[Jen]

I am just looking into this but I really think it is something that I want to do. I live in Canada which means I could be on a waiting list for years or I can try to get approved to have surgery in the US. It is going to be a hard sell on my husband but I am really going to look at doing it. I am going to a seminar in October that will give me more information. The place that I am looking at does the sleeve laproscopically or open RNY. I think I'd rather have the sleeve, I don't want an open surgery but this may not be my choice. I think the sleeve would be enough to get me on the right track. Just wondering what others have done, what is the recovery time like and the amount of time in the hospital? Being that I would have to go across the border I don't want to have to be in hospital in another country for longer than I have to be. If I had a laproscopic sleeve done would I go home the same day? Heck my dh had his gallbladder out laproscopically and went home the same day!

[jillybean720]

When it comes to weight loss surgery, open versus laparoscopic is not a huge difference for most. Obviously, the open procedure would leave a larger scar, but for most of us, even after you've lost weight, your tummy won't exactly be bikini-ready anyway! For recovery, the skin really heals faster than the insides. I had my surgery completely laparoscopically, but I was in the hospital for 4 days because my fever wasn't coming down as quickly as they wanted it to (a bit of a fever immediately following surgery is not abnormal).

I have heard of not having to stay overnight for a laparoscopic VSG, but it's quite rare - you're usually in the hospital for one night, possibly 2 if they are watching something specific (like my fever). With something like a gall bladder removal, it's not usually very complicated, whereas with the removal of the majority of the stomach, they need to make sure there are no leaks along the staple line, no strictures, etc. Plus, if you end up traveling for your surgery, most surgeons want you stay in the area for a week or two afterwards just to be sure you have no complications and are safe to travel home.

[Jen]

I think they are quite used to have Canucks come across the border for surgery and then going home a day or 2 later. In my case I live about 1 hr away from the hospital where I'd have the surgery. Anyways I'm not really concerned about having a scar, I have a huge one from my c-sections, just thinking that laproscopically would have a faster recovery time overall but you're right it all depends on a lot of other factors.