Open RNY

How many of you had open rny? What was your reasoning for it being open and not lap? Were you in alot of pain? What was the hardest thing about it? I'm considering surgery and feel that this would be the route i need to go. Thanks all!

You need to see Dr.Curry about lap/ He does it on very heavy people. He is here at Deaconess Hospital and will be very honest. Good luck,Cindy

I had open. At the time the doctors I used were not doing Lap they were still learning, and they felt that they as surgeons were not ready to perform on people yet. For Lap you need a surgeon that knows what their doing. A lot has changed in 18 months and the doctors I had now do lap. If I had it to do over again I would still chose open. For me, getting cut and redesigned inside I wanted them to really see what they are doing in there. Either way it's major surgery, you may be able to move aroung a little better with Lap. It's a personal choice. I didn't have much pain. I only took pain meds for 2 days. Good Luck, Robin W

Cindy, I am definitely considering Dr. Curry. I will let you know when I decide. Thanks for the reply! Robin, I agree with you when you say you want them to really see what they are doing in there. That is something to consider. But it stuns me that you were only on pain meds for 2 days. Thats really cool! Thanks, ladies!

I had an open RNY. I felt that it would be better for me, because I wanted them to check everything out while they were in there. Fortunately, for some unknown reason (may a good surgeon), I really had no pain. A little discomfort when getting up and down. I only used one shot of the morphine (they gave it to me initially...I didn't ask for it), but then I didn't really need any more pain relievers. Even when I got home, again, it was only some discomfort. Good luck!!!!

Bobbie, I had Dr. Derrick Martin in Dayton and had Lap. He is fantastic. The surgery went really well (my daughter had the same surgeon, same procedure, same good outcome). I only took pain meds for 2 days also and couldn't believe how little pain there was. I could even turn myself over in the bed on the 4th day. It is definitely the way to go if you can choose that for yourself. I weighed 459 the day of surgery, so size wasn't really an issue. I did have ALOT of scarring from a previous gall bladder surgery, which caused my surgery to take longer, but it did not prevent me from having Lap. I encourage you to seek it if you can.

Let's get the facts straight here folks... 1. You can't see better with an open procedure, in fact it's much harder to see up around the esophagus when you're making the pouch when you're open. It's like the difference between sitting in the red seats and watching the game on TV (except no popcorn, peanuts, or beer) 2. You can't "check everything out" better with an open procedure either. The only reason open is better than lap is in the hands of an inexperienced laparoscopic surgeon, which there are many. They will make up reasons all day long why open is better than lap. We saw the same exact thing with gallbladder surgery when it was started laparoscopically and now nobody does open cholecystectomies. It's interesting that surgeons who only do open procedures of course always tout the supposed "advantages" or open bypass surgery. However, those who do both lap and open (and therefore have an unbiased opinion) almost always recommend lap. Having said that, regardless of whether you go open or lap, you'll still lose a lot of weight and do just fine in the long run. Good luck! Dr. C The Deaconess Surgical Weight Loss Center Cincinnati, Ohio (513) 559-2545

If you knew Dr. C you would know ,he knows just what hes talking about. I am 56 years old and I trust him with my life.(i did) Even if you just go and talk to him he tells it like it is. Please see him just for advice,Cindy

Also as far as getting a GOOD look.Dr. C found a small tumor when he did the lap on me. He removed it and I am so happy with his care. So is my son

I concur with Dr. Curry. I would predict that Laparoscopic surgery will become the gold standard for gastric bypass surgery just as it has for gallbladder surgery. I must reiterate the fact that laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is one of the most if not the most difficult surgeries to perform laparoscopically. Therefore it should be performed by bariatric surgeons who have a great deal of experience or training. Open surgery will persist until there are enough experienced laparoscopic surgeons to meet the needs for the surgery. Until then if you desire laparoscopic surgery you will have to look for those most qualified. Open bypass has no advantage over laparoscopic bypass surgery when it comes to "seeing" everything, but the lap surgery has the advantages of less pain, much less chance of hernia or wound complications and a faster recovery rate out the hospital and back to work. Sincerely, Dr. Selwyn UC Center for Surgical Weight Loss