Got My Surgery Date! But...

[Ainu]

Hi all, I got my surgery date. February 15th, 2018. It'll be a good Valentine's day. I met Dr. Parker today. He was very nice and did his best to give me my options and the side effects of everything. I told him I wanted the DS and gave all of that info and all of the research I did and why I wanted it. He said it wasn't the best fit for me and thinks the bypass will get me the most bang for my buck. He reiterated the gassy and poopy side effects of the DS and while I convinced him to schedule me for the DS it did put the grain of worry in my head. I've done my research and weighed the pros and cons of each and I'm terrified of making the wrong decision. I guess I'm just looking for people who have done it to tell me it'll be okay.

I also wish I had some idea of what kind of recovery I'll have. Everyone is so different I won't know until I'm dealing with it.

 

[southernlady]

Hi all, I got my surgery date. February 15th, 2018. It'll be a good Valentine's day. I met Dr. Parker today. He was very nice and did his best to give me my options and the side effects of everything. I told him I wanted the DS and gave all of that info and all of the research I did and why I wanted it. He said it wasn't the best fit for me and thinks the bypass will get me the most bang for my buck. He reiterated the gassy and poopy side effects of the DS and while I convinced him to schedule me for the DS it did put the grain of worry in my head. I've done my research and weighed the pros and cons of each and I'm terrified of making the wrong decision. I guess I'm just looking for people who have done it to tell me it'll be okay.

I also wish I had some idea of what kind of recovery I'll have. Everyone is so different I won't know until I'm dealing with it.

Getting the RNY (bypass) because of what a surgeon says who doesn't do the DS is like believing what a Kia dealer tells you about a Rolls Royce. The Kia dealer wants to sell the Kia.

Gas and poop can be controlled. If anything, most DS'ers have constipation due to piss poor post op eating rules given by surgeons/nuts. I am seldom gassy and poopy. I go twice in the morning hours and am pretty much done for the day. If I am gassy it is because I made poor choices in what I put in my mouth.

After you are healed, which is about 6-12 weeks INSIDE your body, you control both the gassy and poop issues 95% by what goes IN your mouth by way of food and drink.

Dr. Parker? Where does he practice? Is he offering the two anastomosis DS or the one anastomosis SADI/SIPS/Loop? The DS is the only one currently covered by 99% of insurance companies. I am aware of ONE small insurance company in Utah who does cover the new offerings of SAID/SIPS/Loop.

Also remember, if you go the RNY route, NSAIDS will forever be off the table. If you have arthritis or a family history of it, you do NOT want to get the RNY.

 

[Clematis]

I am not poopy! Once in the morning, just like before DS. I am rarely gassy but did recently learn I had become lactose intolerant (only to milk/cream, not cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc). Once I eliminated that, I've been fine.

Make me so mad when surgeons who do not do a DS (proper or bastardized) say this stuff either to convince people to accept an inferior surgery that they perform or because they've been giving inadequate nutritional advice to DS patients.

Everyone's recovery is different. I had a virgin DS when I was old (62) and I was FINE. No pain to speak of after I left the hospital. When I left the hospital after 4 nights, I took no pain killers, not even a tylenol. (Do try to make them let you stay as long as possible. None of this one night and out the door crap.) Seriously, I was walking a mile in 10 days. I was however really REALLY tired for about a month. I'd take that mile walk and then fall asleep in the chair for 2 hours. My tiny trocar incisions disappeared -- no one looking at my abdomen would ever think I had a laparoscopic procedure. In fact, a nurse practitioner demanded I show her where they were as I think she thought I was lying about having surgery.

The research clearly shows that RNY is not successful long term. People with RNY have to diet like mad after a few years and, hey, how has dieting worked for you in the past?? Never worked for me!!! Will you be here asking about how to get a revision in 8-10 years? (And there are only a handful of surgeons qualified to do a RNY to DS revision.) I would never ever have had a RNY. IMO go for "one and done" By 13 months post-op I was 125# at 5'5" where I still am at 25 months post-op.

I tried to look into him (David Parker @ Geisinger Medical Center in Danville PA?) but only see "bariatric surgeon" not the specific types he personally performs. The bariatric department does do a DS but I cannot tell if it is the proper one or not.

Again are you sure he has sufficient experience to perform a PROPER TWO ANASTOMOSES DS with limb length based on the Hess Method or a cookie cutter max common channel length of 100cm? His pushing a RNY may be because he really doesn't do a proper DS. What you don't want is for him to do some sort of Franken-switch one anastomoses SADI/SIPS/Loop or a sort-of DS with a ridiculously long common channel which will not be successful for you.

Think twice, cut once.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Ainu]

The NSAIDS are one of the big reasons I wanted the DS. There are a ton of reasons I want the DS. The lack of regain is a big one as well. Anyway, it's Dr. David Parker in Danville PA. He has done the switch and the proper two anastomosis. It's what's covered by my insurance. Max 125 common channel. I'm "only" 295lbs which is probably why he was pushing the bypass. He had done the DS before and has a few active patients. He even offered to try and have the nurses find someone in my area who has had it so I can talk to a person face to face but there was a tantruming child and I wanted to get out of check out as quickly as possible.

Anyway, once I was firm in my decision with the switch he seemed perfectly fine with it. He wasn't pushy, just giving his opinion on the out come.

I think the biggest problem is the surgeons don't personally follow up in the long run, it's left to the nutritionist and they're not equipped to deal with the DS and so give bad advice. They want you to make a protein shake with milk but I already get a little gassy with lactose, after surgery it will destroy me. If someone doesn't realize that and they drink milk after surgery and they blow up, they blame the surgery, not the fact that they're lactose intolerant. It's that crap I'm trying to remind myself of.

 

[Ainu]

https://www.bariatric-surgery-source.com/image-files/img-med-duodenal-switch-resized.jpg

That's pretty much the exact picture he gave me.

 

[Clematis]

Sounds like you're on top of it @Ainu Just stick to your guns and you'll be a-ok.

Smile and nod with a nutritionist and say of course you're following their advice... and then use your brain. Start with the vitamins recommended by Vitalady (not that you have to buy them from her) then insist on comprehensive labs every six months and adjust your vitamins to increase/decrease results. I keep all my lab results in an Excel spreadsheet so I can spot trends. This sounds complicated but is really easy -- you may only be adjusting 1 vitamin after every lab, not all of them. Sometimes you won't have to adjust any.

The "milk" in many protein drinks is whey (like in Premier Protein) and it does not bother me, lactose-wise. I tried making powdered shakes with almond milk very early out but didn't care much for the taste.

 

[Ainu]

I use almond milk and isopure. If I'm feeling really fancy I add a little light cream for flavor. I've read so much on vitamins my head is spinning. Right now I have multis to take 2x a day, an ADEK which is very high in everything, the amounts the internet said to take for DS. Calcium citrate powder which I'll take with the adek and extra D3. I also got chewable iron and vitamin c. And B12 lozenges.

Honestly, as long as the surgeon cuts me the way I want it and I don't die of complications,I can handle it from there without their help. I do have my initial labs I'll start in an Excel file. Everything was within range and I'm sure my insurance will cover labs as I ask.

 

[Ainu]

I did see a resident doctor before I saw the surgeon and he and I talked a lot. I asked him if I could keep my gallbladder (we had just agreed to remove it) and he seemed confused but agreed. My fiancee who was with me leaned in and said, "no, she means, like, in jar." The look on the doctor's face was perfect.

But no. I'm not allowed to keep it in a jar >=|

 

[Clematis]

ADEK combo is rather useless and I've never seen one "very high in everything, the amounts the internet said to take for DS". First, most of these are packed in oil and DSers don't absorb 60-80% of fats so you will lose most of the vites too. Your vites need to be DRY formula -- it will say that on the label. (Another surgeon disconnect is that they often prescribe ADEK to DS patients without realizing they are packed in oil.) Second, these are the very vitamins most people need to tweak yet you cannot tweak something linked to the other 3 vites in the same capsule. For example I take GOBS of A, less of D, little E and some K (K1 tab as well as K2 aka MK7 tab). I do not need B12 -- most do not. Chewable iron sounds like it tastes VILE. (I take Proferrin Heme iron 3x a day.)

 

[Clematis]

Gallbladder hahahaha!!!

 

[Ainu]

It is a dry formula. I'll check the %s tomorrow as I am in bed and lazy. It just seemed easiest though I have extra dry K and D so it's not an ordeal to get E and A to replace. I always take a lot of extra D anyway just because it helps with depression so I like it around.

 

[Ainu]

I forgot I ordered it online and I have an image of the nutritional facts. You guys have done this and know best. If they're worthless I'll ditch them and get something else. Like the separate dry vitamins

 

[Ainu]

Reading the vitalady guidelines does seem to indicate that I'd need to take....waaaay more than what's in that adek I have. So (not surprising) you guys are right.

 

[Clematis]

For example I take (in addition to what's in 2 Centrum and in Premier Protein):

Vitamin A 25,000 daily PLUS another 25,000 3x a week
Vitamin D 50,000 3x a week
K1 1000 daily
K2 100 daily
Vitamin E alpha tocopherol 400 daily

Last month lab messed up vitamin E test and instead of testing for alpha tocopherol, tested for GAMMA tocopherol and that one was low so now I take 400 of that.

I also take Copper 2mg, Magnesium Citrate 200, and ZINC 50 daily PLUS another 3x a week. I no longer supplement Vitamins C or Calcium Citrate because I was getting kidney stones.

NOTE: WHAT YOUR LABS "TELL" YOU TO TAKE MAY BE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I TAKE

 

[Ainu]

Out of curiosity, why so much vitamin a over all of the others. Is there a worry of vitamin a toxicity?