Hey all- figured I would follow suit with some others and make a little log surrounding my surgery and recovery with Dr. Immerman in Eau Claire, WI.
Traveled to Eau Claire last night, flights were smooth, no issues. Staying at Staybridge Suites Altoona. FANTASTIC hotel. Super clean, very new, rooms are all like mini apartments with full kitchens.
Day 1 (Surgery Day)
Woke up pretty early, about 5:30 or so and took my pills (list of supplements and vitamins Dr. Immerman wants all patients on prior to, and after surgery). My pre-op appointment was at 9AM at Dr. I's office which was located basically down the street from the hospital. All I can say- Dr. Immerman is the most knowledgeable, laid back and sincere doctor I've ever interacted with. He examined me and went over my situation and reinforced that it's a very fixable condition and nothing out of the ordinary. He went over any questions/concerns and explained the operation to my fiance and myself. Great dude- highly recommend already.
From pre-op, we headed over to Sacred Heart Hospital to get registered and prepped for surgery scheduled for 11:30. Again, AWESOME nurses and staff. All incredibly kind. IV was hooked up (frankly, this was the worst part of the whole deal- Im a very vascular person so it's not hard to find a vein, but two nurses couldn't seem to get it done and got needled twice so they brought in a third (Jennifer was her name- phenomenal gal) and she got me going on the IV. They start with an antibiotic in the IV, followed by some sedation, followed by actual anesthesia. Dr. Immerman came in and just went over everything one more time then I went back to the OR. I remember being wheeled back there but then it was lights out. Surgery took about 1.5 hours. Woke up in recovery with some minor soreness (obviously just got surgery) but other than that nothing too bad.
I'm back at my hotel now standing and writing this on my laptop. Pain is very tolerable, SO much easier than when I had an open excision surgery. And by open excision I mean major- 8cm wound that was left open to heal. And it did, but the bottom part of the wound was deep in the cleft and was experiencing tissue breakdown and would open up often over the past 6 years. One thing- I am starving. Even 4 hours post surgery. But I was eating roughly 3-3500 cals a day beforehand with all the working out I do so that might be why.
VERY thankful for Dr. Immerman and staff, they are phenomenal and if you are on the fence about getting the procedure done- highly recommend it. I look forward to healing up the incision and putting this whole issue in the past for the rest of my life. Also thanks to those who have made recovery logs/reviews/posts on here about their experiences- with Dr. Immerman or not- you are the reason I acted on this and decided to get the cleft lift done. I'll update tomorrow and this weekend with how I'm doing!
Traveled to Eau Claire last night, flights were smooth, no issues. Staying at Staybridge Suites Altoona. FANTASTIC hotel. Super clean, very new, rooms are all like mini apartments with full kitchens.
Day 1 (Surgery Day)
Woke up pretty early, about 5:30 or so and took my pills (list of supplements and vitamins Dr. Immerman wants all patients on prior to, and after surgery). My pre-op appointment was at 9AM at Dr. I's office which was located basically down the street from the hospital. All I can say- Dr. Immerman is the most knowledgeable, laid back and sincere doctor I've ever interacted with. He examined me and went over my situation and reinforced that it's a very fixable condition and nothing out of the ordinary. He went over any questions/concerns and explained the operation to my fiance and myself. Great dude- highly recommend already.
From pre-op, we headed over to Sacred Heart Hospital to get registered and prepped for surgery scheduled for 11:30. Again, AWESOME nurses and staff. All incredibly kind. IV was hooked up (frankly, this was the worst part of the whole deal- Im a very vascular person so it's not hard to find a vein, but two nurses couldn't seem to get it done and got needled twice so they brought in a third (Jennifer was her name- phenomenal gal) and she got me going on the IV. They start with an antibiotic in the IV, followed by some sedation, followed by actual anesthesia. Dr. Immerman came in and just went over everything one more time then I went back to the OR. I remember being wheeled back there but then it was lights out. Surgery took about 1.5 hours. Woke up in recovery with some minor soreness (obviously just got surgery) but other than that nothing too bad.
I'm back at my hotel now standing and writing this on my laptop. Pain is very tolerable, SO much easier than when I had an open excision surgery. And by open excision I mean major- 8cm wound that was left open to heal. And it did, but the bottom part of the wound was deep in the cleft and was experiencing tissue breakdown and would open up often over the past 6 years. One thing- I am starving. Even 4 hours post surgery. But I was eating roughly 3-3500 cals a day beforehand with all the working out I do so that might be why.
VERY thankful for Dr. Immerman and staff, they are phenomenal and if you are on the fence about getting the procedure done- highly recommend it. I look forward to healing up the incision and putting this whole issue in the past for the rest of my life. Also thanks to those who have made recovery logs/reviews/posts on here about their experiences- with Dr. Immerman or not- you are the reason I acted on this and decided to get the cleft lift done. I'll update tomorrow and this weekend with how I'm doing!