Question:
my surgery is one week away and i'm still undecided between lap vs. open.
my doctor says the recovery time is the same. is this true??? — michele T. (posted on October 6, 2003)
October 6, 2003
My open RNY lasted an hour also and I was released to go back to work at 12
days post-op. I have NO regrets about having the procedure done open -
actually I wanted the surgeon to have not only eyes on but hands-on so that
he could find any problems that might be hidden in the fat. He did find a
hernia I didn't know I had and repaired it also.
— Patty_Butler
October 6, 2003
Oh my, go for LAP! I am 3 months out and I can barely see my scars
anymore. I have a friend who had open a year ago and she did great, but
she does have some serious scarring.
— mrsmyranow
October 6, 2003
My moter in law had open, I had lap. She took far longer to recuperate than
I did. She was in the hospital 3 days, I was in overnight. My surgery
including pre and recovery time was 4 hours, her's was about 5 hours total.
I was back to work after 7 days, she was back at 3 weeks.
— M B.
October 6, 2003
No, the recovery time for open VS Lap is not the same. Lap is usually
shorter. Having said that, each person is an individual that heals at
different speeds. I had open and was back to work in 2 weeks. I have a
friend who had the same and she was out of work for 8 weeks. Go figure. I
would encourage you to choose what is best for you knowing the expereince
of your doctor (which is he more expereinced at, lap or open?), and the
level of risk you face from being on the operating table longer with Lap.
(ie are you relatively healthy? have you had surgery/anestesia before? are
you prone to blood clots in any way? do you have any respiratory/breathing
problems that can be exacerbated from being under longer?) Overall, I
think there is more to choosing than just weighing recovery time. YOu
should discuss it in more detail with your doctor if you're still not sure.
Good luck to you.
— LMCLILLY
October 6, 2003
I didn't have a choice - my doc only did open. I'd have had to wait 2 yrs
for an appt w/ the doc here to does lap. If the wait is the same, the
price is the same, why not go lap? My scar is ugly and large and got
infected. I'd love to not have this disfigurement and I'm old and not
going to wear a swimsuit or anything anyhow.
— Margaret G.
October 6, 2003
I had a choice of 2 surgeons, one did OPEN and took no longer then 1 hour,
the other one was fairly new at LAP and took as long as 6 hours in the OR.
I went with with the OPEN, I had had 3 previous c-sections and breezed
through them, I thought it would be the same with wls. The recovery was
very hard on me. My surgeon says my recovery was normal and I guess it was,
but it sure was not like a c-section. The pain was ok, I stopped pain
killers at about 10 days out, but the re-bruised an area and went back on
them for 2 days. I heal thick so my scar is VERY noticable. Of course it
isnt like I will ever wear a bikini so it really doesn't matter. LOL I
think if I had to do it over again I would go LAP, but then again, I got
the more experineced surgeon. If you are going with the same surgeon no
matter if you have it open or lap, I personally would go with LAP. Everyone
says it is a quicker recovery. Good luck with whichever you choose.!
— TheresaC
October 6, 2003
I did lap. I would MUCH rather do Lap versus open. Why would you want a
huge scar down the center of your chest that looks like you had open heart
surgery when you could have incisions about the size of a dime or
quarter??? If your doctor is skilled at lap, then do it that way. My
doctor told me he was doing me lap but if I had ANY complications while on
the table, he wouldn't hesitate to do me open. Luckily, I did just fine
with Lap.
— Patty H.
October 6, 2003
If your surgeon is proficient and comfortable to do it lap, go that way!
Recovery time is much shorter. The operation is the same, whether is is
done open or lap, so there is no difference in the amount of weight you can
lose with either way. Go with what is comfortable for you.
— koogy
October 6, 2003
I had lap RNY and it tickled. JUST JOKING. Really, I pushed that morphine
button every 6 minutes and felt minimal pain. I went home a day later than
I would have normally b/c I live over two hours from the hospital. That
gave me an extra day on morphine. By the time I was headed home, I was 4
days out and never had my pain meds filled. My incisions are downright
adorable (again, not really.) It actually looks like I got in a knife-fight
and lost. But the good news is that I can once again sleep on my stomach,
beginning two nights ago. I can sneeze, cough, and laugh again. So to me,
lap was the right decision.
— jenn_jenn
October 6, 2003
Eventhough the recovery is a bit longer, I would recommend you have it
open. I guess it all depends on what your surgeon is most proficient at.
My friend and I had our surgeries during the same week. I had open and she
had lap. We both had extremely great surgeons. She was in the hospital
this weekend due to a stricture which is most common with lap. She has
barely been able to tolerate even liquids. I on the other hand can
tolerate a lot and my incisional pain only lasted about a week. Also, she
has to go back in 2 weeks bc they said they chance for reoccurance is 90%.
But you should make your own decision. Im enjoying my recovery period and
have lost 25lbs in 2 weeks. Good luck and God bless!
— Kymberly H.
October 6, 2003
First, ask your surgeon how many surgeries he has performed lap and then
how many he has done open. If it is less then 10 for either open or lap,
find a new surgeon. You need a surgeon who is experienced. If he is
experienced, go lap, less complications after surgery, like wound
infection, hernias, pain, etc.
— anyce
October 6, 2003
I had LAP RNY on a Monday and the following Fri. I went into work for 4
hours and off of all pain meds. The next week was harder due to being
light headed and stuff. I went back to work after 2 weeks. Friend had an
open RNY and was out 6 weeks. Like the previous poster said I would
definetly find out how may LAP surgeries he has done. If he is very
skilled using LAP instruments I would choose the holes over and incision.
— Kelly P.
October 7, 2003
I went Lap, and I would totally say go for lap... unless of course your
surgeon wasn't proficient in that area. I was back at work a week after I
got out of the hopital, and stopped taking pain meds the day after I got
out of the hopital.(4 days after surgery) I hardly had any pain, and could
sleep on my stomach a little over a week later without any pain. The scars
are totally healed now, and after seeing them and the open scar, I would
choose mine any day. :-) anyways, God Bless and I pray all goes well for
you!!!
— Katrina K.
October 7, 2003
I went lap, I had two friends have thier surgery within one week of mine
that went open and I would have to say that I bounced back much faster than
either of them. My scars are already really tiny.....I don't regret it for
a second and if I had the option all over I would do lap again.
— Sarah S.
October 7, 2003
Thats a first that LAP has more strrictures??? Dont believe it. I was LAP
and back to light work after a week. Our surgeon now has no lifing
restrictions after were healed. His group has over 2000 surgeries so I
trust his advice.
— bob-haller
October 7, 2003
If your surgeon is experienced at and comfortable with lap, I would
definitely choose lap! I had very little pain at all from my operation -
just a twinge now and then from the largest slit. I never took pain meds
after leaving the hospital. I was walking the hospital hallways within a
couple hours after the surgery, and except for the initial discomfort of
getting out of bed, had no problems getting about once I was released. The
incisions faded very fast and a year later I can only find one of them, but
it wouldn't be noticeable to anyone else. Worrying about scars might sound
shallow, but I figure I'll have plenty of scars when it's time for plastic
surgery and at least I don't have a long zipper scar to add to that! I was
back to work in two weeks, and probably could have gone back sooner if I
had to, but I took full advantage of the time off!
— sandsonik
October 9, 2003
I had a lap 3 weeks ago yesterday. I was in and out in 45min. I had very
little discomfort in the hospital or even when I got out.
— Kathryn B.
October 11, 2003
MY DR,, WHEN HE DID ME DIDN'T DO LAPS,, HE SAID THERE WAS A 4% CHANCE OF
LEAKS WITH A LAP.. WITH THE OPEN IT DROPPED TO .04 %,, HE SAID HE LIKED
THOSE NUMBERS BETTER,, AND AFTER HAVING A STOMACH HERNIA (YES FROM THE
W.L.S.) A YEAR LATER,, A DIFFERENT DR DID ME LAP.. GUESS WHAT,, HE MISSED A
SMALL HOLE IN THE STOMACH WALL, BECAUSE HE WAS WORKING THROUGH LITTLE
HOLES,, MY STOMACH BULGED OUT AND FILLED WITH FLUID,, HE SAID IT WOULD GO
AWAY, ABSORB,, IT JUST GOT BIGGER.. AND 6 MONTHS LATER HE HAD TO OPEN ME UP
TO REPAIR THE HOLE,, SO IF I HAD HAD THE OPEN HERNIA OPERATION IN THE FIRST
PLACE I WOULD HAVE HAD ONLY ONE SURGERY INSTEAD OF TWO.. GOOD LUCK FROM AN
R.N.Y.OPEN WITH NO LEAKS!!
— bruce M.
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