Question for Alice re: paraesophageal hernia surgery

He's probably one of the very best in the world, and I'd go back to him again for GPEH. True, I didn't see him the day of or anytime following surgery. I think he was present for the tricky parts of the surgery and did at least part of the work. It's not a one man job to do a GPEH. However, his top teaching fellow, or maybe he's a partner in the practice, is extremely capable, has been there a long time and I trust him completely. He rounded on me with the residents and I saw him for followup the first time. He's the one who wrote about my fat pad - and I was only maybe 10 - 20 lbs heavy although still at an acceptable weight. Maybe I did have a lot of internal fat despite having lost weight over a few years. There's nowhere else that I know of to go for this level of surgical expertise an experience. Bedside manner is nice, but I'd give that up, and knowing what to expect did give it up, to get the best possible outcome. This group's success rate is second to none.

I didn't think much of the nursing care. I had a bunch of comorbidities and should have been attended to better. If I had it to do again I would try to have someone stay with me right after surgery to make sure I was OK. I was pretty upset nobody responded to the not breathing alarm after the first time! I didn't feel my pain was managed adequately either.

For more routine surgeries I've been in 5 other area hospitals. Some have a little more attention from nurses, but I wouldn't consider them for something that needs to be done in a large teaching hospital.