Questions to ask Surgeon

Anyone have a good list of questions to ask the surgeon? I already have a few...

1. what size bougie?

2. do they oversew/reinforce staple line?

3. how many patients here have had leaks?

There was a very similar question to this posted a little over a week ago... Here's my answer from there:

Things I asked (and things that he volunteered that I didn't even think to ask)

*What is your mortality rate?

*What is your rate of post op complications? What sort of complications have your patients experienced?

*How long are your patients in the hospital? What might cause you to require me to stay longer?

*How can I contact you or your nurse if I have complications post op (even after office hours)?

*What are your post op food stages and WHY do you have them set up like this?

*What sort of post op follow-up schedule do your patients follow?

*(If you are interested) What sort of support groups are available through your program?

Here's the original post of that question... Hopefully that will help too :)

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/VSG/4665122/Anxiety/#38705 692

Thanks - i'm sure it gets asked all the time, i should have searched before hand

I like Chrissy's list of questions.  One I would add is "How do you distinguish normal discomfort from discomfort that indicates a problem?  Part of the  surgeons answer was  "it is hard to tell, so call in with anything that concerns you."  He also told me to call the office and come in for an IV if I have symptoms of dehydration because it is much easier to treat before it becomes serious.  Both of these comments helped me feel comfortable calling with questions.  I had a smooth recovery, and never needed to call, but I always felt I could.

Best of luck,

Carol

Ok.... so this may not be the best place to post this and I'm not trying to take over the post. But is there a way to bookmark this post through the forum? So I can find it easily for when I need to go through this with my surgeon?