Introduce yourself

[shann]

I wouldn't worry about vitamins/probiotics right away. It took me months to work up to my total vitamin regimen. Immediately postop, you will just be focusing on walking and drinking!

Congratulations on your fast surgery date -- I hope things go really smoothly for you!!

 

[Terri]

Welcome!! I am pre-op too. I am doing testing today and will hopefully have a surgery date soon. Good luck with your surgery. There are people here with a lot experiences.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Hello All,

I got my insurance approval on Friday and am scheduled for surgery on this Thursday. Dr. Rabkin is doing a revision from an old lap band that eroded and was removed a couple of years ago. He said it might end up open as I have had several surgeries, ovaries, cysts and a tt.
Hoping that some of you can answer some questions I have. One, do I need to have vitamins with me in California? Probiotics? How well will I be able to move four days after surgery with the worst-case open incision?
Thank you all so much.
Connie

Hi Connie!
1. No, you do not need vitamins with you in CA.

2. It depends on what you mean by "worst-case." Worst-case-but-gonna-be-okay is that you will still be in bed in the hospital four days out and not moving at all. There are a gazillion variations on that kind of "worst case" situation, such as having a truly open wound, not one that is sutured closed.

Now, if your meaning of "worst case" in this context is that you wind up with a regular open surgery, four days out you'll be up and walking and doing your thing surprisingly okay. But "okay" means that you'll be able to walk a lap around the nurses' station (or similar distance elsewhere if discharged), take yourself to the bathroom, go to the kitchen to get your own water, etc.....And that will be all the walking you need to do in order to help prevent clotting problems.

So, if you can be more specific about your concerns regarding an open vs. lap surgery, maybe we can give you more detailed information.

 

[JackieOnLine]

Hi Connie! Welcome, glad you found us.

so - California is where you are traveling to have surgery? as was said, you don't need vitamins right away, just need to get in fluids immediately post-op.

 

[Will2014]

Welcome aboard Connie!

 

[Kate]

Hi Connie! Welcome!!

 

[HazelsGrandMommy]

Hello to Everyone,

Thank you all for the warm welcome and advice. I am forever great-full.
I'm about 2 hours out of San Fransisco in a hotel. My friend Betty is with me and she is going to stay until I go back home. My husband is flying in on Wed afternoon and has to leave Sat am very early. (Surgery is Thursday). I'm relieved that he is able to make it with such short notice with work deadlines. Actually feeling a bit guilty that he is having to take time off with out any real planning, but am being selfish right now. Part of me doesn't really want him to see me after surgery. Thoughts about that???

 

[HazelsGrandMommy]

Mostly wondering about adhesions, as I have had 5 previous abdominal surgeries. Wondering at what point Dr Rabkin might give up and make the incision open, and then how long one might be " under"?
I had read somewhere that a surgeon gave up and did not complete the surgery. A lot of Time, Money, Energy !
Just curious, anxious and rushed.
Thank you.

 

[Will2014]

The highly skilled surgeons can usually work around adhesions, some even do quick repair jobs while they're in there. If a veteran Dr. opens you up, it's most likely because they absolutely had to. I think it's one of those things you really shouldn't worry about now, because there's just nothing to do about it. He can either do it lap or not, and you'll not know till your on the table waking up. No sense torturing yourself! I know you'll be fine.

 

[HazelsGrandMommy]

Thank you.

 

[JackieOnLine]

Part of me doesn't really want him to see me after surgery.

that makes sense to me: you know you won't be looking your best, to say the least. you won't want to see anyone unless they work there and are coming to help you.

you could tell him you don't want him to come, if you want. you know, nicely. because you will be busy recovering. later, at home, plenty of time for him to be helping you.

 

[southernlady]

Welcome to the forum @HazelsGrandMommy. Just trust that if it has to be open to give you the best results, he will do it. Open abdominal surgery is not the end of the world.

As far as your dh seeing you after surgery...HE will want to to be sure you are okay. He honestly won't care how bad you look as long as you are on the way to better health.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Mostly wondering about adhesions, as I have had 5 previous abdominal surgeries. Wondering at what point Dr Rabkin might give up and make the incision open, and then how long one might be " under"?
I had read somewhere that a surgeon gave up and did not complete the surgery. A lot of Time, Money, Energy !
Just curious, anxious and rushed.
Thank you.

Dr. Rabkin's reputation is such that I think I can say with confidence that unless you develop a life threatening horrible something while you're on the table, he'll do what needs to be done to complete the surgery.

Unless you have some health problem that makes anesthesia potentially deadly, you have nothing to worry about with length of time "under." I was a high risk patient and was out for eight hours, and did just fine. This is usually the case. A very few people develop issues after anesthesia, but it's rare.

I had a metric crapton of adhesions from previous surgeries and from having had PCOS from hell. It took considerably longer to undo the adhesions and go hunting for all the appropriate body parts, some of which had migrated to unknown locations, than it did to complete the DS. My open incision was about 14 inches long. Combine that with the 14 inch or so incision line from my hysterectomy two years previously, and I unraveled, eventually, from breastbone to pubic bone. Made for quite a tummy tuck/hernia repair process later! I'm pleased that I had so much extra tissue of my own that the doc didn't have to use a shred of mesh.

 

[Buddypatrick]

I'll start....I am Elizabeth, aka southernlady or southernlady5464 depending on where else you may know me.

My husband and I both had weight loss surgery (the Duodenal Switch) about 3 years ago. He had his 3 year surgiversary in Dec, mine is the end of this month.

We live in Western North Carolina near family. But we are emtpy nesters...okay except for all the furchildren (6 cats and 2 dogs). I'm 59 years old.

I was on 11 medications pre-op including an insulin pump as I WAS an insulin pump dependent type 2 diabetic. Now, I maintain a 100% EWL, am on only 2 prescription medications (both unrelated to needing surgery). The insulin pump is long history.

I chose the DS for two reasons, I needed to be able to take NSAIDS as I have severe arthritis in my back. And I wanted the BEST shot at resolving my diabetes.

Come introduce yourself!

Hi. I am in Minnesota and scheduled to have DS at the University of Minnesota by Dr. Ikramadin on May 12. I began my trek last August and have gone through 4 cancellations. The last one was cancelled 4 days before scheduled surgery because I was 6 pounds over the weight I needed to be at to have the surgery. So now I am working to lose the weight by drinking protein drinks and eating very lightly. I am trying to lose 10 pounds so there is no chance I will have it cancelled again. The U of M is very strict (obviously), which led to my surprise cancellation. I have had to jump through many hoops to get this far and get my insurance to cover it, so I hope May 12 is the date! I would appreciate any information others can provide about what to bring to the hospital and what to make sure to have at home when discharged. Also, I have been told that I will be in the hospital 3 to 5 days. Can folks share the number of days they were in the hospital for their DS? Thank you for any and all support!

 

[JackieOnLine]

hello and welcome.



(hard to believe they were so stinky as to cancel because of 6 pounds, sheesh)