| Posted by john s. beeman ® , Jan 18,2001,06:34 | Archive |
I have been meaning to post a list of my thoughts and hints that might help the next person passing thru UCLA, make the journey more easily. Here they are:
1) Be sure to have copies of any recent medical tests and take them with
you.
2) Have the phone and fax numbers for any of your hometown physicians
just in case one of the UCLA doctors decides they need to talk to your hometown folks.
3) Anyone going with you should take a nice big book to read.
4) I wore a sweat shirt and sweat pants post operatively. Pre-Op -
casual attire is fine.
5) Have your insurance cards ready. Everyone asks for them. If you can, go ahead and make a few copies to hand out. Sometimes you know that those cards are more important than you.
6) A small cooler (soft side) is handy to transport pudding, jell-o and
thick cool liquids. You'll need them on the trip home. There is a product called "Thick It"that I understand can be used to thicken liquids.
7) I came home on Thursday. My surgery was the "first start" and I checked into UCLA at 5:15 A.M on Tuesday morning. However, if your surgery is scheduled for the afternoon session, think about staying an extra day. With the early Tuesday surgery, I was ready to come home on Thursday afternoon. Tiverton House allowed us to stay in the room until 3 P.M. My flight left at 5:30 P.M.
8) Use the Super Shuttle - 800-258-3826 - Ask for Taylor the driver. He was informative.
9) The front desk at Tiverton is a wealth of knowledge. Use it. If you
ask - they will know.
10) Relax. This recovery period has been the longest of my life so there is not much sense in rushing as no amount of hurrying will help you. It just ads to the frustration.
And some additions from other Patients!
11) Patients should take advantage of the face mask and the suction tube, even if they don't think they need them. The face mask allows you the benefit of oxygen with a sterile water mist. This aids any light headedness or breathing difficulties, along with moistening the air passages. The suction tube can be a user-friendly tool, since
most patients of Dr. Berke's surgery experience quite an excess of phlegm.
12) If possible, have a family member take in any prescriptions ahead of time to Rite Aid, or ask the nurse to call them in. I say this because I had to wait over an hour to get my prescriptions filled, and this wasn't pleasant since I had just left the hospital in a weakened state.
13) Rite Aid did not have any Thick It on hand, which needed to be special ordered when I was there. Fortunately, I had secured enough packets from the hospital. Patients should request as much thickening agent as they can get, as others on the BB have suggested. I was able to get three packets with each meal.
14) For your trip home, keep a handy vessel near by since most likely you will have an excess of phlegm/saliva that you'll want to disgard. It is nearly impossible to swallow all of this since the swallowing muscles are not working normally following surgery.
15) Also, while your in LA, after surgery, go to Starbucks(3 blocks from the Tiverton House)and order a Frappachino(like a coffee milkshake), it goes down nice and feels good, plus it helps with the swelling to have cold liquids in you throat. And when there's not much you can eat right after surgery, it tastes sooo good.
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