did you have the....

lap rny using the davinci robot arms?? thats what my doctor is doing and he said that instead of stapling my stomach he will use the arms and sew me up which makes for a faster recovery.... ive heard soooo many people say they hurt on the left side opening where the stapler went in and im hoping that i wont have a huge problem with pain. im super excited to be getting such good treatment and im wondering if anyone else had it done using the davinci??
thanks!

Nope. My doctor used the stapler.

I had it done this way. I had my surgery June 27, and I am fully healed now. (Somewhat)! LOL!
My scars are healed. I have 6 scars. The one on the left side was the worse. It was the last one healed. And I thought the pain would never go away. I even called people and questioned it. But just like they and my surgeon said...It was the area where the biggest cut was and it would heal in time. And it did. I really found that at times when I was doing too much is when it was most irritated. So after a while it didn't bother me at all. I stopped taking pain medicine the same week I got home. No staples and I did heal pretty fast. Hope this helps........... sharon

thanks so much for you reply, it definently helped! hope you journey is going great!

hmmmm davinci robot arms sound familiar to me.  I wonder if I've heard it while on hold with the Doc's office.  I'm picturing those giant arms that you see on a car assembly line, lol.  I'm sure it's not like that.
Think my surgery is early Sept.  I'm going to ask about those arm things.

Well there it is.  Just looked up the website of my Doc and they use it.  You will have to let me know how you got on with it.

bahahaha! your reply had me crackin up!  i will definently let you know how it goes! hope you get your surgery date soon!

I did, I did!  I had my surgery 7/21/11 and it went off without too much of a hitch.  I was in surgery a bit longer then the standard but it had nothing to do with the procedure type.  I'm healing up just fine and haven't taken pain meds since my 3rd day post op.  No biggie.  No extra pain on the left side for me.  I've had a pretty good recovery so far.  Down 15 lbs to boot!

Woo Hooooooo

Good luck and can't wait until you're on this side of things. :) 
Ginger

wow! congrats on the weight loss, thats awesome! glad to know that things went smooth for ya, my date is coming up and as each day gets closer i seem to freak out more, im not going to back out but im definently getting more scared but i feel better after reading you post, thanks for replying!

Amanda, I freaked out for the first time when I was about 2 weeks. I had an all out bawl session in my bedroom over a stupid commercial about a mom making dinner for the family!! I thought to myself "I'm never going to be able to do that again! I'm never going to make fried chicken and be able to eat it with the kids"  Uhhh note to self: you have NEVER made fried chicken. LOL 

I also had some moments thinking "Wait!! I can do this on my own!!! Maybe I don't need surgery?"  I had to think to myself "Ok silly FAT girl, you're 330 lbs because YOU could do it on your own.  You're 330lbs and MISERABLE because of how well YOU have done 'on your own'" So if you have these moments, make sure and be logical and REAL with yourself.  Look yourself dead in the eyes (mirror is necessary) and talk openly and HONESTLY with yourself.  

So don't worry..... freaking out pre-op is totally normal.  Keep your eyes on the prize and pursue your destiny and your dream!!! 

Don't worry Amanda, you got this!! 
Ginger

ginger,
you cracked me up with the fried chicken thing lol, ive been saying that alot too like oh this is the last time ill eat this or that or have an ice cold coke! but im trying hard not to think like that tho. how often do you hop on the scale and weigh yourself? i want to try to hold out for my 2 week checkup but dont know if i will lol.thanks sooo much for your encouragment its so helpful and uplifting!!