janey227
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2014
- Messages
- 4
Dr. Sudan ROCKS!
I had my virgin DS with Dr Sudan on 1/15/2013. He is an AMAZING surgeon!!!
His office is just over 3 hours from my house, so I did lots of trips to see him & it has been totally worth it!
I had my 1st appointment with him in Oct. I knew I wanted the DS and had already met with (and started pre-op appointments) with a RNY doc close to my home, but then realized that an RNY was not the right surgery for me. So I didnt ask Dr. Sudan what surgery he thought was best for me, I just told him what I wanted. His assistant, Dr. Spangler, did ask me why I wanted the DS over the band or RNY.
I also met with his NUT at my consult appt. She talked about how I eat currently, how I track, what I can expect post-op. Much of the info seems RNY-based, but that was expected.
Dr. Sudan had me have an upper GI and xrays before scheduling me. All the results are added to my online account (the doc's and hospital in my area arent that up-to-date yet, so this is a really cool feature for me).
I had those tests done in Nov. I was then scheduled 7 weeks out - for 1/15. Note - Dr. Sudans office is closed the last 2 weeks of the year.
Jennie, Dr. Sudans admin assistant is very good & responded very quickly whenever I left her a message or sent her a fax.
Sheila, Dr. Sudans nurse, is very kind and knowledgeable.
The surgery is performed at Durham Regional. Everyone that works there is very kind and professional, but the communication between the doc's, nurses and patients needs some help - or did in my case. Here's why I say that:
Dr Sudan told me at my pre-op that after my surgery, he would be on travel for a few days. But his team would be there & take care of me. I knew I should've asked for a new date right then, but I REALLY wanted to get my surgery done. I think this is the root cause of the communication issues (more on that below).
My surgery went very well! Dr. Sudan is very slow & methodical, so my uncomplicated surgery took about 3.5 hours. When I woke up in the PACU I felt like I was left against a dark wall, unattended (just my perception & I know I was heavily drugged). I felt very nauseous & was having a hard time breathing. I could see people walking by, I kept saying ' I feel nauseous' and ' help', but no one heard me. I finally wiggled my finger out of the heart monitor thing & finally got some attention. That was pretty scary for me. My past experience (at my local hospital) in a PACU is that I've had a nurse stationed right next to me until I go to my room.
The second day (the day after my surgery) was fine.
The third day, Dr. Spangler told me they wanted me to try taking oral Tylenol & ease off the morphine. No problem, as I really needed it more for my back pain (from laying on the OP table so long), which was diminishing anyway. However, that afternoon I asked for some Tylenol b.c I had a headache, the nurse came back & said the Dr (dont know which Dr) wanted me to use the morphine pump for pain. WTH?!?
Day 2 & 3 my nurses kept telling me that once I passed gas, I could start my clear liquid diet.
The morning of Day 4 I finally did, but then the nurse said she talked to Dr Sudan & he wanted to wait one more day. This was just a TOTAL let down. On top of that, when Dr Spangler came by that afternoon, she asked if I had passed gas, I said yes & I was going #2, she said 'well lets get you started on clear liquids'. I told her what the nurse told me, and she agreed. But the WORST part was the next morning, no one had put in the order for me to start clear liquids. .. So this is why I say the communication really needs improvement - at least in my case. I also think had Dr Sudan been at the hospital, things would have been communicated better. My nurse on day 5 (who had to deal with my emotional breakdown at the lack of orders for my clear liquid diet) shared with me that the Dr. tells the resident, then the resident has to put the order in to the nurse. So things can back up. As a person I understand, as a patient, I dont give a rip.
So that was the "worst" of it for me, and in the scheme of things, really, not that bad. Lesson learned - have a plan of action - in writing - in place before going under the knife. If I had that, then I would've known better what to expect & had something in writing from my Dr to keep everyone straight.
Regarding the surgery itself - I had very little pain and my recovery has been "Sudan smooth". At my 2 week post op I told Dr Sudan I could hardly believe I had surgery 2 weeks previously. And while Dr. Sudan is normally very serious, he was smiling with joy at the compliment.
He is a very methodical surgeon. He knows what he has had success with (the robot & a 100cm common channel for example) and he does the same thing every time.
For the first 2 (to 3) weeks post-op, Dr Sudan has you on a full liquid diet. I did okay with that for about 1.5 weeks, but then I needed to eat something. I had a little greek yogurt & a few cheese sticks & didnt have any problems. At the 2 week nutrition class, the NUT talked about how to progress to soft solids. Some good info, but RNY-based. But at least she had the DS'ers taking in more protein than the RNYers. She recommended 60 - 80 g of protein as our ultimate goal (I smiled & nodded & thanked my lucky stars I had already done my own research!).
bottom line - Dr. Sudan is an absolutely amazing surgeon & I LOVE LOVE LOVE the robot he uses - MUCH less pain then I expected. Honestly, the worst pain felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I was able to get out of bed (slowly & not very gracefully at first) on my own. I did not expect that! I was in more pain & took more time to recover from my c-sections.. just as a point of comparison.
I had my virgin DS with Dr Sudan on 1/15/2013. He is an AMAZING surgeon!!!
His office is just over 3 hours from my house, so I did lots of trips to see him & it has been totally worth it!
I had my 1st appointment with him in Oct. I knew I wanted the DS and had already met with (and started pre-op appointments) with a RNY doc close to my home, but then realized that an RNY was not the right surgery for me. So I didnt ask Dr. Sudan what surgery he thought was best for me, I just told him what I wanted. His assistant, Dr. Spangler, did ask me why I wanted the DS over the band or RNY.
I also met with his NUT at my consult appt. She talked about how I eat currently, how I track, what I can expect post-op. Much of the info seems RNY-based, but that was expected.
Dr. Sudan had me have an upper GI and xrays before scheduling me. All the results are added to my online account (the doc's and hospital in my area arent that up-to-date yet, so this is a really cool feature for me).
I had those tests done in Nov. I was then scheduled 7 weeks out - for 1/15. Note - Dr. Sudans office is closed the last 2 weeks of the year.
Jennie, Dr. Sudans admin assistant is very good & responded very quickly whenever I left her a message or sent her a fax.
Sheila, Dr. Sudans nurse, is very kind and knowledgeable.
The surgery is performed at Durham Regional. Everyone that works there is very kind and professional, but the communication between the doc's, nurses and patients needs some help - or did in my case. Here's why I say that:
Dr Sudan told me at my pre-op that after my surgery, he would be on travel for a few days. But his team would be there & take care of me. I knew I should've asked for a new date right then, but I REALLY wanted to get my surgery done. I think this is the root cause of the communication issues (more on that below).
My surgery went very well! Dr. Sudan is very slow & methodical, so my uncomplicated surgery took about 3.5 hours. When I woke up in the PACU I felt like I was left against a dark wall, unattended (just my perception & I know I was heavily drugged). I felt very nauseous & was having a hard time breathing. I could see people walking by, I kept saying ' I feel nauseous' and ' help', but no one heard me. I finally wiggled my finger out of the heart monitor thing & finally got some attention. That was pretty scary for me. My past experience (at my local hospital) in a PACU is that I've had a nurse stationed right next to me until I go to my room.
The second day (the day after my surgery) was fine.
The third day, Dr. Spangler told me they wanted me to try taking oral Tylenol & ease off the morphine. No problem, as I really needed it more for my back pain (from laying on the OP table so long), which was diminishing anyway. However, that afternoon I asked for some Tylenol b.c I had a headache, the nurse came back & said the Dr (dont know which Dr) wanted me to use the morphine pump for pain. WTH?!?
Day 2 & 3 my nurses kept telling me that once I passed gas, I could start my clear liquid diet.
The morning of Day 4 I finally did, but then the nurse said she talked to Dr Sudan & he wanted to wait one more day. This was just a TOTAL let down. On top of that, when Dr Spangler came by that afternoon, she asked if I had passed gas, I said yes & I was going #2, she said 'well lets get you started on clear liquids'. I told her what the nurse told me, and she agreed. But the WORST part was the next morning, no one had put in the order for me to start clear liquids. .. So this is why I say the communication really needs improvement - at least in my case. I also think had Dr Sudan been at the hospital, things would have been communicated better. My nurse on day 5 (who had to deal with my emotional breakdown at the lack of orders for my clear liquid diet) shared with me that the Dr. tells the resident, then the resident has to put the order in to the nurse. So things can back up. As a person I understand, as a patient, I dont give a rip.
So that was the "worst" of it for me, and in the scheme of things, really, not that bad. Lesson learned - have a plan of action - in writing - in place before going under the knife. If I had that, then I would've known better what to expect & had something in writing from my Dr to keep everyone straight.
Regarding the surgery itself - I had very little pain and my recovery has been "Sudan smooth". At my 2 week post op I told Dr Sudan I could hardly believe I had surgery 2 weeks previously. And while Dr. Sudan is normally very serious, he was smiling with joy at the compliment.
He is a very methodical surgeon. He knows what he has had success with (the robot & a 100cm common channel for example) and he does the same thing every time.
For the first 2 (to 3) weeks post-op, Dr Sudan has you on a full liquid diet. I did okay with that for about 1.5 weeks, but then I needed to eat something. I had a little greek yogurt & a few cheese sticks & didnt have any problems. At the 2 week nutrition class, the NUT talked about how to progress to soft solids. Some good info, but RNY-based. But at least she had the DS'ers taking in more protein than the RNYers. She recommended 60 - 80 g of protein as our ultimate goal (I smiled & nodded & thanked my lucky stars I had already done my own research!).
bottom line - Dr. Sudan is an absolutely amazing surgeon & I LOVE LOVE LOVE the robot he uses - MUCH less pain then I expected. Honestly, the worst pain felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I was able to get out of bed (slowly & not very gracefully at first) on my own. I did not expect that! I was in more pain & took more time to recover from my c-sections.. just as a point of comparison.
