Had consult with Dr. Boyce yesterday

[SJB41976]

Overall, it was a very good consult. Lots of information. He is very kind and compassionate.

He has put me on a 4 week 1,200 calorie diet, then I will be on an 800 calorie a day diet 2 weeks prior to surgery. Not sure when I will exactly start that, and how I will do, it's your basic high protein, low fat, low calorie diet. I would much rather just eat low carb high/good fat paleo-like) than the food choices that were on the sheet he gave me. If you have any thoughts on that let me know.

Nothing has been scheduled. He wants me to come to a seminar (joy...this will be my 3rd at least). I don't know if they push the vitamins in the seminar or not, but I can't imagine why I need to come to a seminar unless it's to learn about their "program". No vitamins were pushed on me yesterday, although he mentioned changing some of my current vitamins with what they have.

My sleeve looks good so *if* I have surgery he will only do the switch part. He told me I would probably be in the hospital a couple of days (that surprised me, thought it would be longer) and that I wouldn't have to stay in Knoxville after I was discharged (I live 3 hours away). He has not had any deaths (yes, I asked) and has done over 1,000 DS's. He showed me a video of the surgery. He told me he was pleased that I had lost 70 pounds with the sleeve and he said he did not look at this like a revision, but the second part of the surgery. In the moment I didn't think about this but, I've gained all that weight back...that can't be good. But I guess he was referencing that I had initially lost weight.

Nothing else stands out except I got all emotional when I was sharing my story, and he was so nice. I pulled it together and was able to move past, but I hate it when I get all teary during those times. He feels this is the best surgery out there. I asked him about poop and other issues and he minimalized those issues if I stuck to the appropriate diet. He pushes low fat diet...it's hard not to ask why, but I just nodded my head.

Turns out he proctored Dr. David Kim in the DS, although he says he doesn't know how many he has done at this point. (Dr. Kim did my sleeve). I was like, "yeah, I'd rather have someone I know that has much experience in this".

 

[southernlady]

Glad you had a good visit with him. And glad you are here to find out how to live with the DS the rest of your life.

 

[Clematis]

That is just super @SJB41976. You must be so happy and relieved to have this road map in place. Soon. All will be well.

 

[newanatomy]

Sounds like you are on a good path. Although he has you on a lot of weeks worth of dieting before hand. Hope you get a date soon.

 

[SJB41976]

@newanatomy I'm not going to follow his 4 week diet, remember he's the one that wants you to have 100 carbs per day. It's a basic high protein, low fat, low calorie diet. I think I could eat paleo (high protein, high good fat, low carb) and still lose whatever he is wanting to see. I do think it is unnecessary because I'm going to basically be doing a 2 week liquid diet before surgery.

If I lose 8-10 pounds before I go back, which I will schedule around the seminar, he will be happy with that. I think he just wants to see that a person is committed (I guess) since the 2 week liquid diet will shrink the liver. If I had had a lower BMI, my 4 week diet would have been shorter. My BMI is 52.

 

[southernlady]

If I had had a lower BMI, my 4 week diet would have been shorter. My BMI is 52.

Yeah, his standard is 50 and above, it's four weeks, under 50, it's 2 weeks. I was the exception. But at a 35.2 BMI, I had NO diet except nothing after midnight the night of surgery. He flat told me NOT to lose anything. Ate everything in sight and still lost 3 lbs before my day of surgery.

 

[duh_Mom]

I had to do 3 weeks because I had one over 50 bmi. Good luck @SJB41976

 

[DSRIGGS]

@newanatomy I'm not going to follow his 4 week diet, remember he's the one that wants you to have 100 carbs per day. It's a basic high protein, low fat, low calorie diet. I think I could eat paleo (high protein, high good fat, low carb) and still lose whatever he is wanting to see. I do think it is unnecessary because I'm going to basically be doing a 2 week liquid diet before surgery.

If I lose 8-10 pounds before I go back, which I will schedule around the seminar, he will be happy with that. I think he just wants to see that a person is committed (I guess) since the 2 week liquid diet will shrink the liver. If I had had a lower BMI, my 4 week diet would have been shorter. My BMI is 52.

You have to do what you have to do but I am record saying it before and I will say it again. Diets before a weight loss surgery are freaking asinine. If we could have lost weight by dieting we would have. I did a five liquid diet for the purposes of making the liver more malleable and some shrinkage. That was for surgical safety and I was fine with that. Dieting to lose weight, I think is just silly, but if you have to do it do your best.

BTW - When I did the 6 month physician supervised diet to meet approval criteria, my PCP and I just made shit up that we were trying every month and I weighed in each visit. I purposely tried not to lose weight out of spite and I still lost 8-10 pounds. LOL I didn't diet one iota... My Dr thought the diet was as stupid as I did and said he wouldn't have recommended me to a Bariatric surgeon if diet was working.

 

[Moonbeam]

Does Boyce do the standard of care duodenal switch with TWO anastomoses, and not the procedure variously known as the SADI, SADI-S, SIPS, LoopDS? I sound like I know what I am talking about, but I really don't yet, but I don't want to spend time with a doc that I won't even use. Thanks!

 

[Larra]

Dr. Boyce has a lot of post-ops around here. Though I'm not one of them (and this thread is old) I can say with certainty that he does the real DS with 2 anastomoses.

 

[chevtow]

Dr. Boyce has a lot of post-ops around here. Though I'm not one of them (and this thread is old) I can say with certainty that he does the real DS with 2 anastomoses.

Yeah damn near two years old lol

 

[southernlady]

Does Boyce do the standard of care duodenal switch with TWO anastomoses, and not the procedure variously known as the SADI, SADI-S, SIPS, LoopDS? I sound like I know what I am talking about, but I really don't yet, but I don't want to spend time with a doc that I won't even use. Thanks!

Yes, he does a traditional DS. Boyce patient 6.5 years out now.

 

[Moonbeam]

Thanks!

 

[writegirl]

Hi SJB, I think I am Dr. Boyce's most recent post op on this group. I had the DS via him on June 19th, so if you (or anyone else interested in his program) want to know anything about my experience with Boyce, feel free to message me. You've gotten good advice already here. I will chime in on the pre-op diet. I am kind of a rebel in a way in that I did NOT do the 4 weeks of Barilife "supplements" that Boyce and staff want you to buy. I did buy a few items, but rather than eat all that packaged crap, I ate a strict paleo-centric 800 calories and counted my intake religiously. So, don't feel pressured to buy the Barilife stuff--you can do the pre-op diet successfully (and I think in a more healthy way) than through the packaged foods they call supplements. You'll no doubt hear more about this stuff in your pre-op nutrition appointment when that rolls around.

I will tell you this about Boyce: He runs a damn tight ship when it comes to surgery. His staff and his surgical assistants do hundreds of these procedures a year (as one of them told me) and they've got the DS down to a science. Boyce had my entire virgin procedure done in 1 hour exactly. I feel very confident in him as a surgeon--he's a great cutter (and anyone on this group would probably agree with that)--however, the nutrition guidelines you get from his office and the ensuing program are, for lack of a better term, wanting (everyone here would nod in agreement on this). That said, this is probably true of just about every qualified DS surgeon. I'm pretty sure that Dr. K is the only DS specialist in the USA that I've heard of who is listening to his DS patients about nutrition. The vets will correct me if I am mistaken on that.

All in all, you'll have a positive experience with Boyce's staff--you'll find Boyce himself very compassionate (as you already noted), and most importantly, you will be as safe as you can probably get with this surgery in his hands. That's not to say he is the most favored surgeon for the DS here, but that he is among the surgeons who are respected and acknowledged as doing safe, traditional procedures with positive outcomes.