On December 19th, I had my 9 month post surgery consult with Dr. Rukstalis. The weather forecast was awful with snow expected to start overnight with accumulation from anywhere from 6-10 inches. I was going to postpone the appointment but said what the heck and went out to Danville the night before and stayed at the Pine Barn Inn.

I'd have to say this was one of my most productive consults.  I've had many issues that I've wanted to discuss with him and there never seemed to be a good time or enough time to discuss them.

One of the issues I had and what I've always wondered about were my post surgical complications, most notably the atelectisis.  I just wanted an explanation. I was feeling pretty good after my surgery and I was up and walking.  I pulled a stupid patient trick when I found a spirometer on my bed after returning from a walk. Nobody showed me how to use it like they did later with the flutterer but the damn directions are imprinted on it and macho me just blew as hard as I could and aggravated my right side so I didn't use it anymore. Then my blood pressure dropped to something like 90/50 after getting a dose of Lopressor 5mg and a nurse told me to stay in bed. The nurse was a little creative with her instructions which included a blurb that she didn't want me to fall because she didn't want to fill out the paperwork if I fell. If my memory serves me right, I stayed in bed from late morning to late afternoon and that’s when the complications started. I'd say the atelectisis was the most painful experience through both surgeries and recoveries.  I just wanted to ask Dr. Rukstalis about this and he explained why I received the medication and included an explanation on why I could have developed the atelectisis.  All the research I did on recovery stated that a patient should be up and walking as much as possible after surgery and I thought my odds for developing the complications were increased when I stayed in bed and didn't use the spirometer but I really didn't care about the reason why, I just wanted to hear Dr. Rukstalis explain it to me.  I was thrilled with Dr. S and Dr. K who handled my case and I knew I received excellent care and I left the hospital in pretty good shape. I still felt symptoms from the atelectisis for a good month but they eventually disappeared.

We exchanged our different views on all the issues that I brought to the table. We finished our conversation via an exchange of a few emails. I ended up with what I wanted and that was resolution.  I know this is the best I've felt in a long time. I appreciate that fact that Dr. Rukstalis took the time to deal with me.

I've been scanned plenty of times between our appointments to know that I'm in pretty good shape and Dr. Rukstalis pulled my MRI up on the computer and explained everything. I wanted to know about the cyst on my left kidney and he went over that without me asking.  He said I was doing well and thought I could go another year without seeing him but he decided that my appointment should be in 9 months. I like going down to Danville and getting everything done in a day but I don't experience anxiety when I have the MRI and it doesn't make a difference to me if I have to wait a day or two weeks for the results. I requested that any lab work if needed be done at Scenery Park and that the MRI be done at Grays Woods. It's just a matter of convenience for me as both of those Geisinger offices are less than 15 minutes from my house. I would just prefer just to go to Danville for my consult with him for the results. 

Dr. Rukstalis was also kind enough to give me his opinion on my post surgical changes regarding my distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy.

When I left urology the snow had already started to accumulate. I didn’t have anywhere to go so I just people watched for a few hours and stayed at the Pine Barn Inn another night and left early the next morning. The roads were clear and it was no problem getting home.