any OPEN Ds surgerys care to share their story

You have no idea , how much you helped me I love ya already haha i was so scared until you compared the pain to a c-section  I know i felt like a MAC TRUCK ran me over when I woke up from that but I refused pain meds so I think Ill be ok ... You have to add me , lol Im istantly bonded:) sorry .... I love people.. you put my totally crazy scared mind at ease now I can focus on the other part that scares me and thats the epideral..... dumdumdum...:) thanks again

Let ME put your mind at ease about the epidural.  IT IS A PIECE OF CAKE!  Who doesn't like cake??  LOL

Seriously, though.  It was nothing like the epidurals I had during my last two deliveries (with my sons).  I remember them being horrible.  I was having contractions and had to stay still.  He had to stick me a couple of times...yuck.

When I got my DS, the anesthesiologist came in and gave me something to drink that made me a little giddy and then had me bend over (while sitting on the table) and within seconds (or so it seemed) he had the epidural in and going.  No pain at all...easy peasy.

:)  If Dr. Crookes keeps the epidural in for the first few days like Dr. Anthone does, you'll be SO happy.

Hugs...you can do it!!  It is all SO worth it--I promise.

Felicia

gosh you guys are all amazing make all my worries so much calmer~ stick around and watch out for my surgery dates Ill need you then im sure:) then later maybe I can calm someone down... lol

Hello, my surgeon is Dr. Anthone and he also does open DS.  My surgery was just over 2 weeks ago, so it's too soon to say how my scar will permanently look, but it's about 9 inches long and seems to be healing well.  I didn't mind having it because with lap you get several smaller scars all over your stomach, so everyone gets scarred from the DS anyway.  My surgery also went very quickly, I think it lasted only 2 hours and Dr. A said it was so easy!  (His words, lol.)

Pain-wise I was on an epidural so I didn't feel much in the hospital.  I was able to walk around after I left the ICU and also take showers by myself.  Even when I left the hospital, the pain was not terrible.  I only took 1 painkiller daily (right before bed),  Last night I didn't even take one and I was fine, and I haven't taken one all day today either and I'm functioning fine at home by myself.  I am also sleeping in my bed on my back.

Hope this helps!

thanks everyone for your post you guys rock

The story of my surgery can be found on my profile in December 2006.

My Hat comes off to you Im not even done with your story it mite take me a couple days lol (kids) Im on nov 06 wow you must think of all us 1/2 empty glasses are @sses lol You had some stuff going on by ,I can hardly wait to finish!! by the way you LOOK amazing much respect , Suzzan

It's a rather complicated story :-). I'd much rather people have their DS done BEFORE they get that kind of sick. Trust me, you do not want to be where I was. But now you can maybe imagine why I guffaw at the idea of being worried about little things like loose skin. I've been running around in tank tops for two months, and if anybody didn't like my skin, they could look the other way.

Now it's back to the daily grind, where I gotta look more presentable. Bleh.

 most agreed!!

Hello, My Surgeon was Dr. Peter Lalor and although he is not very respected on this board I was very impressed with him and his staff. My surgery was open and my pain was almost non existent, I was on morphine pump and up and walking around the same day. I was back to work in three weeks I have a desk job that allowed this. My wife says I have a high tolerance for pain, this is the first surgery I have ever had and actually the first time I ever had to stay the night at the hospital. Good luck with your surgery and keep us posted.