Question:
open vs. lap??
I have been approved for my surgery and have a date set (2-17-03). Initially, we were planning open RNY. The surgeon said they were looking into lap, but at that time didn't do anything but open. That was 1 month ago, and now he suggested lap. I am hesitant to agree to laproscopic surgery, since it seems a new procedure to them. But, it seems smarter since recovery would be shorter. HELP! I am interested in everyone's input about this!! Thanks--Nikki — Nicole C. (posted on January 26, 2003)
January 26, 2003
This is just my opinion, but I preferred open so that my doc could put a
small ring around the stoma to keep it from getting big.
— Angie L.
January 26, 2003
I had an OPEN on 12/26. I have a 4 inch incision, which is healing up very
nicely...was in the hospital for 3 days...and felt good enough to go back
to work in 2 weeks ( I waited until 3 weeks just because I wanted to have
my follow up appt first)...I had a really good experience with the open.
— thekatinthehat
January 26, 2003
If your surgeon is new to doing WLS laparoscopically, think long and hard
about letting him have you as one of his first patients to do it on. I
don't know how many RNYs my surgeon had done lap, but I do know that the
people on this site who used him had all had open surgeries. He told me he
could do it lap and I said OK without a second thought. It was a big
mistake on my part. Please see my profile or email me for details.
— garw
January 26, 2003
I opted for open because I felt better knowing my surgeon could see and
feel everything inside of me during the surgery. My recovery was brief and
uneventful. I had minimal pain, I have a 5 inch incision, and I went back
to work at 3 weeks post op. I agree that I'd be hesitant to be one of this
surgeon's first lap surgeries. Open is what he knows best, and that's what
I'd choose.
— Michele C.
January 26, 2003
I decided to go with the open procedure as the complication rate with with
the laproscopic seems higher than the benefit of the smaller incision. I
was in the hospital for 3 days, and had minimal pain. 4 days after surgery
and I didn't even need pain meds. The doctor also found a mass on my spleen
that he could have missed with the lap.
With the higher complication rate of the lap, I wouldn't choose it...
Good luck with whateve you choose.
— Steve V.
January 26, 2003
Normally I am always about LAP. I had Lap for my gastric bypass and Open
for an emergency ulcer surgery to repair a hole in my tummy. Lap took so
much less time to heal and was in less pain. Lap has 5 small scars, open I
now have a huge 7 inch long scar that still hurts 6 weeks later. But
because your doctor is very new to the surgery, I might think twice. It is
up to you in the end, do you trust him? I mean, doctors have to build up
their experience sometime, but it's just if you want to be part of that. If
he is more experienced with open, I might suggest that. Goodluck in your
decision, I know it is a hard one.
— Lezlie Y.
January 26, 2003
hi there :) i had open rny feb 8 02. did great! open was the only way my
surgeon would do it, he explained that he likes to see with his own eyes
what hes doing rather than looking at screens. he explained that there was
less chance of leaks with open also. i think both methods have their pros
and cons. i had originally wanted lap but when he explained his reasoning
for doing open, it made sense and i was quite comfortable with it. i think
if your surgeon is used to doing the open method and youd be one of the
first laps, id be leary. i wish you the best of luck in your decision! :)
— carrie M.
January 27, 2003
Personally, I want LAP because I don't have a lot of vacation/sick time
from work. I'm a single mom so I need the fastest recovery possible. I
think it depends on how you situation is with time out of work, whether you
have help at home, etc. Plus I think it depends on your tolerance. Don't
know if you've ever had surgery before. But I wouldn't necessarily be too
scared. I'm sure they have lots of training and expertise with this method.
— Lisa E.
January 27, 2003
I am six days postop open RY proximal. When I first looked into this, I
wanted lap as well because of so-called shorter recovery time. The surgeon
that I ended up with did do both but highly recommended the open vs the lap
as apparently with lap even though there can be quicker healing time, there
is also the bigger risk of leakage. My doctor only used a 8" incision
and really it is not as bad as anticipated.
— Deborah F.
January 27, 2003
I am six days postop open RY proximal. When I first looked into this, I
wanted lap as well because of so-called shorter recovery time. The surgeon
that I ended up with did do both but highly recommended the open vs the lap
as apparently with lap even though there can be quicker healing time, there
is also the bigger risk of leakage. My doctor only used a 8" incision
and really it is not as bad as anticipated.
— Deborah F.
January 27, 2003
I had open rny on 11/5/02 and i have had no complaints. i was in the
hospital for 3 days and off pain meds by the first week. My insision is
about 5 inches and my surgeon closed in cosmetically. Personally I felt
more secure with the fact that the doctor could see and feel what he was
doing. And if something went wrong I was open already there would be no
lag time.
— Kelly T.
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