I really need your help

[Adam101]

Hello,
This is the first time i'm writing here, i am 47 y.o, 5'8" 340 lbs, not diabetic, my surgery is scheduled 21 April, i am supposed to be on a liquid diet but because of my lactose intolerance i am on a regular diet plan, i lost abt 6 lbs in 6 days n feel happy. My problem has started yesterday after i attended an informational class in the hospital to teach us what n how to eat after the surgery, i was the only one to have the duodenal switch, i felt something wrong, some of them were bigger n heavier than me n diabetic, they were advised by my doctor to do the bypass surgery because it's more safe and still very effective in terms of results so why he advised me to do the DS even tho my BMI is less and i am not diabetic at all.
i watched some videos on youtube, some people take 35 pills per day after DS n need at least 12 vitamins n minerals, is that true? am i gonna spend my life taking 35 pills per day? i was told before 10 pills max. how much will they cost me per month?
I feel very frustrated n confused again with my surgery choice n i am planing to call the hospital on Monday to see if it's possible to switch to bypass or to cancel it.. but again i m not sure if i i'm doing right .. i got already approval from my insurance company for DS.. i feel completely lost n down .. spent days n nights learning abt DS but still i m not confident abt my choice n decision.. any help plz

Adam

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Since your BMI puts YOU in the category of "SUPER MORBIDLY OBESE," it doesn't really matter how fat anyone else is. It DOES matter that you have been advised to get THE MOST EFFECTIVE bariatric surgery there is and you're worried about how many vitamins you're gonna need. (Or you just have pre-op jitters.)

If you call and switch to bypass, you will be asking for a LESS effective surgery. Many who get tbe RnY later attempt to revise to the DS. Almost no one wants to go the other direction.

Yes, you MAY need to take a bunch of pills. Vitamins, mostly. That's a deal breaker? I'm over 70 years old and manage to take a bunch of vitamins almost every day. Beats going into a restaurant, finding only booths, and wondering if I 'm going to fit.

With the RnY, you'd have to learn how to live with:
A) a surgery that stops working; and
B) dumping. Do you know about dumping?




Oh...hi.

 

[Larra]

I understand why you were advised to have the DS. What I don't understand is why all those other folks are having gastric bypass. The DS has the best statistics of any bariatric surgery for percentage excess weight loss, and, perhaps more importantly, for maintaining that weight loss. So many people with bypass do well at first, but find themselves struggling with regain a few years down the line. Morbid obesity is a chronic disease, you (and they) need treatment that will work for the rest of your life. The DS gives you that.
And yes, it also has the best statistics for permanent resolution of almost all comorbidities, including type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, etc. And yes, we do see people revising from bypass to DS, and not the other way around. But it's far higher risk than a virgin DS, plus the emotional trauma of failure yet again, plus the difficulty of getting insurance coverage for a revision. It is my belief, though I can't prove it, that a lot more people would be revising to DS if they could get insurance coverage.
So consider yourself fortunate. Taking more vitamins (remember, with bypass you also need to take certain vitamins) is a small price to pay for having an operation that works.

 

[2000DuodenalSwitch]

Spiky said it all.
Want to regain, dump, or not reach goal? Go with bypass or VSG.
Want one surgery and done? DS

At 17.5 years out, I take lots of vits to stay in range. I didn't begin with nearly this many, but gradually grew over the years as I adjusted according to MY labs. I don't understand the Vit phobia that many preops have. A small price to pay in exchange for normal BMI, normal eating, a healthy life.

But if you can't commit to vits, protein, labs, don't have DS.
Are you in DS Facebook groups? Notice the number of posts from RNY/bypass and VSG patients needing to revise to DS daily?

Keep in mind that people with issues are the ones that tend post, asking for help. For every person posting with an issue, there's a hundreds more not posting because they have no issues and are busy enjoying life.
Questions?

 

[galaxygrrl]

Don't freak! Most people don't need to take 35 vitamins a day, I don't know the average, but I take about 4 to 5 once a day. And one twice a day.

The DS is a better surgery. It's more effective - please look at this chart. http://www.paclap.com/downloads/comparing-options-for-WLS.pdf it will give you data about the bypass vs. the DS.

The DS is a much better surgery and lets you eat more and keeps weight off. Don't freak. It's a great choice.

 

[Adam101]

Since your BMI puts YOU in the category of "SUPER MORBIDLY OBESE," it doesn't really matter how fat anyone else is. It DOES matter that you have been advised to get THE MOST EFFECTIVE bariatric surgery there is and you're worried about how many vitamins you're gonna need. (Or you just have pre-op jitters.)

If you call and switch to bypass, you will be asking for a LESS effective surgery. Many who get tbe RnY later attempt to revise to the DS. Almost no one wants to go the other direction.

Yes, you MAY need to take a bunch of pills. Vitamins, mostly. That's a deal breaker? I'm over 70 years old and manage to take a bunch of vitamins almost every day. Beats going into a restaurant, finding only booths, and wondering if I 'm going to fit.

With the RnY, you'd have to learn how to live with:
A) a surgery that stops working; and
B) dumping. Do you know about dumping?




Oh...hi.

Thank u for ur reply..
This is the first time i see someone having dumping syndrome.. it seems to be very serious n scary

 

[Adam101]

I understand why you were advised to have the DS. What I don't understand is why all those other folks are having gastric bypass. The DS has the best statistics of any bariatric surgery for percentage excess weight loss, and, perhaps more importantly, for maintaining that weight loss. So many people with bypass do well at first, but find themselves struggling with regain a few years down the line. Morbid obesity is a chronic disease, you (and they) need treatment that will work for the rest of your life. The DS gives you that.
And yes, it also has the best statistics for permanent resolution of almost all comorbidities, including type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, etc. And yes, we do see people revising from bypass to DS, and not the other way around. But it's far higher risk than a virgin DS, plus the emotional trauma of failure yet again, plus the difficulty of getting insurance coverage for a revision. It is my belief, though I can't prove it, that a lot more people would be revising to DS if they could get insurance coverage.
So consider yourself fortunate. Taking more vitamins (remember, with bypass you also need to take certain vitamins) is a small price to pay for having an operation that works.

Thank u Larra for ur reply,
Yea i know that the statistics show that DS is the best surgery ever for weight loss but with more post op complications as well, that's why i chose it because i was looking to lose weight once n forever, i m very tired to be fat but in the other hand i dont want to have 35+ pills per day n i will be still at high risk for vitamins deficiencies.
Why didnt they chose DS? because my doc recommended them to do RYN bypass even tho they r covered by the same insurance company.. i cant understand why?? even the nutritionist tried to change my mind when just knew abt my surgery choice first time i met her.

 

[Adam101]

Don't freak! Most people don't need to take 35 vitamins a day, I don't know the average, but I take about 4 to 5 once a day. And one twice a day.

The DS is a better surgery. It's more effective - please look at this chart. http://www.paclap.com/downloads/comparing-options-for-WLS.pdf it will give you data about the bypass vs. the DS.

The DS is a much better surgery and lets you eat more and keeps weight off. Don't freak. It's a great choice.

Thank u for ur reply

Good to know that u dont take much pills per day

 

[Susan in Tennessee]

Thank u Larra for ur reply,
Yea i know that the statistics show that DS is the best surgery ever for weight loss but with more post op complications as well, that's why i chose it because i was looking to lose weight once n forever, i m very tired to be fat but in the other hand i dont want to have 35+ pills per day n i will be still at high risk for vitamins deficiencies.
Why didnt they chose DS? because my doc recommended them to do RYN bypass even tho they r covered by the same insurance company.. i cant understand why?? even the nutritionist tried to change my mind when just knew abt my surgery choice first time i met her.

What do you find so horrible about taking vitamins? I personally take quite a few, I take four times a day, and I get each batch down in three gulps usually. It's not horrible, it's easy. I don't know the answer as to why you were advised to get DS and others weren't. I would suggest you verify your surgeon does the real DS with two anastomoses, and not the SADI/LOOP. Losing weight easily and eating good food is well worth buying and taking vitamins! If you won't get labs and take vitamins accordingly, I'd say stay the way you are.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

What do you find so horrible about taking vitamins? I personally take quite a few, I take four times a day, and I get each batch down in three gulps usually. It's not horrible, it's easy. I don't know the answer as to why you were advised to get DS and others weren't. I would suggest you verify your surgeon does the real DS with two anastomoses, and not the SADI/LOOP. Losing weight easily and eating good food is well worth buying and taking vitamins! If you won't get labs and take vitamins accordingly, I'd say stay the way you are.

What she said. And, if you aren't ready for this, don't do it.

If you aren't ready for the DS for the reasons you stated, you ARE NOT ready for the RnY, either.

Not just because of dumping, but because of other complications:

-Google "bariatric beriberi."
-Or you can read about polyneuropathy:
https://www.researchgate.net/public...f_Polyneuropathy_After_Gastric_Bypass_Surgery

Deal is...these and other complications of RnY exist because vitamins and supplements (and the blood tests required to see what the patients' status is) were needed after the RnY but most patients are not warned about these things.

Adam! These are VERY serious surgeries. Either of them can kill you if you ignore your post-op responsibilities. And, your being super morbidly obese means that your obesity will eventually kill you.

Just be sure you are listening to people who REALLY know about post-surgery life...and Registered Dieticians are probably the LEAST able to understand the DS. They just can't factor in the DS malabsorption. For example, they CONSISTENTLY tell DS patients to go low-fat, even though we malabsorb about 80% of the fat we eat. (The RnY has just enough malabsorption to cause those negative side effects mentioned above, but--long-term--not enough to assist with weight loss over time.)

 

[Munchkin]

The DS is the only surgery that works almost all the time for almost all the people. The question should be why are all those other people getting something else?

10 people I worked with got WLS in roughly the same time period. 8 RNY, 1 band, and 1 DS(me). Fast forward almost 20 freaking years now and 1 RNY and 1 DS(me) are still quasi normal. All the others are bigger than preop.

 

[southernlady]

While the DS is serious business, it has the best long term outcome. The DS has been around since 1988 and works for anyone who fits the criteria to even have WLS.

I was told by my first surgeon that a 35.2 diabetic didn't need the DS cause I wasn't fat enough. I fired him. Found a surgeon who would perform the DS on a lightweight. But just because I was a lightweight, didn't mean I didn't need or WANT the big gun. I wanted to be as normal as possible. I am.

 

[Adam101]

Spiky said it all.
Want to regain, dump, or not reach goal? Go with bypass or VSG.
Want one surgery and done? DS

At 17.5 years out, I take lots of vits to stay in range. I didn't begin with nearly this many, but gradually grew over the years as I adjusted according to MY labs. I don't understand the Vit phobia that many preops have. A small price to pay in exchange for normal BMI, normal eating, a healthy life.

But if you can't commit to vits, protein, labs, don't have DS.
Are you in DS Facebook groups? Notice the number of posts from RNY/bypass and VSG patients needing to revise to DS daily?

Keep in mind that people with issues are the ones that tend post, asking for help. For every person posting with an issue, there's a hundreds more not posting because they have no issues and are busy enjoying life.
Questions?

Thank u very much for ur reply
Very well said n straight forward

 

[Adam101]

What do you find so horrible about taking vitamins? I personally take quite a few, I take four times a day, and I get each batch down in three gulps usually. It's not horrible, it's easy. I don't know the answer as to why you were advised to get DS and others weren't. I would suggest you verify your surgeon does the real DS with two anastomoses, and not the SADI/LOOP. Losing weight easily and eating good food is well worth buying and taking vitamins! If you won't get labs and take vitamins accordingly, I'd say stay the way you are.

Thank u for ur reply
I have no problem to take some vitamins daily on regular basis but when i saw the vitamins n minerals regimen after DS surgery on youtube i was completely shocked, i never imagine that much. To be honest i m worried what if i cant offer myself to buy all those vitamins in the future when i am getting old? life is unpredictable n everything can happen..
what is the DS with two anastomoses?? i guess he does both the standard one n SADI/LOOP but mine is the standard

Adam

 

[galaxygrrl]

Thank u for ur reply
I have no problem to take some vitamins daily on regular basis but when i saw the vitamins n minerals regimen after DS surgery on youtube i was completely shocked, i never imagine that much. To be honest i m worried what if i cant offer myself to buy all those vitamins in the future when i am getting old? life is unpredictable n everything can happen..
what is the DS with two anastomoses?? i guess he does both the standard one n SADI/LOOP but mine is the standard

Adam

I know this is a HUGE decision, but I think you are over thinking this. People's post DS surgery vitamin needs vary. I only take 4 a day. Others take more. It's kind of a spin of the wheel as far as I can tell. Perhaps others know more than me on this.

The fact that you are thinking about this for the rest of your life and if you can afford the vitamans when you are older makes me think you are ready for this sugery.

I spent way more on co-morbidity prescriptions before surgery than I do on vitamins now. Stats say if you don't take the weight off, you will get co-morbidities. Sorry, but that is what the data says.

Remember too, there is Medicare and Medicare part D when you get old.

I know this is a big decision and everyone needs to come to their own decision in their own time, but the data is very clear that the only long term effective surgery is the DS.

The vitamans really are not a big deal. Swear. ;-)