Hello

[Lilbird6]

Hello all,
I am new to this site. I had an RNY in 2013, decent weight loss I think.
HW 315, Surgery Day 267. CW 165. I am 5' 2", age 60.
I am in Canada. My surgeon is Dr. Reed in Guelph.

I have had some major issues along the way these past 3 years and now my Dr. is suggesting some additional revision surgery.
We have not gone into any great detail for it as i am not sure i want more surgery... or to loose my pouch lol.. I am also scared of gaining back my weight..
Has anyone had revision surgery from RNY to DS.. as I gather that is the plan he has, although I am not 100% sure. Will know more next week.
Thanks for adding me to the site.

 

[DianaCox]

Who is your surgeon? RNY to DS is the most difficult revision, but there are a very few surgeons in Canada who are capable.

There are several RNY to DS patients here - they'll be here soon to offer their advice - but it would be helpful if you make another post with "RNY to DS revision in Canada" in the title.

The other thing, if it's Gagner in particular, you need to make sure you know EXACTLY what surgery he plans to give you - it may not be the DS, but some variant that he's always playing around with - there have been people who woke up with something that wasn't a proper DS.

 

[Larra]

Hi again! I'm so glad you found your way here. Revisions are complex and the more you know, the better the decisions you can make, about what to have done, which surgeon, or whether or not to have a revision at all. These can be tough decisions. We do have several people here who have had RNY to DS revisions and hopefully they will offer you some insight regarding their experiences. When you talk with your surgeon (if he remains your surgeon) next week, you will have a much better idea what questions to ask.
Regarding Dr. Gagner, there is no doubt that he is fully capable of doing RNY to DS revisions. We have seen some people (really not a big number but they do stand out) who got operations that were not what they expected, for reasons unknown to us. If you end up with him, or really with any potential revision surgeon, you need to discuss up front what is acceptable to you and what isn't, what would be plan B if plan A isn't possible, and put it all in writing.

 

[Lilbird6]

My surgeon is Reed In Guelph. I am aware there is another patient of his who is booked presently for a revision from RNY to DS, by him, in April. We have not as of yet discussed the surgery in great detail for me. As we were attempting to do some more testing.. he and my Endocrinologist were trying to get me in for a specific blood test (GLP-1) but unfortunately it is not done any where near me.

I had a revision done in May 2015 for ulcers in the junction below my pouch, this was a fast decision surgery as the ulcers were almost burnt through my bowel area and they had to remove 4" or so of the bowel and little bit of bottom of my pouch and of course redo the junction.

I am living mostly on protein shakes presently, NOT loosing but not gaining either.. I can eat a little but anything with solid type consistency will come back up as a rule. Soft yogurt and shakes seem to be the only thing I can keep in. I am nauseous most of the time, severe headaches, the hypoglycemia is bad to say the least. If i eat 5 soda crackers with Peanut butter I can hit 13.8 in almost immediately and then back to below 2 in less than 40 mins. I usually can catch it before it drops to the low 2s. Its hard to monitor when I eat.. if I DO NOT eat I have no issues.....my fasting sugars are ok, and I never had sugar diabetes prior to my surgery. I am the RARE case it seems in my area, I have had many issues but with no rhyme or reason... I could be the dam poster child for WLS as far as my eating and following the program... and yet I really have had a ruff go of it.
Ty Larra for bringing me to the site.
Any input or help would be appreciated. ty all.

 

[CaraOC]

Hi Lilbird and welcome. I'm a newbie too. I was a lapband to DS revision so cannot help with your unique needs but can tell you that the huge collective knowledge base of this site is exactly what you need.

 

[DSRIGGS]

Welcome. It sounds like you are having a rough go and are having dumping symptoms. A DS revision would eliminate that problem but as pointed out a very experienced DS revision surgery is needed as this is a procedure that not many are qualified to do.

FYI - you didn't fail the surgery, it failed you.

I am a revision patient but my revision was to correct an improper DS where my alimentary limb was made way too short and caused bad malnutrition for me. So although a region patient I can't speak to RnY GBP to DS but as the ladies mentioned there are several here who did have that revision.

This place is a wealth of knowledge and you will find incredible support and information here to answer your questions so you can make a fully informed decision on what you choose to do.

Again, welcome to our family.

 

[southernlady]

Welcome @Lilbird6

Reactive hypoglycemia is hell. I have it and know what you are talking about.

If i eat 5 soda crackers with Peanut butter I can hit 13.8 in almost immediately and then back to below 2 in less than 40 mins. I usually can catch it before it drops to the low 2s. Its hard to monitor when I eat.. if I DO NOT eat I have no issues.....my fasting sugars are ok, and I never had sugar diabetes prior to my surgery. I am the RARE case it seems in my area,

For those who don't know the metric system of measuring. http://www.joslin.org/info/conversion_table_for_blood_glucose_monitoring.html

A 2 is very low... know I've heard the manta "4 on the floor" meaning if you got below a 4, you usually passed out from low blood sugar.

And while you may feel an anomaly where you are, having RH after the RNY is not unheard of even if you never had diabetes before surgery.
http://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/25/4/217.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3190577/
http://www.news-medical.net/news/2005/10/12/13727.aspx date on the article is 2005
http://www.uptodate.com/contents/noninsulinoma-pancreatogenous-hypoglycemia-syndrome
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22398113

Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Symptoms secondary to dumping have been suggested to help patients refrain from simple carbohydrate ingestion after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). During follow-up examinations, we noted many patients with weight regain complaining of fatigue shortly after eating. Thus, we decided to study the glucose tolerance test (GTT) results in a cohort of post-RYGB patients.

METHODS:
A total of 63 RYGB patients, >6 months postoperatively, were studied with a GTT and measurement of insulin levels. The mean age was 48.5 ± 10.8 years, mean preoperative body mass index was 49.0 ± 6.5 kg/m(2), mean percentage of excess body mass index lost was 64.5% ± 29.0%, mean weight regain at follow-up was 11.6 ± 12.4 lb, and mean follow-up period was 47.9 months.

RESULTS:
Of the 63 patients, 49 had abnormal GTT results. Of the 63 patients, 6 were diabetic; however, only 1 of these patients had an elevated fasting glucose level. All 6 patients were diabetic preoperatively. Of the 63 patients, 43 had evidence of reactive hypoglycemia at 1-2 hours after the glucose load. Of these patients, 22 had a maximum/minimum glucose ratio >3:1, including 7 with a ratio >4:1.

CONCLUSION:
The results of the present study have demonstrated that an abnormal GTT result is a common finding after RYGB. Reactive hypoglycemia was found in 43 of 63 patients, with insulin values that do not support nesidioblastosis. It is our hypothesis, that rather than preventing simple carbohydrate ingestion, the induced hypoglycemia that occurs might contribute to weight regain and maladaptive eating in certain post-RYGB patients.

Copyright © 2013 American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The red text is mine.

I am sorry you are dealing with this...it is NOT fun.

 

[hilary1617]

Hello and welcome @Lilbird6 !

 

[Larra]

It sure sounds like something needs to be done, and I'm sorry you are going through such severe complications, which are 100% not your fault. Just make sure that if you do have surgery, you know what is going to be done and that your surgeon is qualified to do it.

 

[Lilbird6]

Ty all for the warm welcomes and the support. .

 

[aaa]

Hello.

 

[Jen-2]

Hello and welcome to the board. Good luck as you move forward w your revision.

 

[JuliaDS]

Hello all,
I am new to this site. I had an RNY in 2013, decent weight loss I think.
HW 315, Surgery Day 267. CW 165. I am 5' 2", age 60.
I am in Canada. My surgeon is Dr. Reed in Guelph.

I have had some major issues along the way these past 3 years and now my Dr. is suggesting some additional revision surgery.
We have not gone into any great detail for it as i am not sure i want more surgery... or to loose my pouch lol.. I am also scared of gaining back my weight..
Has anyone had revision surgery from RNY to DS.. as I gather that is the plan he has, although I am not 100% sure. Will know more next week.
Thanks for adding me to the site.

Hello @Lilbird6 and welcome! You'll find a wealth of great information and support here.