HOT Questions on OPEN RNY!!!

My mom had open RNY yesterday and I am worried. The procedure started as lap but turned open as the Dr. thought it would. I had a flawless lap RNY 10 months ago with the same surgeon and had only a cath and IV. My mom has an incision from her breast bone to her belly button and a JP drain which I know is normal . However, she has a tube running from her nose that has blood running from it, and a drain running from the left side of her belly that looks like it is carrying urine. This one really bothers me, is this normal? Why not a cath? She has holes and drains everywhere. Due to HIPA laws they can not give me the necessary information to ease my mind and my Dad does not fully understand the procedure and gets confused by medical terminology. Mom at this point only knows she had to be open and the Dr. said everything went well. Please tell me what if this seems normal... Oh, she also had a hernia repaired. Thanks!!!

It sounds like to me they got in there and discovered the hernia . It sounds similar to my surgery . However, I opted for open . Some of the drains are probably the JP drains they use for getting rid of the excess fluid. The tube in her nose is the gastric tube , and is normal for some surgeons to use . I would not worry one bit , it sounds like the doc did the best thing for her at the time . Please send her my well wishes for a speedy recovery and congratulations on her new life , Natalie

Thanks for the info and well wishes. I was just really concerend when I saw her yesterday in comparision to what I had.

Aaaw, I SURE understand your concerns -- seeing ALL kinds of tubes coming out of the woman you love, the lady that's taken care of and nurtured you, had to be shocking at best. Especially since there were some that you could not relate back to YOUR experience. Although I didn't have the tube out of the left side of my belly, I did have the tube coming from my nose. More times then not, it was a murky kinda discharge, but some times it came with a reddish hue -- yah, too much visual this early in the morning, huh? It was perfectly NORMAL and there was no cause for alarm, where I was concerned, so Im sure it's the case for your mom too. As far as the open cut goes, yep, mine was the same way, from under the breastbone to just above the belly button. I've found, by reading others stories that the APPLES shaped person has a MUCH longer scar. Does your mom fall in that grouping? I know I did and I had the scar to prove it, thankfully, that's since been REMOVED with my plastic surgeries. Hopefully, you've had a chance to see/talk to mom since your post and most of your concerns and questions have been resolved - congrats to both you and mom, for taking your life and health back with this surgery. - Lei

Thanks Lei!!! You are right, it is hard to see her that way. I did not get to see her yesterday because she just wanted to rest which is understandable. I talked to her on the phone yesterday for about 2 min. and she sounded so weak and did not really want to talk. She did say, they got her up to use the bathroom and she was in quite a bit of pain. Mom is an apple type, the surgeon thought he may be able to do lap but he couldn't because of a previous surgery she had that had to be reversed (not prev. GB) and a hernia repair. She is already in poor health so I worry about her enough as it is. However, she has seen what a difference it has made in my life, -137 lbs. 62 to goal.