PLEASE stop telling people that open surgery is only for rare, special cases!

I agree that people should talk with their surgeon about lap versus open and make an informed decision.  

I also agree that, if a surgeon only does open surgery, it is smart for someone to ask why. As long as the surgeon can articulate his/her reason, though, I don't see any red flags reagradless or what the reason might be. Even if the reason is that the surgeon never learned to safely do a lap procedure, so what?  The surgeon does what (s)he is comfortable and qualified to do and if someone really wants lap surgery, they should go to someone else.

Lora

Absolutely!!!

Blind faith in surgeons is what worries me - in ANY cir****tance! It is imperative that everyone take responsibility for their own health and don't just trust it to any doctor/surgeon. Knowledge is power and true *informed choice*!!!!

Sadly I was one of those unwitting trusting souls. But then I think it was for the greater good. Had I know then what I know now I probably would have been spooked and would not have gone through with my surgery.

But thankfully my surgeon is excellent and I caught on fast enough. But I think my "act first, think second" mentality on some things in life tends to be a bit dangerous.

But I know you have learned stuff since LOL!

Working in a teaching hospital scared the bejeebus out of me - I research everything before I let those suckers put me under and come at me with a scalpel LOL!!!

It's like trusting the advice given on here - there are some knowledgeable people here, but they are not qualified nor do they have enough knowledge of someone's medical history to recommend a course of treatment!!!!

I know that not everyone is motivated enough to research their health as much as some of us - but wanting this surgery should provide a little more motivation to become knowledgeable of their own accord and not rely on their professionals or any so called "gurus" to make all their decisions for them!

Take the information from here, do some research (Google really can be your friend, or is at least a start to finding information/research - if you don't have access to Pubmed - and THEN go and listen to your surgeon or doctor when you ask your own questions ...

no kidding... " I've seen way too many quacks with an MD behind their name..".
My lasted fav is an endo doc I went to see for my RH... (last week)
He suggested I may try to take some statins - since the side effects are constipation - and if I can slow down how fast my food travels that may help my RH- I told him that I don't have runs and I do have to work very hard to not to get constipated - and my cholesterol is only 140 ... so lowering it may be bad idea... he still felt I need to try them... WTF? 

Then he suggested I may try to eat pizza... because the toppings may help with the carbs the pizza has...

Then he decided to put me on steroids - to induce insulin resistance... " you may gain some weight.... and you may get high B sugar ... but you may be able to avoid low sugars..." When I told him that I am not hypoglycemic but that I have RH - he insisted I try the steroids...

Yea... even I know that " ...he is not above average... but possibly below average " 
I know I will not be going back to see him. 

You are so right...

patients just choose a center of barriatic excellence like I did. 


true story.. a friend had an open surgery in 2006 ..  she had a quack dr..not because he did the open, but he was a quack all the way.. in fact.. the last surgery he did was her's or the ones he did on the same day..  he lost his medical insurance.. my friend, was throwing up feeces on her 4th or 5th day home.. had to have emergency surgery was in intensive care for 4 weeks with an additional 2 in a step down unit.. after that.. i decided this surgery wasn't for me.  fast forward to jan of 12.. after seeing first hand 5 or more  successful surgeries with a center of excellence and a quick call to insurance who said.. yep all we need is your PCP recommendation and we can get ya started.. I decided to pursue the surgery again.. now I did have to go through phyc, physicals, and ect.. still took me 3.5 months to clear for surgery ( for the DR).  As he said.."i want no surprises on the day of surgery"  - my dr did warn me in some cases conversation to an open might have to be possible.. in my case.. slightly higher ( as I am short and had a open surgery in 1986 to remove a gallbladder.

Have you ever wondered why the Doctor's call it their "PRACTICE?" Possibly, because they are practicing their craft on us? lol

Everyone has a different surgeon and all of the surgeons along with the NUTS have their own opinions of what is best for their patients.

I was also told by 3 different Bariatric surgeons that Laproscopic RNY is the safest method and that there is a possibility that once they get started an open surgery may need to be done.

People should not get upset and bent out of shape if they read something on OH that they disagree with. This is a support group and not a debate forum.

I don't agree with everything that I have read on here and I doubt if people always agree with me. That is okay.

If somebody asks for an opinion or the facts about what was told to them and a person answers them, there is no reason for anyone to get upset. they are just sharing their WLS story.

I think the thing that bugs some people (me) is when people state their plan as THE plan. When they go off on someone for being OFF plan, and they tell everyone the RULES (according to their plan) and condemn anyone who has a different plan.

It's essential to qualify statements when you write them, and only write absolutes when you know they are absolutes. "My doctor tells me open is rare" is differnt from saying "Open is rare".... one is a qualified statement, sourced to your surgeon. The other is a statement of fact, when in fact it isn't. The same goes for people who say "You MUST wait 60 minutes after eating to drink" or "You MUST wait 30 minutes before" or "You are NOT supposed to..." Add a qualifier, explain where the information comes from, and if it's not a guaranteed fact, you've sourced it.

I can say "99% of people who fall 100 stories die" ... with few to challenge me. But if I say 99% of people who fall 10 feet die," you'd go, "really? Who says?" Now, if I don't have a good understanding of gravity, I might repeat a statement like that. No problem if I say, "My principal tellss me..." is differen from a statement of fact.

Anyway, on the flip side, it's essential that we all take everything we read here with a grain of salt. BUT when someone makes a statement that is false or misleading, those of us who know differently do tend to make corrections. Particularly when someone else's statement of fact is dangerous.

One example .... one day a girl posted on here: "I'm throwing up, and it's so weird, it looks llike I'm throwing up coffee grounds." To which one person said "call your doctor on Monday" and another one said, "that's not a big deal." and then a third one gave the important response: GO TO THE ER .... that was an example where uninformed opinions MIGHT have cost someone their life (that person, who had the emergency.... she never posted again... I have to wonder if she bled to death in teh night while waiting for Monday morning as per the first response)

My surgeon only did rny open at the time he did my surgery, not sure if thats still the case, he had a good reason why and it seemed fine to me.  Honestly when I had my gallbladder out a few years prior to my wls the gas they filled me with hurt so badly I wasn't real interested in having another lap procedure.  My open scar was only 4.5 inches long and no big deal, it healed fine and is nearly gone now that I had my tummy tuck.  Open was fine with me.