Sleeve op during Covid times? Go ahead or wait??

[Sophie2015 1]

Hi, my sleeve was going to happen 6 days ago but I had to reschedule as I was unsure if going under the knife during Covid was a good decision. I have postponed it to 21 Jan. However I am still in two minds.

Any advice? I would love to hear from someone who has had it recently.

The reason for my hesitation is when I spoke to the nurse for pre op, I asked her if this is good time(considering the pandemic), she said and I quote " after general anaesthesia, the body and organs will not work full on for a little while, and if I was to catch Covid on the ward (its a secure hospital but still there is a chance ) that my lungs won't be able to fight it as it would usually.

Any ideas? Please advise. Im thinking to leave it until the summer but frankly I don't want to.

Merry Xmas.

[JacquelineC 43]

You have to do what you feel comfortable doing.

[RTL1234 99]

30 minutes ago, Sophie2015 said:

Hi, my sleeve was going to happen 6 days ago but I had to reschedule as I was unsure if going under the knife during Covid was a good decision. I have postponed it to 21 Jan. However I am still in two minds.

Any advice? I would love to hear from someone who has had it recently.

The reason for my hesitation is when I spoke to the nurse for pre op, I asked her if this is good time(considering the pandemic), she said and I quote " after general anaesthesia, the body and organs will not work full on for a little while, and if I was to catch Covid on the ward (its a secure hospital but still there is a chance ) that my lungs won't be able to fight it as it would usually.

Any ideas? Please advise. Im thinking to leave it until the summer but frankly I don't want to.

Merry Xmas.

It is such a personal decision. For myself, I decided it was still an okay time to do it. However, my surgery was at an outpatient surgery center. This made me feel more comfortable than being in the hospital near covid patients. Though at least at the local hospital they are keeping covid separate from other patients so you may not even encounter a covid positive person.

As someone in healthcare, I can understand that after any surgery you are in a weakened state, but it wouldn’t mean your heart or lung health wouldn’t fight for you. You may be more susceptible to acquiring covid, but it doesn’t mean you would have the worst case scenario if you did. Hope this helps a bit!

it definitely is a very personal decision. But know whatever you decide for yourself will be the right one!!

[Sophie2015 1]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. I was just browsing the forums of people who have done it in the past few months and Thankfully, they are still with us sharing with us about their experience.

My surgery will take place in a private hospital which doesn't treat or admit Covid patients, so I am going to go ahead with it. Enough waiting.

As you have been through it yourself, would you (or anyone else ) be able to shed a bit of light on what I can what expect right after the surgery? Do you feel the stomach is sliced? Pain wise? I was terrified when the surgeon mentioned stitches and leaking......

Thank you so much and Merry Christmas.

[RTL1234 99]

19 minutes ago, Sophie2015 said:

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. I was just browsing the forums of people who have done it in the past few months and Thankfully, they are still with us sharing with us about their experience.

My surgery will take place in a private hospital which doesn't treat or admit Covid patients, so I am going to go ahead with it. Enough waiting.

As you have been through it yourself, would you (or anyone else ) be able to shed a bit of light on what I can what expect right after the surgery? Do you feel the stomach is sliced? Pain wise? I was terrified when the surgeon mentioned stitches and leaking......

Thank you so much and Merry Christmas.

I have not experienced any bleeding or leaking from my sites. Which they did say was normal if it happened. Pain wise the first couple days were rough. More from the constant nausea and vomiting I couldn’t control. Which just made the belly hurt! I had several different nausea meds I was taking and they added in a one time dose of a strong nausea pill and it made all the difference! It didn’t take long and I was feeling better!

My surgery was on 12/22, today 3 days out I sat in the floor with the kids while they opened gifts, fed my daughter Breakfast, and have been up on the couch sipping slowly today. Today feels like I’ve turned over a new leaf! I still am taking my pain medications every 6 hours which is helping. I skipped one overnight and was super sensitive this morning but otherwise doing good!

Everyone has a different pain tolerance. I’ve always had a high pain tolerance, but not tolerant at throwing up. I’m a weakling when it comes to vomiting. Whiney too, lol. Overall, it hasn’t been a bad experience and I have no buyers remorse as of yet!

[Sophie2015 1]

Thank you RTL for sharing your post experience with me. Hearing this makes all the difference, literally inspiring and encouraging me to g ahead with the sleeve.

Any tips re pre op? my dietician has put me on a milk diet (semi skimmed milk for 1 week before op, Water and tea unlimited) no solids.

[RTL1234 99]

43 minutes ago, Sophie2015 said:

Thank you RTL for sharing your post experience with me. Hearing this makes all the difference, literally inspiring and encouraging me to g ahead with the sleeve.

Any tips re pre op? my dietician has put me on a milk diet (semi skimmed milk for 1 week before op, Water and tea unlimited) no solids.

You just gotta white knuckle it. It sucked. Bad. But after the 3 rd day it got better for me! I had some semi solid (hard boiled eggs) and some lean Protein once a day so that helped a lot keep me feeling “normal”. It was still very low calorie and basically no carb. Once you get into ketosis though it gets better. The cravings and pangs aren’t that bad. Just be strong and you got this!

I found so much encouragement in this board. I used the search function and searched for every fear, or anxiety I had knowing there was a ton of people before me feeling the same way. I read posts from 2008-2010, ten years ago and felt the same way as many of them. It’s been very helpful!

[Nurse Jenn 3]

Staying the same weight you are now puts you at a higher risk of dying from COVID.

I would argue this time is as good as a time as ever.

[bufbills 316]

Very few things could have stopped me. Covid wouldn't even be a consideration for me.

Edited January 3, 2021 by bufbills

[LindasBlu 18]

I had mine Nov 30th along with hiatal hernia repair and all went well. No hesitation as I had to try again after an attempt on Oct 21, 2019. Surgeon had a very difficult time taking out my Gastric Band and port due to extensive scar tissue.

Sent from my [smartphone] using BariatricPal mobile app

[blackcatsandbaddecisions 854]

I had mine Nov 10. I wasn’t that concerned. At this point unfortunately Covid is everywhere. Take your precautions, but I wouldn’t let this stop you from taking this step.

[Crick 146]

I just had my surgery Thursday. I was on a “clean wing” - no COVID patients. I think the dangers of Covid and obesity outweighed the fear of catching in the hospital. I would have been more concerned had I had to go to the ER - but I went straight to the surgical section and then to my clean floor after recovery.

[MariaC6 45]

I had mine in August of 2020. Surgeon warned me to quarantine for one month post op for the same reasons, that our bodies just went under so much stress that Covid would be a bad outcome. If you are able to quarantine (and have those in your household follow the rules and mask when they work etc.) you should be ok. Here’s the deal- being morbidly obese and getting COVID is a bad thing. You need to improve your chances and losing weight will greatly improve your health. Pre-op I was a 36 -37 BMI. My weight in January of 2020 was 252. My preop weight was 236 and I’m now 180 and feel amazing! I would definitely do it again