Armen K. Kasabian, MD

I was scheduled for 1-24-11. I was terrified. My first fear, of course, was not surviving the operation. Fear #2 was never being able to see my son just in case #1 happened. My 3rd fear was the IV....which I'm always terries to get. I drove mr car from Suffolk County, LI and my bf followed. He decided he wanted to race...so ha ha..he got to pick up my mother while I went to the hospital.
They called me in pretty quickly to get me registered and to send me to the back to change and get ready for surgery.
So now, I'm terried and all alone/ Rob and mom came in about 10 mn later, just in time for the IV nurse come in, which triggered a panic attack).
I started to cry. but my bf and mom talked me through it. Then the anesthesiologist came in and I explained that I have a high tolerance for drugs and that I had panic disorder. He wanted me to walk into the OR...but I cant handle that. Then he gave ,e come versed and I felt better.
Then I spoke with the surgeon who marked the surgery spots. I said goodbye to my mom and bf and was wheeled into the OR. THAT WAS SCARY. I was told me move onto the OR table, and I was more calm than I expected myself to be (Thank you Versed!)Next thing I remember, I was in recovery. They had a lot of trouble controlling my pain. They tried morphine, dilaudud, Ketamine and methadone. Nothing worked. I was in severe constant painfor about 12 hours.
Finally a doc from pain management came down and sked ME what would work. I told him Oxycontin would be all that worked...and I was right. i felt a lot more comft after that.
Then I was admitted (usually this is outpatient0. Gettin out of bed the day after surgery was hard....but I got to leave the next day.
My bf and I spent 5 ntes in a hotel room cuz I couldnt take the 12 step walk up to my appt. I'd say the pain was SEVERE for the first 3 days. Now I'm almost a month out and I still have pain...but nothing advil cant handle.
I'm 29 and in pretty good physical condition.



Updated on 21 Feb 2011:


Updated on 21 Feb 2011:
I forgot to mention, I had this surgery after losing 240lbs after a Gastric Bypass in 2005 and also having a pregnancy that resulted in a c section in 2007.

My family took care of my son for 2 full weeks to let me recuperate. I'm 4 weeks out now and I still cant pick my little guy up (he weighs about 50lbs), but he helps me out a lot.

Updated on 5 Apr 2011:
Today is April 5 and I feel great. I had a minor setback and had a small hole on the righthand side of my incision right above my pubic line that was about 1 inch long and 1 inch deep. I kept it clean with Betadine and Bacitracin and it's almost closed now. I'm still swollen and now that I'm not in pain anymore I'm 10000000% happy I did it. Next stop....arms and breast implants!

Updated on 5 Apr 2011: