e

[Guest guest]

Congratulations e! It's great to be home, is'nt it! Just think,

this time next year you'll be slim, healthy and probably cantering across a

meadow. Have fun, hon.

in Ohio

MGB 2/22/2000

325-271

Anyone that needs a post-op contact is welcome to e-mail me.

Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 15:50:40 -0400

Subject: my surgery yesterday

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to give everyone an account of my surgery. I had the MGB

yesterday, on 5/25/00. I am

now officially known as " The Tornado Case. " My surgery was scheduled to

occur during a tornado

that passed over Durham and made the power flicker off in the hospital. So,

they didn't want to

start any more surgeries until the storm passed. As a result I was in the

holding area for over

90 minutes because they were afraid the power would go out and they would

have to be on the

generator. I guess if I was going to chicken out I had over an hour and a

half to do it! The

weird thing is that when I initially got down to the holding area I was

suddenly very nervous,

but then I had to wait, and wait, and wait. . . and the more I waited the

calmer I got (which

seems paradoxical to me). I did have some headphones with me and listening

to music was a big

help. By the time I got into the O.R. I was perfectly calm and discussing a

possible MGB

research project with the nurse anesthetist! She is interested in doing a

study about " quality

of life " pre and post MGB. We were discussing various measures she could

use and the various

methods she could collect data. Too funny!! She was great, her name is

Ruth Long. And, the

nurse who put in my IV was also great, her name was Sheila. Actually, all

the staff and nurses

were great (except one during the day shift who was sort of bland -- she

wasn't rude, she just

had no personality and seemed to lack confidence). Even the registration

guy was a hoot! He

said his wife is considering this surgery!

My surgery was scheduled for 10:30 but didn't actually happen until close to

1:00. It took 38

minutes and Dr. R said everything went well. He said all my internal organs

looked well, and my

liver looked " exceptionally well " . I have felt pretty good and left the

hospital this morning

around 8:00. I would have left earlier but the nursing shift was changing

so I couldn't. Dr. R

came in at 6:30 and woke me and my mother up! He waltzed in and said, " Good

Morning " and opened

wide the blinds. It was pretty funny. I think of him as a hummingbird. I

really have a

fondness for hummingbirds.

I agree

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