laproscopic turned into open surgery??

As my hubby and I gear up this week for our consults and surgeries more questions keep popping into my head! We have faithfully stuck to the 800 calorie a day pre-surgery diet so that hopefully our liver has shrunk and the doc wll be able to see to do our lapband laproscopically. I'm just wondering........has anyone gone under, planning on their surgery being laproscopic and the doctor had to change to an open procedure because he couldnt' see past a big liver or whatever??? I'm prepared for the healing time, etc for laproscopic, but NOT prepared to wake up and find my surgery had to be open. Is there any test or way the doctor can tell before hand whether your surgery will likely be laproscopic as planned? My greatest fear ( besides the worst fears of all  ) is that we'll come out of surgery and find that we both or one of us had to be opened up for the lapband. I'm so excited for our surgeries, but naturally getting the gitters, too, with my last minute fears. I'd appreciate any feedback from others who've had lapband surgery! Hugs :) Missy

Hi Missy, I will be having surgery 8/6 and still dont know if it will be lap or open. Because my BMI is high, Dr. Gibbs nurse said he could not tell me untill my preop Dr. appt that is only four days prior to my surgery. She said it depends on if your weight is thick or wide in the area they go in. If your to thick the instruments may not be long enough. My Dr. does not put anyone on a liquid diet lapband or bypass  prior to surgery so I dont think he is going by an obstructive liver issue. Then again I could be wrong. Either way I'm all in. God luck to you and your husband. God Bless, Tammie

Thanks, Tammie! :) I'm hoping our doctor will be able to give us some idea tomorrow. Our surgeries are scheduled for this Thursday! I found my notes from our seminar meeting and I wrote that Dr Wellborn's only had to convert from laproscopic to open 4 times in more than 700 lapbands, So, it sounds like the odds are good that we'll be laprrocopic. I just want to go in prepared. For my hubby, in particular, we need to be prepared  and know what the healing time is should he end up being an open lapband. He's planning on returning to work 4 days post op. So, this would be a huge change in plans. Thanks again for replying and good luck with your surgery! Hugs :) Missy

Hey Missy! You are not alone on that fear of yours. Matter of fact, the fear of having to be opened up was the one thing that kept me from having my surgery sooner. I am a teacher and could not take the risk of possible being opened up and having a longer recovery time. For that very reason, I waited until school was out for the summer and then took the plunge. Anyway, everything turned out great for me. I had no problems. I'm sure you won't either. One thing I remember from my first appointment with Dr. Wellborn was that he pushed on my stomach and said that even though I was overweight and had not been dieting (this was prior to the two week pre-op diet) he could not feel my liver. He said that this was a good sign that I would not have to be opened up. Also, he said that when he felt of my ribs while I was lying down that my rib cage made a wide V shape instead of a narrow V shape so that was another thing in my favor. He said that if your rib cage makes a narrow V then it can sometimes make it make it more difficult to do the surgery laproscopically. I remember when i woke up from my surgery got back to my room and he came to check on me he told me that when he got in there that my liver was still slightly enlarged but he expected that. He said on a scale of 1 to 10 that my liver size was about a three or four which is good. I will say that I stayed faithfully on the 800 cal diet just so that I would hopefully not have to be opened up. My dad was a little concerned about my liver still being slightly enlarged but Dr. Wellborn told him not to give it one more thought that after a couple weeks with the band that it would be back to normal. It is really good to hear that kind of news. I will say that I had it in my mind right before I went under that the first thing I would ask when I woke up was whether or not they had to open me up.....BUT.....trust me, that will not be the first thing that pops into your mind. I woke up thinking gosh those lights are bright and why won't this nurse just let me get a little more sleep before asking me all these questions!!!  Anyway, I hope this helps to relieve some of your fears. You will do fine!!   Karen

Karen, thank you sooooo much for all the great info!!! We had our consults, pretesting and dietary consults today and are READY for our surgeries on Thursday!!!!! I know there's no guarantees, but after examining both of us Dr W. feels that barring some unknown factor we'll both have laproscopic procedures. We both have good wide V's under our ribs, which as you said is good. Also, we're wider, not deeper if that makes sense. Plus, he couldn't feel our livers. This combined with his stats of only 4 conversions to open procedures in more than 750 cases is a great reassurance to me! I'll have to remember to ask him on a scale of 1 to 10 what my liver size is. Interesting stuff!  It looks like we'll both be staying the night at the hospital. My hubby has to because he's on a cpap machine. I have bad allergies and asthma and am prone to bronchitis and larygnitis. So, intitally they were telling me I could just stay at the hospital to be with my hubby. Now, he's saying he'd rather me stay just to make sure I'm ok and don't have any problems from having the tube down my throat during surgery. I've had surgery before and just remember waking up SHAKING COLD.....I'm talking my teeth were clicking like crazy........COLD! And, I had little to no voice.....my throat was SO sore. I know these are both common symptoms with surgeries. Now, my hubby's never had any surgeries. So, my main concern is him tolerating the anesthesia. It's just always scary being "put under." I have to admit that at the start of today when I was signing all the consent forms I was scared. I know they have to inform you of ALL the bad things that can happen, but when you're reading thru it it  all it can be a tad scary! Then, I met with Suzan and she calmed me down and eased my concerns more and then once meeting with Dr W. I was fearless and ready to forge ahead! Thank you again for sharing your experiences! Everyone here is so wonderful! Will you be at the support group meeting tomorrow night? If so, we'll see you there! Hugs :) Missy