Anyone go home same day as surgery?

[TexasT 99]

I'm scheduled for a band to VGS revision on October 30, but will also be having my gallbladder removed at the same time. My surgeon (who banded me in 2006) said it will be an outpatient procedure just like my band was. After reading about all the people that went to Mexico for surgery and were in the hospital for several days, I'm wondering about being able to go home the same day.

Has anyone else on this board gone home the same day? Any complications from doing so? My doc is right next door to a hospital and I do barium swallows, fills, etc. in his office which is not far from where I live (Dallas metro area). I'm not worried about having a problem and not being near medical help, but just wonder how others handled pain, etc. at home.

[Tiffykins 673]

I had my band to sleeve revision done here in Florida, and was scheduled to stay in the hospital for 3 total days, 2 nights. My surgeon performs 3 leak tests. The last leak test being performed on the day of discharge. From everything I've seen here and on a couple of other boards, the average stay is 2-3 days.

I'm grateful that he requires the 3 days. On the day of discharge a leak was found on the last test, and it was repaired immediately. The reason for my leak was due to the damage the band caused to my stomach. Leak risks triple with revisions, and I'm so glad they found it before I was discharged.

[kromrider 3]

I had my surgery in NYC on Thursday and went home on Sat. It would have been tough for me to be home the same day.

[shanda7182 5]

From my research, most people at least say overnight. I know I was told that all of my surgeon's patients go to the ICU (as a extra precaution) right after surgery for 24 hrs, then are transferred to the regular medical-surgical floor for maybe 8-12 hours or so at least. This is mostly for safety and pain control. I was told that I would have a morphine pump directly after surgery, I guess as an outpatient they do oral pain management? I dont know.

I wish you all the best in your decision/surgery.

[Oregon Rose 2]

I had my sleeve done in San Francisco, and I stayed overnight. Surgery was at 7:30 A.M. Was discharged about 1 P.M. the next day.

Do you have any friends who are nurses, parametics? If you do go home same day, you might want to ask them to watch you for about 24 hours. You can also hire a nurse from a home care agency if you don't know anyone.

It would make me very nervous to go home so soon after VSG.

My very best.:cursing:

[Phoenixrising 0]

I had my surgery on Friday (late morning early afternoon time). I was taken off the IV Saturday and the drain came out on Sunday after a total of 4 leak tests were done.

By the time the drain came out I was able to walk with no problems and by Sunday afternoon was able to swallow meds (albeit no horse pills). I went home Monday morning.

I know that many surgeons have a standard amount to time they keep their patients in the hospital and that is a good thing. I think it is a better thing though that the surgeon individualize the treatment. I have NO doubt that if I need to stay longer either in the hospital or hotel I could have. I was just glad I did not HAVE to. I would have gone stir crazy being in the hospital for 3 days no matter how nice the hospital is. I also was glad to be able to go home to my own house, my own bed, my own kitties since there was no real "medical" reason for me to stay longer.

[MacMadame 81]

I think it's pretty common in the US to stay overnight. There is one surgeon I know of who does this surgery on an outpatient basis. I don't agree with that, myself. I think the risk of leaks is high enough that it would make me extremely uncomfortable to be discharged that day. Most surgeons believe a minimum of 24 hours of observation is necessary for this operation.

The situation in MX is different for a number of reasons. One of which is that people are coming from other countries. You don't want to put someone on a plane for hours at a time the day after having surgery. You want to observe them longer. My surgeon does the same for out of town patients. They don't say in the hospital because the price would be exorbitant. They say in a nearby hotel and don't go home until they are cleared by the doctor. I'm pretty sure other US surgeons with a big out-of-town practice do the same.

[burnsun 27]

I felt fine the next day..... I would have been confident going home. BUT I AM CRAZY! I always have done natural child birth and been runing around quicker than any nurse wanted (and hour in bed was almost impossible for me) and we will not discuss the things I did after my c section when I finally woke up!

Sometime with SDS with my kids we get the 23 hour thing in the surgery center!

[TexasT 99]

So basically my answer so far is a resounding "NO!". Boy, oh boy - do I need to have another talk with my surgeon. Oregon Rose, no - I don't know anyone in the medical field locally, so I have no one to call on in that area to help out.

I'm actually even re-thinking the decision to have surgery again in the first place. I went in to the doc because I've been having abdominal pain and think it's probably from adhesions (after 2 C-sections I had tons of them, which were removed during a hysterectomy) caused by the band surgery. There was a report in my file from my internist showing I might have gallstones, so my surgeon jumped on it and and said we should remove the gallbladder, get rid of any adhesions and do a sleeve while we're at it. I had never even heard of a sleeve before he mentioned it.

My husband thinks the doc just wants to get more $$ from me since I was a self-pay, and that I really don't need to get a sleeve. I'm afraid that I may have complications in the future, so why not get the band out now while I'm already being operated on? Since I'm prone to adhesions, more surgeries in the future will just make them worse. I know it's my body and only I can make this decision of what to do with it - but it 's just a lot to consider...

[DownInSocal 12]

Oh my. I stayed 2 nights and three days. Was supposed to be 3 nights and 4 days but I begged out early. I was ready to go home.

I honestly can not even imagine going home the same day and I didn't even have my gallbladder removed. I had my husband with me and still needed the hospital staff and doctors doing their rounds the first 24 hours. I needed my urine output monitored. I needed a morphine pump the first 24 hours. You are not going to get that at home.

I feel you need a second opinion. Being self pay it is tough decision. Just to take out an organ cus you are there does not seem like a good enough reason to me.

[TexasT 99]

Thanks for the info. Just today I made an appointment with a gastrointerologist for a second opinion on the gall bladder issue. My appt is on 9/23.

I also have a call into my surgeon's office to talk about the outpatient situation too. His receptionist had VSG two yrs ago and she's the one who is supposed to call me back to tell me her experience, along with what his other patients do.

As for the morphine pump, I've heard some people take liquid morphine, so that might be something my doc does. I'll just wait to see what his office says.

[DownInSocal 12]

Just in my exp I don't know that I could have swolled any amount of morphine the first 24 hours. I was not allowed to swallow anything but my own spit the first 24 hours. I used the swabbies to keep my mouth moist but was careful not to swallow.

After 24 hours I was allowed to drink some Water. I could only drink about 1/8 an ounce to 1/4 an ounce. Yes that is right, an ounce. So if the liquid morphine dose is 15 mL as an example you are going to be drinking it slow. Will it be able to get on top of your pain as fast? I don't know. I would be worried about it. But again that is just me. Oh also I was onl liquid loritab after the morphine pump was taken away and it hit my stomach like a freight train, I could feel it going down and spreading around my stomach, not really painful but ........concerning is the word. I had to drink a little Water, then loritab, then water, then loritab. The first 3 days it took 30-40 mins just to get my pain meds drank. I don't know how hard liquid morphine is on the stomach.

Again maybe just me.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I was not allowed to drink anything for 24 hours either. The next day, I was supposed to drink 2 oz every 20 min and it was very difficult for me to drink that slowly. I wanted to drink whatever they put in front of me. I was not on any pain meds what so ever 24 hours after surgery. I drank broth, crystal lite,and apple juice all day long with no pain or problems.

So, we are all different. My biggest problem was timing myself to drink slow enough because I didn't want to get a leak, but I was not in any pain from drinking and felt completely normal.

[TexasT 99]

I just got off the phone with a nurse at my doc's office and had several things clarified. I WILL be staying overnight at the hospital - I'll be admitted as an outpatient, then he will sign for me to stay. I will also have a morphine pump that will last 3 days. He will do a leak test day of surgery and again before I go home. Then I will return a week after surgery for staple removal and follow-up.

I also got all the pertinent info regarding quantity of surgeries he's done (sleeves, revisions, etc.). His overall complication rate is 0.04%, which I consider pretty darn good.

The info the nurse originally gave me for going home the same day was because she thought I was only having my gall bladder removed. She had no idea I was having a revision. Boy oh Boy - this confusion caused me a lot of mental anguish. But things look good now. The only thing I'm concerned about is having to dish out all my savings if there are complications from the sleeve - but with my guy's complication rate I feel like my chances for success are very good. He's the same one that did my lap band and I've not had a slippage, erosion, or flipped port, etc. so I trust him.

Thanks for everyone's input. It really helps to know what your experiences have been for those of us that have yet to go through it.

[cajun 46]

How long ago was your band removed? Has it been at least a year?

I think I have read on this forum that Dr Aceves sometimes will remove the gallbladder, perform the sleeve, and also do a hiatal hernia repair...am I right? But he keeps his patients for four days...that makes me feel really safe...I would be very anxious about travelling on a plane a day after sleeve surgery....very scary thought to me. Even if I lived in the same town, leaving the hospital after a day sounds scary to me. So much can go wrong. Maybe I'm just chicken!