12 year old girl and WLS

[JackieOnLine]

did you see this on facebook? link

the story seems to be she couldn't have a bypass and ended up with only a VSG but maybe can get the Rny later. :104:

according to FB posts her 150 weight gain in 2.5 years is thanks to insurance delay.

the obvious question is should someone this young get a DS?

warning: the video at the link is heartbreaking. :087: that poor kid.

 

[southernlady]

IMNSHO, at this point in time she's too young for a DS...but then again, she is too young for the RNY as well. The VSG is a good solution for her for right now...let her get a little older and a bit more mature before SHE decides how to move forward.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Omg, poor kid and her family! To deal with a brain tumor and now this???

I hope they stick with the sleeve, I feel like it's way more appropriate for a child to keep her anatomy as intact and "normal" as possible. I also hope it was a mistake and that they removed more than 25% of the stomach.

 

[Parousia]

I would be surprised if reducing her stomach by 25%, as they did, would be very helpful. Given that her obesity is caused by a medical condition which doesn't seem likely to be curable, I think in her case a DS would be appropriate. Without it, she has a very hard life ahead of her.

 

[DianaCox]

I'm sure they reduced her stomach TO 25% of its original size.

The comments on the People Mag article were horrendous.

My concern about this whole thing is that the VSG is going to fail anyway, and then she'll need revision to both her stomach AND need the DS later.

 

[JackieOnLine]

yes, I was assuming (hoping) the percentage of her stomach gave her an actual sleeve that would help, at least for now.

I didn't read the comments at the link on purpose. :085:

 

[Terri]

I think at this time the sleeve is the best for her. It will give a chance to see if it is going to help. I think at her age the vitamin regimen, required by the RNY or DS would have been a bit much. Just my opinion.

 

[kirmy]

There is no way I'd give a pre-pubescent child a DS...nope never. Who knows the impact of massive malabsortion on a developing child's body. Remember the hormonal fuckery we all went through....square that by 100 and hope it doesn't do irreversable damage to the endocrine system. Nope just.....lots of nope.....

 

[Munchkin]

This poor kid!

Her weight problem is metabolic and if she wants any remote possibility of being even a normal fat kid, she will have to have more surgery down the road. 25% reduction is nothing. That surgeon was NOT operating in his skill level if that's all he could do!

 

[Larra]

Not 25% reduction, it's 25% remaining - big difference.

I actually think VSG is a great choice for someone so young and not fully developed. I just don't know if it will be sufficient, given the severe metabolic derangements this individual child has. But if it isn't, she can be revised when she's older and hopefully past puberty. and if so, I would think the DS would be her best choice, as it would provide the most metabolic changes in the other direction. I hesitate to say "correction" because her metabolic problems are not the usual and I don't know if there is any operation that will truly correct them. Yes, she might need re-sleeve along with the "switch", but there probably is no perfect solution for her, and that's still better than trying to correct a stretched out pouch and stoma of RNY.

Poor kid! I'm glad she has such loving and supportive parents.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Those comments....OMG.

The VSG was the right thing for this youngster IMO, to be followed by a full DS down the road (with "re-sleeve").

And I want to do bodily harm to the asswipe who wrote that the girl's parents should be padlocking her food and that would fix her trouble....because "that's what parents of Prader-Willi kids do." FMR. Like THAT solves P-W kids' weight problems? Um, no.

 

[Jo777]

I didn't read nor click on it period (yet, as I'm not in the space to do so), however for someone pre-pubescent.. the sleeve is the only surgery I would advocate. I have a good friend with a teen on the severe autism spectrum who will binge on flour (yes flour, dry) and is on multiple meds, frequently adjusted as they need to shift with her hormonal development.. she is obese (partly due to meds) and it's hard.. and there's nothing that can be done save cleaning house.. which so far has not been done, but padlocks have been employed with good and prudent reason.. the sleeve may help, but without an overhaul on avail food (aka cleaning house) it won't help. Her mom and step dad are doing the best that any humans can do.. it's a hard situation. Honestly in her case, surgical intervention would not be prudent as it would likely not lead to good outcomes, and not be understood/accepted in her state of development..

 

[Parousia]

There is no way I'd give a pre-pubescent child a DS...nope never. Who knows the impact of massive malabsortion on a developing child's body. Remember the hormonal fuckery we all went through....square that by 100 and hope it doesn't do irreversable damage to the endocrine system. Nope just.....lots of nope.....

Not sure she is pre-pubescent, but if she is, I would definitely agree. I just know that by 12 I was through puberty and had reached my adult height (1 cm taller than I am now!) and heading for a lifetime of misery.

 

[Parousia]

I think at this time the sleeve is the best for her. It will give a chance to see if it is going to help. I think at her age the vitamin regimen, required by the RNY or DS would have been a bit much. Just my opinion.

I would expect that at this age her mother would be overseeing her supplementation regimen and teaching her how to follow it for life, just as parents with diabetic children or with allergies, etc. need to teach their children to manage their particular issues.

That said, if it is a proper sleeve, and especially if the child hasn't finished developing yet, I agree that just the sleeve is best for now. But if further surgery is needed soon, I think a DS would be far preferable to an RNY!