I decided that it's going to be a good idea to make a seperate blog to track my progress from gastric bypass surgery. It took me 6 months of appeals and denials. Finally, my husband Robert got a job at Discover card because we knew that they paid for they surgery. (A friend got hers paid for there). It has been a long journey, which was probably the best thing that could have happened. I had time to do research about all of the different weight loss surgeries that are available to me. I was also ready to be pretty miserable after surgery. My aunt Joanne told me months ago that if I was going to get gastric bypass surgery, that I had to go to Dr. Sherman Smith. Dr. Smith went to medical school with my uncle Dean. After quite a bit of research, I realized that Dr. Smith was probably a good fit. He has been a surgeon for almost 30 years and has done thousands of RNY gastric bypass surgeries, the surgery I decided to get. Also Dr. Smith fixes alot of mistakes other doctors make. So he has seen the hardest cases and that's really what I wanted. A really knowledgeable doc that would be able to handle any situation.
I had gastric bypass surgery on December 29 at LDS hospital. All I can say about LDS hospital is they are a scar on the face of Intermountain Health Care. It was a pretty horrible experience. My surgeon was fantastic, so I felt very little pain, which is good...because I RARELY saw a nurse. After surgery I was told to drink as often as I could. I was given one medi-cup full of water and then I was not offered any more water the rest of my stay. When I called and asked the nurse if I could get a cup of water she gave me a cup and told me to use the sink in my room. REALLY? I also was determined to walk as much as possible, so I would call the nurse every couple of hours and ask if I could walk. After 2 walks that were about 2 hours apart, the nurse told me I would need to walk by myself or wait until the new staff got there in the morning. I also had my pain under control when I had a pain pump, but after it was removed..I had to pray the nurse would come and give me my meds on time. Luckily I'm home now and I am able to take my meds on my own. I was so glad that I took mouthwash and chapstick, because those saved my life...but if I could impart any life lesson to you....it would be NEVER stay at LDS hospital if it can be avoided.
