at Rush University Medical Center (was

> Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's) in Chicago. He seems to

> be great: he was very well recommended and was willing

> to spend a lot of time explaining very thoroughly what

> was going to happen, entertaining questions from me

> for about 45 minutes.

>

> What he described to me, though, is so different from

> anything I have read here that I have to post about

> it. There's the usual stuff about coming in early,

> meeting with the anaesthesiologist, and so on, and

> getting intubated, but from there it gets complicated.

> Most of it is because of my weight (right now about

> 540). First off, he says my mortality chances are much

> higher; whereas they might usually be 1 in 100, he

> says mine are about 4 or 5 in 100. That's REALLY

> worrying. It means a one in 4 or one in 5 chance of

> dying on the table! (Should I have worried when he

> said that he hasn't had a patient die yet, then

> knocked wood?) He did say that he operated on a

> 675-pound man without any complications, so I am a

> little relieved.

>

> However, he says that the problems due to my size will

> keep me in the hospital for much longer than usual.

> Whereas someone who is only a hundred pounds

> overweight might be out in four or five days, he is

> talking about keeping me intubated that long! (And on

> sedation, natch.) In fact, he says I will probably be

> in the hospital--not rehab--for about two weeks,

> complete with a feeding tube for most of the time. He

> also mentioned I would have the drain. But, he says,

> since I will be kept in bed that long, I will have to

> go through a period of rehab, also true because the

> surgery and switch in diet will make me very weak.

>

> SOOOO...I am looking at about a month in the hospital.

> That sounds really extreme, given everything I have

> read in all the OSSG and GB groups. (Which is why I

> never have time to contribute--I have so many groups

> to read!) For about the first week, as he said, I will

> be feeling no pain. In fact, for the first day or two

> post-surgery, I will be kept completely asleep. This

> doesn't bother me so much--hey, I won't remember,

> whee!--but the prolonged hospital stay does. Let's

> see...he also said I would be stapled instead of

> sutured or glued...mentioned the possibility of

> hernias later... One reason he said he wants to keep

> me hospitalized and sedated is to wait for the

> swelling to go down. That's important, of course, but

> so many others don't need it...I am not sure why I

> would, especially.

>

> That's about it, for now. I'd like to ask, though:

> which numbers are in which order in the signature? My

> current weight is about 540, my goal is around 230 (I

> really am big-boned...I was athletic, once, at 230).

> Looking forward to being able to put all the good

> advice I have read to work!

>

> Dep

> 540/230/540 pre-op <--is that right?

[Guest guest]

> Hi, Dep---congrats on your date. I have several comments---first of

> all, if your doc says you have a 4 or 5 in 100 chance of mortality,

> that means you have a one in 20 or 25, not one in 4 or 5.

Math never was my strong suit. : )

There's a

> huge difference! And you need to consider your possible life span

> without the surgery---hugely compromised by your weight. The ordeal

> you have to go through sounds tough, and worse than most of us had to

> endure, but it sounds like this is an opportunity you

>

> As for the usual configuration of weights in our signatures, the

> first weight is your pre-surgery weight, the second is current

> weight, and the third is your goal weight, so mine is 293/249/170.

> Some people lose some before surgery, and I think in that case the

> first weight would be the 'starting' weight, before any weight loss.

>

> Best of luck to you---keep us posted on your journey!!

Thanks much for your support, Connie! I know the risks involved in the surgery,

and

the road looks rough, but I can't envision losing the weight otherwise. Once

upon a

time I weighed over 400 pounds and lost weight down to 235...but then some

things

went wrong and I put it all back on, and then some. The vision and commitment I

had

then, I just can't find now. The surgery is going to be a godsend, I can feel

it.

Dep

540/540/230 howzat? : )

[Guest guest]

> hi dep. congrats on your quick date. maybe another group member

> can describe their experience, what's your BMI? a month in the

> hospital seems like an eternity.

> lori h.

I'm not sure what my BMI is. I know I am 540 and 6'1 " , so that puts it around

80,

doesn't it? I forget. I just hope the hospital stay my surgeon predicted doesn't

come

to pass. He didn't seem to be the kind of guy who'd tell me that to scare me off

or to

raise my expectations so I'd be relieved later. He was pretty honest, after all,

about

the pouch stretching and so on. But he even said I would be on a feeding tube

for

about a week! Well...as long as I am sedated, I shouldn't mind.

Dep

540/540/230

[Guest guest]

> I am by far no expert and still preop so maybe i am wrong but my dr pushs

> walking ASAP after surgery for blood clots and gas. What will your dr be doing

to

> decrease the chances of blood clots? Just curious!

Normally I am on Coumadin, which I will be stopping a few days before the

surgery

and starting up again two or three days after. Also, I will have the leg wraps

that

pump your blood out of your feet. But more importantly, he will be putting in an

intravenous filter that catches blood clots before they reach the heart or

lungs. Also,

immediately post-surgery I will be on Halperin (sp?). As soon as I am able,

though, I

will be up and walking.

Dep

540/540/230 pre-op