Hey Everyone, I'm excited, anxious, and scared all at the same time, LOL! Is this normal?

[southernlady]

Wow you all ROCK, thank you so much! Had my Psych eval today, I think it went well...made me feel even more confident I am doing the right thing. I have my upper GI on fri! I love the support here and can't wait to give back to others up here! To @KathrynK, my surgeon is Dr. Jon Bruce, in Cary NC, haven't discussed length of common channel, next appointment I will ask that question and more I have.

Make sure you clarify the common channel with him. We've seen operative reports from his office that do a two anastomoses DS but with a 300 cm common channel which is excessively long.

 

[WillJackson]

Hi @writegirl!! Where were you 10 hours ago?!!! haha, I got sleepy around question 229, hahaha! You hit A. and C. ON POINT! We'll see about B. and D.

Does anybody know if they would submit to insurance early? All I have left is my upper GI (this fri) and my nutrition class (mid july). My insurance "calendar year" ends 8/31. I would hate to have to start all over again.

 

[WillJackson]

thank you @southernlady! What's the standard length of the common channel? 100cm?

 

[southernlady]

thank you @southernlady! What's the standard length of the common channel? 100cm?

Actually the true DS is done by the Hess Method where the total length of the small intestine is measured and then a percentage is used to create the common channel. http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/d...roper-parameters-of-the-duodenal-switch.3931/

But many of us do just fine with a 100 cm common channel. I am a lightweight (35.2 BMI for surgery) and my surgeon made mine longer. He said between 175 to 200 and I got him to use 175.

 

[writegirl]

Actually the true DS is done by the Hess Method where the total length of the small intestine is measured and then a percentage is used to create the common channel. http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/d...roper-parameters-of-the-duodenal-switch.3931/

But many of us do just fine with a 100 cm common channel. I am a lightweight (35.2 BMI for surgery) and my surgeon made mine longer. He said between 175 to 200 and I got him to use 175.

Just before surgery I got to ask him about mine and he said he thought it would be between 100-175. I'll be interested to get my hands on the surgical report.

 

[WillJackson]

@southernlady, i'm a heavyweight (48.1 BMI), lol. I will make sure to ask him at my next appointment. Thank you.

How long does the DS surgery take? I've seen numbers from 2 hrs to 5 hrs? How much pain will I feel right after surgery? Is it that different for everybody. I saw one person say they felt no pain at all....as you can see, I'm not a fan of much pain . Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Clematis]

Yes please be sure you know EXACTLY what type of surgery you are getting. You only have one chance to get it right. Make the surgeon draw you a diagram and estimate the length of the limbs. Ask if he does the Hess Method. (Just asking this will show him you are smarter than the average patient.) If he insists on an absurdly long common channel due to "problems with malnutrition" insist that you are well educated on not only the importance of nutrition and supplementation but knowledgeable on the proper amounts of supplements and nutrients as well. (And make sure you've read enough here to be telling the truth.) Have this discussion well BEFORE the day of surgery!!

My virgin DS was 3-4 hours. For others it's 5 hours. Recently someone posted it only took an hour. (I can't imagine that!!!) It all depends on what they discover once they get in. Once you're sedated, it won't make a lot of difference to you if it's 3 hours or 5 hours.

I was in the hospital for 4 days and on morphine the first 3. After that I had nothing, not even tylenol. I was a little sore, especially when trying to turn over in bed. I was in a cab 5 days post o that hit every pot hole and that hurt. But I was not in any serious pain. (I had lap DS, not open incision.) But I was EXHAUSTED. I had no energy for a couple of months, at first from the surgery itself and then from the rapid metabolic changes and rapid weight loss.

 

[WillJackson]

Thanks @Clematis!