I'm Official

I got a letter in the mail the other day from my surgeon's office confirming my pre-op test date and surgery date.  I already knew the dates but it was cool getting the official letter.

One or two facts that I know already:
1.  I have to scrub with Hibiclens the night before and the morning of my surgery.  I'm sure that will make me feel all sexy and stuff.
2.  I am scheduled for an EKG and blood work.  This is no real surprise.  The EKG will be fun.  They'll have to shave my chest pubes in a few places for that.  That's a small price to pay.

In my last post I mentioned that you shouldn't take what you read on the interwebs seriously.  However I find that going to some of these bariatric sites are like watching a train wreck.  I can't turn away.  Maybe that post was to remind me that I shouldn't believe everything I read on the Net.

I respect the fact that some people benefit from these sites.  I will admit that I have benefited from some of the posts and forum threads.  I respect the fact that not everyone on Earth is a drooling water head.  However some people act like drooling water heads when not met with any resistance as is more often the case on the Internet.

With that being said there are some things of value on those sites.  They have FAQs on terms thrown around in the bariatric world.  They have some common sense do's and don't's that always comes in handy if your brain turns to mush which likely will happen during a high stress event like surgery.

What you have to learn to do is filter out the ridiculous from the common sense advice.  That's really up to you.  If you want to psych yourself out, believe everything you read.  If you want to be prepared, do some research, write down some questions and take them to the pre-op class.

For instance, one of the forums has some questions that you should ask your surgeon.  One of those questions is will I have an open procedure (open body cavity and slightly more risk) or laproscopic (camera based surgery).  That's a great question.  I asked it and I know what I'll be having unless there are complications.

There are other great questions too.  Most of them are regarding complications.  I asked those too.

One question is what is your mortality rate?  At first I thought this was a good question.  Then the more I thought about it, what's it really going to prove?  If your surgeon has been killing off patients left and right, chances are they are not going to be with a good practice.  Sure there are exceptions but I doubt it.

Some folks think that going to a doctor or having a medical procedure should be like going to a mechanic.  There will be a set procedure and cost according to what you want done and we'll know the outcome each time.  I could go on a diatribe on why I think this sort of thinking is what hack lawyers dream of and push into the feeble minds of their victims...er clients but I won't.

I'm getting way to preachy.  But this is my soapbox dammit.  No one reads this anyway right?

tl;dr
If you want to believe something you'll find supporting evidence for it on the Internet.