Duodenal Switch 15 days til surgery 10/29

Well I'm starting to get nervous,  I have seen youtube videos and people are having break downs from not eating. Is it really like that? Is it normal to be opened for this surgery or can it be done laperscopic? I'm in FL and Dr. Jawad is doing mine.. any advice is welcomed...

Take a deep breath and exhale slowly. I think many are nervous beforehand. 

Open or closed depends on the surgeon your particular issues. Some very good laporascopic surgeons will do the DS open if the starting BMI is too high or the excess weight is carried around the middle. I know my surgeon had special laporascopic tools made, back in the day, so he could do the DS laporascopic even for the higher BMIs.

Good luck.

--gina

Almost there, congratulations. Concentrate on what you want to accomplish - I was nervous up until they gave me the anasthesia.

My surgeon only does the surgery laperscopically. Many surgeons will start wit hthe aim of doing the surgery lap and if they have a problem
then do it open. I've seen some people got switched to open due to the surgeon finding hernias, adhesions, etc. My surgeon was more worried about
having room to use the laparoscopic tools. I was a BMI around 60 and they still were able to do mine lap. 

I'm a little surprised that you haven't had the discussion with Dr. Jawad. Either way have a safe successful surgery. 

Pete

Congratulations and best of luck.  One week ago today I was beside myself with nerves.  As someone else said - I was nervous until anesthesia.  The best advise I can give you (and I got out of the hospital yesterday) is to keep your eye on the prize.  Have that list of things you can't do now but want to do in the future at the front of your mind.  The last things I thought about were the future.....being able to sit in an airplane seat comfortably, going to the theater, riding a zip line, riding a segway, kayaking with comfort, hiking......zzzzzz - then you wake up in recovery.  I was scared of the pain - I can tell you that the absolute most pain I had was a really bad headache.  They are not sure if it was caffeine withdrawal or a migraine.  Either way - the surgery site is just sore.  You can do this - one day at a time.  Concentrate on getting the house clean, buying what you will need after, and making that list of things you can't do today that you will be able to do in the future!!

Thank you for the words of encouragement. . It means a lot. I'm so looking forward to the big picture. 

My DS was done open (the only way my surgeon does DS).  The incision was glued all the way down, so no sutures or staples to deal with, and the incision was healed in 2 weeks.  No big deal.

I'm only 2 months out and I don't know which you tube videos you are talking about, but they say the first two months are the roughest and they were not that bad.

Since I got home from my surgery I have reached for extra pain medicines exactly zero times.  I've been a little sore, but nothing too bad.  I've eaten without problems every day, except sometimes it is hard to translate what your body wants into actionable food.  And I doubt I will ever eat sugar free Jell-O again. 

So far I have lost 40 pounds.  Losing 40 pounds has never been pain free, no matter what road you go down.  Deep down this has been so easy that I feel like I'm cheating the diet gods or something.  I was nervous before my surgery but have not regretted it once since then. 

If you research phase is finished don't watch scary videos by people who are having problems that you may never experience, spend some time researching where your new dream vacation should be in a year or so.  Do you want to fly somewhere?  Where are the best zip lines?  Rent Segway's?  Parachute?  What kind of clothes would you wear?  What do you want to look like?  What do you want your life to look like?  Are you the kind of person who is going to take up wearing hats?  Will you try to wear a tiny bit of purple every day? This is a great time to let yourself dream a little. 

If you feel like you need more research try to nail down your fear as explicitly as possible.  I remember I had vague fears of never eating good food again that took me ages to nail down.  Once I did it was easier to face everything.

Mostly though, just relax.  You have faced down a huge inner dragon and deserve a break!

Thank you for replying.  How long was your hospital stay? I am hoping it wont be to long. I am excited for this surgery. I have been picturing the clothes I wanna wear and I want my jeans and boots back. Haven't worn them in a long time. Vacation is next I wanna go somewhere cold.