open vs laproscopic

so heres my dilema my doctor tried to get me in the 26th of this month and couldnt so now if i opt to have open rny i can have it on the 16th of april if i stick to laproscopic then not till may 7th what are the benifits and negatives to each can you guys help me

Man, I am telling you, if you have the option, go with May 7th and the Lap route.  I can tell you from a nurse perspective and as a very recent lap RNY patient (last Thursday the 28th of Feb.).  My lap RNY went great, not much pain and I was up 2 hours after surgery walking around.  The next day I walked two miles and I was home the third day with minimal pain at all.  I have taken care of open RNY patients in recovery and I can tell you, with all of the cutting of the abdominal muscles and the simple fact you are opened up, your minimum recovery time will be at least 6 weeks to give all the tissues and muscles time to heal, and even then your body may not be ready for vigorous activities, not to mention your hospital stay will probably be 5 days instead of two or three for the lap procedure.  Now I am not a doctor nor do I pretend to be.  Always go with what they say.  I am talking in generalities except for my personal experiences.  If you have waited this long for the surgery, what is two months?  I mean think about it.  This just gives you a little more time to get ready preop (I realize that this is probably what you have been doing up to this point, but a little more time won't hurt either).  I realize the temptation to jump on it is enticing for the simple fact of getting the earlier date and then getting your new life going - I guess what you really need to do is ask yourself how HARD do you want your journey to be - it is going to be hard initially adjusting to all the new food routines, sizes of portions, and types of food to eat.  Do you really want to add to that difficulty from a physical healing point as well?  Also, are you a diabetic?  Open wounds typically take much longer to heal in diabetics.  Throw in complications like infection setting in and then you are talking about whole new range of potential problems and issues (skin removal/debreeding procedures/packing of wounds with guaze).  This might be too much info. for you, but things can get bad with open wounds that don't heal.  Again, always go with what your doctor says is best.  Taz 

Another nurse here.... Wait for the lap...... There is no plus to the open, except that you will get in 3 weeks earlier... the down side to the open....longer healing, more infection. a hell of a lot more pain, distruction  of muscle walls that you wanna build up... more difficult if you need plastics hey brother....I would wait for the lap Russ

First, it hard to imagine why your doctor can do an open on 4-16, but can't do a lap until 5-7.  What's up with that?  Assuming there's some logical explanation, I'd say there's no question:  wait another 3 weeks and get it done lap!!! The recovery is MUCH faster, and the chance of complications and/or infections is MUCH smaller with the lap - that's why it's the preferred method.  Sometimes it's not possible, but it's DEFINITELY the first choice.  Afterward, the 3 additional weeks of waiting will seem like nothing, compared to the benefits. And there'll still be room for you on the Loser's Bench!!     

Hey Boxman... I don;t know but I guess....it has to do with availability of the lap equiptment..a hospital may have more OR's than Laproscopic machines.... Russ

I had no choice, I had to have an open DS....but if I did have a choice I would have had a Lap surgery...recovery time is so much less...and the scars are less noticable.  Unfotnately at almost 500 lbs and carrying most of my weight in my stomach.....the surgeon told me it really wasn't doable...I would have been on the OR table too long.  So I opted for an open surgery rather then a 2 part Lap DS. Scott

Oh yeah, you want to wait. I had open surgery for colon cancer, and Lap for my RnY.  The Lap is the way to go! Scott

I have a different take on the open procedure since I had one and had no problems whatsoever.  I have a 4.5 in*****ision instead of 5 one in*****isions, had moderate pain for a few days, and came home from the hospital in two days. My doc sold me on the open procedure because that was what he was comfortable performing on me (a previous doc wanted to do a lap but I just didn't like him as much).  My doc said that there was a higher percentage of difficulty doing a lap given my build.  I also have hepatitus and the trauma to my liver in a lap surgery wasn't something I wanted to risk unnecessarily (all the jostling around).  Finally, the doc got a good look at my liver - nothing like an eye ball inspection!  Just an aside, my hepatitus seems to be much less prevalent the more weight I lose. I'm not in favor of one over the other (I'll leave that for the main board) but I thought I'd share a minority opinion.  I wouldn't be afraid of the open procedure, but I wouldn't necessarily elect it to save a few weeks.  What I am realizing more each day that many of the guys with more time post-surgery know is that this is a long-haul fix.  There's nothing that will ever matter about a few weeks one way or the other. Good luck, CB

One reason for the scheduling is that with lap surgery a surgical assistant must often be scheduled, too.

The reason I went RNY instead of getting a lap band was because it could be done lap. Had I needed to be opened up for an RNY, I would be wearing a lap band right now. Or still be 455 lbs.