RE: Re: Mt.Sinai/ Brad and Margie

December 26, 2000

Good morning . Hope your Christmas was enjoyable. I would recommend

that you go to the class if possible since among other things you will meet

with the anesthesilogist and can get the pros and cons of spinal vs general.

I chose the general because of the very slight possibility (.06%) of

headaches as aresult of the spinal which I was told could last for five

days. At the class you will have ample opportunity to ask any questions and

you will get a tour of the unit where you will stay after surgery and also

meet the OT and PT staff from that unit. The nurses who run the class do a

great job and you will see them again after surgery. You'll also possibly

meet some other patients who may be having surgery on the same day as yours

and this is good. As far as your husband staying with you at the hospital, I

don't see why not, since you will most likely be in a private room (a great

advantage I forgot to tell you about) but maybe Brad knows more about that

and about local motels. You could also call the hospital. One other thing,

you cannot charge long distance calls to your account at Sinai which for me

was inconvenient since I have many out of town friends and relatives, but

there is an 800 number for Sinai which will help for incoming calls. After

surgery you will have a morphine pump for a period of time which you can

regulate. That had already been removed when I went for the xray. Since

your husband will be with you I really feel that your experience will be

better than mine and let me say that I had some very excellent care during

my stay. I'm just a stickler for quality customer service and I notice all

the details. I did not have a hospital bed at home. You will see in the

therapy room that you will use a recliner and I did try to rent one after I

arrived home. It would really help. I have no trouble getting in and out

of my own bed. It is difficult to lift your leg for a while but the OT will

tell you of different aids that you can use for this purpose. Tomorrow will

mark two weeks since my suirgery and my husband went back to work today. I

hesitate to say this because everyone is different, but I have virtually no

pain. I am stiffest when I get out of bed in the morning and late at night,

but I will start taking tylenol today to ease that discomfort. Since you

work from your home, I would wait to see what your pain level is, and how

much energy you have before you start to have students come in. I'm sure

you can ease back into it nicely. I get tired around 11:30am and will then

spend some hours resting on the sofa, but I have found that I don't need as

much sleep as I was getting pre-surgery since I'm not in pain and don't do

very much to make me tired. Well, this gives you a lot to think about. Feel

free to ask more. Best regards, Margie

Re: Mt.Sinai/ Brad and Margie

>Margie and Brad,

>

> Thank you both so much for the replies. Any info. helps! I am sorry

to

>hear that your experience at Sinai wasn't that great, Margie, but would

>rather go " prepared " than not. Good to know about pain meds before x-ray

>day after and about paging Dr. Mont. as well as lousy food. Would you

>recommend going to the class? I would have to go the day before surgery if

I

>attend. Also, can my hubby stay with me at the hospital the first couple

>nights? What about lodging for him the rest of the time? Does the

hospital

>have a lodge house or anything or are you on your own as far as motels?

>

>`Margie, did you have trouble getting needed meds after surgery? I think

>I'll have a spinal rather than general. Any thoughts on that? Did you

have a

>hospital bed at home after the surgery? Have heard they help! Hope I'm

>not asking too many questions!! I teach piano out of my home studio...any

>idea how long I should plan on " taking off " ? I have told my students at

least

>2 weeks, but maybe that is too optomistic?

>

>`I am VERY nervous about this, but am SO ready to get out of this pain

which

>is becoming worse and worse especially at night and to be able to take

walks

>again, etc. Two years ago now I was downhill skiing- hard to believe.

>

> Best wishes to both of you for good recoveries! You have been of great

>help so far.

>

> G

>

December 26, 2000

& Margie -

Sinai will recommend the Raddison about 3-4 miles away. I have information

if you need it or call Mont's office - they'll help. we chose the Hunt

Vally area due to my familiarity with the neighborhood etc. Actually ended

up with a good Marriott holiday rate. If you encounter problems - I

recommend calling Joan Dunn (patient advocate) who has better leverage than

most with problem solving

Regards,

Brad