Question on Surgery

Hey guys, I have a question for you concerning the surgery...i was told today that some people opt for an epidural during surgery to ease the pain.  Have any of you had this done during surgery?  i think I will opt not to take this shot in my back.  BTW I'm on day 8 of my liquid diet and have lost 15 lbs, and aside from being a bit weak, I have been great!

I don't know for sure, but I think all surgeries (laproscopic or open) are done under general anesthesia. Don't see why you could need an epidural also. Of course, if it's an option between epidural and general, I'd go with general.

Congrats on the 15 pounds!!! Keep it up.
Chad

I haven't heard of this and it would seem odd to only do an epidurl for such a major procedure.  Post op they want you up and walking within a few hours so I don't see it really being a post op alternative for pain mgmt.

What surgery are you having?  Your page says you have a BMI of 28.1...  We are here to help, but we generally need a little more info than you provided.

I was kinda thinkin' what Robert asked you - what's up w/an epidural?  I was awake during two heart procedures (although blissfully on morphine) and watching lead-suited aliens poke around in my heart was enough - I didn't want to see 'em slicen' 85% of my stomach out....  I mean there are some things even I won'****ch....   I had the sleeve and there wasn't all that much pain except for the gas for a few days.     Pop-Pop

The general anesthesia they give you for surgery is typically done via IV, and when the anesthesiologist told me he was about to give me some...  (That's all I heard until after the surgery was over.)  I don't see how an epidural would do you any good.   Post-op, the morphine drip will handle your pain.  They send you home with (usually) some type of tylenol/codeine stuff that should handle any residual pain.  As other said, they want you up and walking within hours of the surgery, and that walking REALLY helps you get rid of the excess gas which causes most of the post-op discomfort.  Really not that big a deal for me and most other people I've talked with about it.

 Ditto to all of the above.  From my perspective, knock me out good and wake me when it's all over!  I like that versed or diprovan...you don't even remember anything.  A nice little medical ****tail for me!  

Oh, and CONGRATs on the great progress with the liquid diet!  The more you are able to lose pre-op the better!  Keep up the great work! 

When are you scheduled for surgery???

 I had general for my first RNY.  But, when I went down for the surgery for my RNY revision (due to a staple line disruption) that surgeon hd me sit on the side of the operating table while they gave me an epidural.  I had no idea until we came to that point that he was going to have tgus dibe,  Both methods worked equally well.  Note:  I weighed over 571 when I had the original RNY and around 425 when I had the revision.  I don't know if there is a weight limit for using the epidural or if it's just a matter of choice for the surgeonn.

No epidural for me, and I was not offered one...even if I had been offered one I wouldn't have taken it.  After I woke from surgery I had next to nothing as far as pain, slight bloated feeling but aside from that and some pain medication for the first day I was up and walking around the hospital.  Truth be told, I didn't even really need the pain med when I woke up from surgery BUT ya know how spending too much time with your family can be visiting ya in the hospital, I figured why not LOL.

Good luck!
Nathan  

There are ways an epidural can be used for post op pain control.  This is usually not necessary since most WLS in now performed laproscopicly and IV pain medication or a PCA pump (push the button for pain med) should be adequate.

good luck

Jim