It's NOT Official anymore

I posted a few day's ago "It's Official", my date was set for October 12th. Well a lot has happened since then. My surgeon's secretary called to say that the 12th was not good but the 15th would be ok. She called on friday eve and left a message. So I couldn't call back till Monday. In the mean time I decided to tell my sister in-law (who had RNY 4 years ago) about my plans. When she found out I was having  Open RNY done instead of laproscopy she flipped. I feel stupid because i didn't know there was a choice I thought everyone did it open. I was confused between Lap Band and Laproscopy. My surgeon will only do open plus he will take out my gallblader. There is another surgeon in the clinic that does lap RNY so I thought maybe I should look into switching. I called his secretary yesterday and she told me to email him and wait and see. Apparently he is in great demand and the wait time to see him is 2 months, also I would have to re submit my papers to the insurance. This Friday I have my nut and anesthesia consults. My husband is taking off two weeks from work but after that I'm on my own. I have an 8 month old baby who weighs 22lbs so I need to recover quickly. I know both surgeons are really good...I'm just not sure what to do.

The DR I choose does an open type too. ( he only uses a 3-4 in incision) One thing he did say that made sence was that with a lap you get multiple 1 in*****isions.  Only YOU know what is right for you. Best wishes in making you decision.

I am sure you will get varying opinions on this but I will offer mine. If you can do it lap you should do it lap. I had my surgery around 3 or so weeks ago. I had the DS. I have 4 small incisions and 2 small holes from drains. 3 of the incisions are less then an inch in size. The one over my stomach is 2 inches because in the DS they remove part of your stomach instead of creating a pouch. I am totally healed and have been from about 2 weeks out. With an open, I would be looking at a 25% chance of a hernia, wearing a binder to support the open incision and the incision itself would be around 8 inches. And I would be at greater risk for infection and seromas. This is what my surgeon explained to me. Also, you will not be able to lift more then 5-10 pounds with an open for at least the first 8 weeks. You live in Maryland where there are a lot of great experienced surgeons who do the surgery Lap. And please forgive me for saying this next comment. You need to research what you are doing. I am very concerned that you were confused as to lap band and lap surgery. This is a very serious step to take in our fight against the obesity monster. You must be totally educated. I would suggest you take a look at my surgeons webpage www.smallscar.com where there is detailed explaination of all types of surgeries for weight loss that may give you a better understanding of what is done. I wish you the very best in your quest. Hugs. Jo

I agree with you about educating myself and have already looked at Dr. Schweitzer's site. He is the surgeon I am thinking about switching to. His colleague, Dr. Magnuson is the surgeon that was recommended to me by my PCP. He is also part of the John's Hopkins Bariatric Center and has a great reputation. I guess it's just a matter of deciding for open or lap.  Thanks for your input! Becca

Yes, Dr.  Magnuson is wonderful. Several of my collegues have used him and think he is the cat's meow. Like you say it is a matter of choice. Good luck. Jo

Hi! I had lap RNY on 5/10 with Dr. S and my brother had open RNY last year with Dr. Magnuson.  Both are great surgeons, but I healed a lot quicker than my brother.  In fact, I was out of the hospital in 26 hrs. (from walking in to walking out).  My brother has a large scar where mine are just about faded and are quite small.  I was back to work within 8-10 days.  I know you are anxious, but I really think that the time you save in recovery makes it worth the wait for the lap.  But DEFINITELY take Jo's advice and check out Dr .S's website.  I researched this journey for two (2) years before I took the plunge.  I have no regrets (except that I didn't do it sooner!) ~~ Trish 

I agree, you should really educate yourself before making a def. decision. This being said, it is also your decsion as to which type of RNY ( lap or open ) is best for you........I think they both have positive outcomes. You had mentioned you were going to have your GB removed as well, is that a necessay procedure or optional. That could play a big part in determining which one to choose as well. 

A good book to read is WLS for dummies, I found this book to answer alot of ?'s I had and even some I never would have thought of. Take care and God Bless~ Christina