Good Morning---Happy Labor Day!

Hello Everybody,
I am looking forward to my first visit with my surgeon one week from today. I am so excited. I have already begun my six month period of being under a medical supervised diet. I have two appointments down and four to go. I think I have all the questions written down that I am going to ask my doctor. I have trouble waking up after surgery. I hyperventelate (Sorry about the spelling) and I panic. Has anyone else have that problem? I am also afraid I will have to have this surgery as an open one. I carry most of my weight in my gut and I weigh 327 and am 5 fett 3 inhes tall. Oh well, we will find out everything next week. Well, have a Happy Labor Day. Nancy

if he is a good surgeon he wont have to do an open unless he runs into problems. i had a friend that was 450 pounds at surgery and had lap rny.
i was 272 at 5ft 3 inches and mine was lap. rny. the main thing is losing enough that your liver shrinks and that can be accomplished by dieting before surgery. different doctors do different things .
i was worried that i would have to have open because of the 2 abd. surgiers that i have had and maybe scar tissue but he said it was no problem. they are prepared to open anyone up if it is a necessary but they dont like to.
i too do the hyperventalation thing after surgery , panic i guess. ....dont  worry most of what we worry about today never happens and then we have wasted all that energy on nothing lol

Nancy, I have not had the trouble you speak of.  You should call you doctor about this.  I just wanted to say Happy Labor Day to you!!!  Have a great day.

may i ask why you are "afraid" to have your surgery open?
i had mine open by choice and i think they actually say you are under anesthesia a shorter time....

Hi Nancy,  I am two weeks away from having Lap Band surgery.  I understand your nerves. I was more scared in the beginning than I am right now. Now I am just anxious to get on with it.  It is a bit overwhelming, but I just researched and researched, and spoke to as many people as I could about their surgeries, particularly those who had the same doctor.  I did that by hanging out on my state forum, right here on OH, and attending local WLS support group meetings.  I still do both of those things.  After spending time with my doc, and talking to people, as well as researching my butt off, I realized that I am going to be in the most capable hands, and I have every faith that he will take good care of me.  I am the type that needs to keep busy, so when I got afraid, I just dug deeper to find out more things that would reduce my fears.  You will be fine by the time your tests are done and your 6 months are up.  Good luck!!

Hi Nancy,

I wake up from surgery not being able to breathe as I have asthma, but never fear, they are right there and will help you if you have any problems. I didn't have any troubles with breathing or waking up my last surgery which was RNY.

I too was told I may have to have open, but because I had eaten healthy before my surgery, my surgeon said my liver was "gorgeous" and he was able to do the lap. Even if you have to do the open, many on here have and they have done just fine, even great.

As you find out more info hopefully your nerves will even out and your fear will decrease. Keep coming here for support and that will help.

Cheryl

I had my surgery open. I have a small 4 inch scare that can hardly be seen. My surgeon to this day only does open. If I had a choice, I would chose open. I would want my surgeon to be able to see everything that he could....without any problems....besided, I wouldn't want 5 or 6 holes in me.....lol

Recovery is about the same as lap and open.....
All in my family have problems with anethesia. We just don't want to wake up and by gosh, don't try and wake me either....it's like you put me to sleep, now let me sleep.....

Nancy,

I had my surgery laproscopic.  I am 5'1" and weighed in at 314 when I started the process.  Was down to 297 at surgery and I was only in the operating room for 50 minutes.  Of course I had a lap band not the baypass, but I got along fine.  Went into hospital at 5:45 am and was home by 3:30 pm.  No problems and I usually get nausasous when I get put to sleep.

Hope this helps you feel better about the whole thing.

Nancy, I have problems with anesthsia also. I wake up in a panic attack and it is just not a good experience for me. I always tell the anesthisiaologist about this and they usually give me a shot of versed before hand. On the day of my wls, which I had open also, I told the anesthisiaologist and she told me that she would take care of it. I was in the operating room and she told me that she was going to give me a big dose of morphine instead and I swear that is one of the reasons I had such an easy time after the surgery. I was up walking that night, and I was turning myself over from side to side. The nurses couldn't believe I was doing it on my own. I had to told to use the morphine pump since I wasn't in a lot of pain. I used it to keep the pain down before it even had the chance to start. That is the way to do it. Hit it before it has a chance to strike. I wouldn't change having it open either. It is good for them to be able to see the whole picture the way that I think of it. Why would you want someone to do it peeping through little spots when they can see the whole picture all at the same time with an open?

Trust me either way it is going to be fine. If you have trust in your doctor you don't need to worry. But the most important place to put your trust is in you Higher Power, who I chose to call God. You have us for support and use us when ever you need to. We are here all the time and just love to help.

Hello Nancy....I usually have trouble waking from surgery too. However, this time it wasn't so bad. I don't know what was different about it but oh well!

You will be fine...they are right there with us and will help you in a second if you need it.

Hugs, connie d