nlamb80
Member
Hi all!
I was personally asked by one of the lovely admins over at the Duodenal Switch Patients FB group to post this story about my Dad and his DS, so here we go!
Inadequate supplementation, as we all know, is the bane of most WLS communities. Trying to convince newbies that not only are their surgeons/NUTs wrong, but actually giving them dangerous advice is really hard. That's why I think my father's story is so important, and really illustrative of what can happen if you follow an inadequate or nonexistent regimen.
In 1995, my father had DS surgery with Robert Rabkin, John Rabkin's brother, in Ventura CA, before he moved his practice to San Francisco. The "chewable vitamin" advice is something they used to give out 20 years ago, because the Hess Method surgery was still pretty new in the US at that point, and they didn't have a ton of data on the supplementation requirements.
While the surgery itself was great and never gave him any complications solely on its own, he's neglected his supplementation.
What's the result of this? His body eventually went highly deficient. His blood albumin levels were low because of low protein, and he had weeping sores on his legs. He's had problems maintaining his blood salt levels. He's been anemic. He's been deficient in just about everything you can be deficient in, and it affected his cognition so severely it exacerbated his mental health issues and he passively and actively has attempted suicide. Yes, this can happen, low levels of B vitamins have been known to affect mental health pretty severely. That last part is a pet theory of mine, but one I feel has merit given how absolutely poor his health has been. Literally decrepit, I don't even remember all of the things he's had go wrong with him over the years.
This in and of itself is striking, but the most striking thing is his raging osteoporosis. How bad is it? His body is bent at almost a 90 degree angle, and he can no longer get around without a walker or motor scooter.
He has broken his back--BROKEN IT--at least half a dozen times now, and has had half a dozen back surgeries including bone fusion surgeries in order to repair the damage. His spine is so osteporotic, this most recent time when he broke a vertabra, they don't even know how it happened. He can literally sit down too agressively at this point and break his spine.
I am not exaggerating or kidding. I cannot stress this enough. I AM NOT EXAGGERATING. If it wasn't a violation of his privacy, I'd post a picture of him bent over like an 80-year old so you could see it.
How old his he? 63. And he looks EIGHTY years old. His body literally sucked all the nutrients out of itself in order to keep itself alive. When my 58-year-old mother goes out with him, he's been mistaken for her father more than once.
After I got my surgery, I absolutely nagged him to start supplementing properly and to go see a legit endocrinologist. He did finally, and his endocrinoloist said, in addition to his other deficiencies, he had the lowest levels of D he'd ever seen ... they just DIDN'T EXIST.
I'm two years out from surgery with John Rabkin and doing really well, and I give a lot of that credit to the community, and to Rabkin's team for pushing reasonable nutritionial and supplement standards towards their patients. My father is alive right now because I went up his butt and around the corner to start taking care of himself. Now my dad is supplementing properly and is feeling better than he ever has, but the damage is done, and is irreparable at this point. His spine issues will likely kill him.
It makes me very sad not only because he's my father and I love him, but also because at 20 years out, he'd be one of the oldest vets around these parts, and could have been a source of very valuable advice, if only he'd kept up on things and not been such a stubborn old curmudgeon about it (yes, I tell him this, LOL). He actually WAS involved heavily in the support community for the first five years after his surgery, but then he had a seizure and broke his back, and it was all downhill from there. He basically gave up, because he was depressed as a result of going from riding bike marathons to being incapacitated.
He's now a cautionary tale and a powerful anecdote.
I'm not posting this to scare newbies away from the surgery, quite the contrary. I'd like to emphasize that with proper diet, hydration, supplementation, and bloodwork, this surgery is a wonderful asset to you which will change your life. You'll be fine if you follow the tried-and-true advice of the vets around here! But please, please do not neglect yourself and end up like this.
I was personally asked by one of the lovely admins over at the Duodenal Switch Patients FB group to post this story about my Dad and his DS, so here we go!
Inadequate supplementation, as we all know, is the bane of most WLS communities. Trying to convince newbies that not only are their surgeons/NUTs wrong, but actually giving them dangerous advice is really hard. That's why I think my father's story is so important, and really illustrative of what can happen if you follow an inadequate or nonexistent regimen.
In 1995, my father had DS surgery with Robert Rabkin, John Rabkin's brother, in Ventura CA, before he moved his practice to San Francisco. The "chewable vitamin" advice is something they used to give out 20 years ago, because the Hess Method surgery was still pretty new in the US at that point, and they didn't have a ton of data on the supplementation requirements.
While the surgery itself was great and never gave him any complications solely on its own, he's neglected his supplementation.
What's the result of this? His body eventually went highly deficient. His blood albumin levels were low because of low protein, and he had weeping sores on his legs. He's had problems maintaining his blood salt levels. He's been anemic. He's been deficient in just about everything you can be deficient in, and it affected his cognition so severely it exacerbated his mental health issues and he passively and actively has attempted suicide. Yes, this can happen, low levels of B vitamins have been known to affect mental health pretty severely. That last part is a pet theory of mine, but one I feel has merit given how absolutely poor his health has been. Literally decrepit, I don't even remember all of the things he's had go wrong with him over the years.
This in and of itself is striking, but the most striking thing is his raging osteoporosis. How bad is it? His body is bent at almost a 90 degree angle, and he can no longer get around without a walker or motor scooter.
He has broken his back--BROKEN IT--at least half a dozen times now, and has had half a dozen back surgeries including bone fusion surgeries in order to repair the damage. His spine is so osteporotic, this most recent time when he broke a vertabra, they don't even know how it happened. He can literally sit down too agressively at this point and break his spine.
I am not exaggerating or kidding. I cannot stress this enough. I AM NOT EXAGGERATING. If it wasn't a violation of his privacy, I'd post a picture of him bent over like an 80-year old so you could see it.
How old his he? 63. And he looks EIGHTY years old. His body literally sucked all the nutrients out of itself in order to keep itself alive. When my 58-year-old mother goes out with him, he's been mistaken for her father more than once.
After I got my surgery, I absolutely nagged him to start supplementing properly and to go see a legit endocrinologist. He did finally, and his endocrinoloist said, in addition to his other deficiencies, he had the lowest levels of D he'd ever seen ... they just DIDN'T EXIST.
I'm two years out from surgery with John Rabkin and doing really well, and I give a lot of that credit to the community, and to Rabkin's team for pushing reasonable nutritionial and supplement standards towards their patients. My father is alive right now because I went up his butt and around the corner to start taking care of himself. Now my dad is supplementing properly and is feeling better than he ever has, but the damage is done, and is irreparable at this point. His spine issues will likely kill him.
It makes me very sad not only because he's my father and I love him, but also because at 20 years out, he'd be one of the oldest vets around these parts, and could have been a source of very valuable advice, if only he'd kept up on things and not been such a stubborn old curmudgeon about it (yes, I tell him this, LOL). He actually WAS involved heavily in the support community for the first five years after his surgery, but then he had a seizure and broke his back, and it was all downhill from there. He basically gave up, because he was depressed as a result of going from riding bike marathons to being incapacitated.
He's now a cautionary tale and a powerful anecdote.
I'm not posting this to scare newbies away from the surgery, quite the contrary. I'd like to emphasize that with proper diet, hydration, supplementation, and bloodwork, this surgery is a wonderful asset to you which will change your life. You'll be fine if you follow the tried-and-true advice of the vets around here! But please, please do not neglect yourself and end up like this.
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