scared of surgery

i had my bypass 1/22/09 and developed a hernia about 2 1/2 months out.  my doc wants to do a panni on me  in august and take care of the hernia at the same time. i know he is pushing the surgery because of the hernia. however, i am scared of getting an infection. we have three small dogs and it will be a juggling act to keep them off of me all the time, which is what i intend to do.  it took about twice as long for my scar to close when i had my bypass than what i was told and i'm afraid the same thing will happen here.  how long does it usually take for the scar to heal completely?.  i hate to admit it but i am also concerned about the pain. i have read that ps is more painful than the bypass. i never considered myself a pansy, but it is looking that way right about now.  could u please share your honest experience so i will know what to expect.  the unknow is more frightening to me than the known, i need to get my head around this instead of worrying about it.  how long did u have to wear your binder?  how long before you could bend over?  how long before your could pick up stuff and what weight requirements were put on you as far as lifting?  my doc wants me down to 160 but i want to be down to 155. if i am a little shy, say 5-10 lbs, of these goals will it hurt the surgery?.  i would appreciate all the input  you guys could give me. thanks so much.

Some people have problems with plastics.  I didn't - everything was quite tolerable, and I've had just about everything done.  I healed quickly but I don't smoke and I don't have protein issues or bad blood counts.  I go to a gym every day so I was in excellent physical shape for the surgery.

I had a LBL which is a much bigger surgery than a panni. I wore a binder for six weeks and it wasn't a problem.  My scars were completely healed within about 10 days  - that is if you mean if they were closed up.  My WLS was nothing compared to the LBL.  I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being horrible, my WLS was a 1.5 and my LBL was about a 6.5.  But they give you good drugs and it's only painful for about two days and then the edge is off and it's not too bad. 

The panni just removes extra skin, it doesn't tighten the abdominal wall or accomplish any body contouring so I don't think a few extra pounds will matter with the outcome.  You might want to consider a Tummy Tuck (abdominoplasty) instead - the result is a lot nicer.

Good luck.

thanks for the truthful response.  i have to have surgery one way or the other, it's not like a choice, but i guess i could back out of the panni.  i sure want to get rid of all this skin though. i get rashes like crazy. thanks again. vick

I have 4 small dog chihuahuas and I was scared when I came home from my tummy tuck &  hysterectomy in Dec and I sat & slept with a pillow on my lap for weeks cause they like to walk on me & jump on me and I never got an infection my scars were excellent ,check out my photos.
 I wore my binder for 5 months by choice I think it was suppossed to be 6 weeks.  I did no lifting for 8 weeks . I ate a lot of protein, cause I was told it makes you heal  faster. the pain wasn't as bad as I expected but I have ahigh pain tolerance, yes there is some pain but it is oh so worth it, it was more of a discomfort , I could bend over after about 2 weeks
Good Luck

thanks for in input abou the dogs. my doc is real critical of people who have multiple dogs and how dirty it can be and bad for your incision.  thanks again. vick

I can certainly understand your concern about getting an infection. I had a terrible wound infection after my WLS. It was so bad that I had a visiting nurse twice a day for awhile. Anyway, when I had my first PS (TT and BL) I had no problem with infections or healing and the surgery was not near as difficult as the WLS. I do go to the gym regularly and I am pretty good shape so I'm sure that helped. As you said, you need the hernia repair so I say, why not go for the panni removal at the same time. Good luck.
Pat

thanks a lot, pat. vick

sounds like u are as close to your baby as i am to mine.  thanks for the advice. vick