About me and Looking for a good DS surgeon on LONG ISLAND, NY

[southernlady]

Southerlady
I read the thread on WHAT IF..it was very entertaining. And I actually told my fiance months ago that if an apocalypse happened he would have to go for the guns, knives, ammo and weapons. And I would hit up the beef jerky and vitamins/minerals! lol

But I can not find the thread on older age. If anyone does find it if you could let me know that would be awesome. I have to go to work I will check again later. Thanks! have a wonderful day everyone

FOUND it: http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/what-happens-when-we-get-old.2101/

 

[southernlady]

Ok thank you everyone! I am going to check out the threads you suggested later on today.

I did have one question, I know you obviously do not go in this with the intentions of undoing it. But my understanding is that is it is absolutely necessary the switch part can be undone and put back the way your body was original intended to be.
So if too much weight loss occurs or too much malabsorption that just can not be caught back up on, then the doctor would reverse that.
I know the sleeve can not be undone, which is not that big of a problem since it does stretch out over time.

I guess I am asking has anyone talked to or known of someone who had to get it reversed? Were there any issues with the reversal?

LOL I think I tend to analyze everything every which way and like to ease my extreme nerves (although not many) with a fail safe if all else fails.

Also thank you I do understand a light weight, I knew there were people with way more then me to loose. I admire you all so much you do not understand. I could not imagine loosing 100 on my own especially with pcos and I could just imagine all your struggles as well.

Talking it out with other people who were or are in the same position as me really helps and everyone has been very nice. On another forum I kind of felt attacked for asking so many questions lol. I was even told if I have a medical condition threatening my eyesight and blindness, that has not caused me to change then I would never be able to meet the commitments and responsibilities of the DS life long so not to bother getting it!
Meanwhile that poster doesnt know me and definitely just assumed that I am a uncontrollable glutton. I have tried to loose weight on low carb diets, on pcos diets, on every diet imaginable over my life time. But especially lately due to the PTC (psuedotumor ceribi). The chronic fatigue, PCOS, and ptc makes it hard to get out of bed sometimes never mind exercise, and I even get so nauseous that I barely eat some days.

I have been on so many medications, daily pills and liquid to treat holistically, and been in so much pain. Depressed I can not stop having pounding headaches, insane whooshing in my ear, pressure in my head, so tired...I feel that if I can deal with all of this and taking all of those meds and pills before hand I most definitely feel that whatever obstacles may arise from the DS surgery, or any and all meds and vitamins/minerals I need to take daily would doable. And without any issues or complaints to tell you the truth, the inability to go anywhere. The actually want to not leave bed, or the house, pain so on should be gone after I loose all the weight. Pcos and PTC should go into remission and life without the affects of those 2 things...even the thought of it makes me want to cry cause I can not even imagine a life like that, I have been suffering from them for so long.

I guess I am trying to convince myself to take the leap. That no matter what the trade off will be worth it, and I can conquer whatever issues may arise in the future. And that no matter what it is that comes up will not be as hard as the issues I have and am dealing with now.

THANKS again for listening (reading lol)

No, we don't go into this with the intentions of ever undoing it...BUT it is possible to reverse the switch part or do a Kissing X if more absorption is needed. Kissing X...a connection is created above the common channel between the two limbs of the DS. That kinda lengthens the common channel.

But even if YOU think you are too small, only if you get below a 19 BMI do you need to seriously consider a way to gain some lbs wisely. First option is to add complex carbs...mostly veggies. Say you keep your carbs under 50, maybe increase to 75. That type of thing. IF that doesn't help much, try adding creon which helps you absorb more calories but is limited in that it only works while you take it. There is another kind similar to creon that is available as well but I can't remember the kind.

But reversal can be dangerous. You must go into something like that as healthy as possible. Just a month or so ago, a lady on FB went in for a reversal and did not survive. We are not sure why and she was in the hands of a well known DS surgeon. So reversal should always be a LAST resort type thing and only done in the hands of the best DS surgeons.

As to headaches...have you had bloodwork, esp a FULL iron panel. One sign of low ferritin (under 50) is headaches. Other signs include RLS. I had RLS secondary...and it reappears when my ferritin gets below 50 OR my iron Sat % gets below 30%. http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/low-iron-or-what-to-take-to-a-hematologist.1498/

Deciding to have weight loss surgery IS a big step. And getting all your concerns answered ahead of time usually only brings up MORE thoughts. I wavered for months trying to understand the DS...probably made more than one vet mad at me for being such a dunce. But once I got it, it stuck and now I help others in their quest to understand all this.

I am sorry other boards you've visited have been so presuming.

As for diets...I tried from the age of 12 when I hit puberty and developed PCOS (altho back then they did not know what it was), and all I succeeded in doing was break my metabolism. I could lose weight...but it took SO much to keep it off. ONE slip and it all came back and brought friends. My PCOS developed into prediabetes by the time I was 30 and I became a full blown diabetic less than 10 years later. Learning that HOW I ate kept me in the lightweight camp. That's why the DS way of eating is ideal for me and I knew it the minute I heard about it.

I had to google PTC...no clue what that was but sounds much like NPH (Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus) which is a condition my husband deals with and Dr. Pomp was able to work around the fact that my husband has a shunt that ends in his belly. My husband's shunt was placed in 2006 and he had his DS in Dec. 2010.

Whoever you decide to see, make sure you place ALL your medical conditions on the table with THAT surgeon but explain why YOU feel a particular surgery is best.

Btw, the first Hess patient had his DS in 1988...last anyone heard he was still alive and doing well. My last 4 years have been far more enjoyable than ALL the years before the DS and I'm 60, pushing 61. I fully intend on living to be 100! And I am glad I got all my major comorbids behind me and don't have to deal with them for the next 40 years.