New Here, Need Help

[Band07Sleeve13]

Hi there, I'm new here but definitely not to weight loss surgery! I was banded in 2007 did great! Revised to sleeve in 2013 and have struggled everyday since! I've consulted with a few well known surgeons in Mexico and with x-ray proof we know that my sleeve is much larger than it should be. I want to get resleeved but a couple surgeons prefer a MGB or Mini DS, I'm still hoping for the resleeve as I'm a low BMI patient but any information anyone would have to share would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!!

 

[brooklyngirl]

If I was in your shoes, going into my 3rd bariatric surgery, if want this one to be the last and I'd go for the full DS. What are/were all your stats at your different surgery dates and now?

 

[Band07Sleeve13]

highest weight 260 day of lap band surgery 223 lowest weight post band 139 maintained around 142/145 for years. Day of sleeve surgery 169 today 179, my ideal weight is around 150.

 

[Larra]

I'm not sure where to begin here, so I'll just discuss the so-called "mini DS" and leave the rest to someone else.

the mini DS is a horrible operation that is NOT mini at all, that is not and has never been standard of care, and that as far as I know is not being done by anyone these days, which is a good thing. There was one surgeon doing it in the USA who hopefully is out of business now. It involved doing a sleeve, and instead of bypassing about half of the small intestine as in the real DS, CUTTING OUT HALF THE SMALL INTESTINE. How he could call this "mini" anything is beyond me, but he did. He also removed the greater omentum.
I don't know if anyone in another country is doing this operation, but I sure hope not.

Well I'm on a roll so might as well cover the so-called "mini gastric bypass" while I'm at it. The difference between this and the standard RNY gastric bypass is that the connection between the pouch and the small intestine is done as a simple loop instead of the more complex RNY connection. Weight loss is probably about the same as with a RNY gastric bypass, but it has the major disadvantage of creating the risk of bile reflux, which is impossible with RNY gastric bypass, and which is not relieved with antacids because bile is a base, not an acid. Again, this is not and has never been a standard of care operation.

If you think a resleeve would help you, fine, but you are now looking at bariatric surgery #3. Really want to be looking at #4 a few years from now? Get a real DS and be done with it.

 

[Band07Sleeve13]

Thanks so much!! Just curious, would it make a difference if the surgeon does something specific to keep the bile reflux from happening with the mini bypass?

 

[Larra]

No. It's caused by the anatomy created with this operation.

 

[Band07Sleeve13]

I just know on the information sheet they sent me it listed complications and beside that one said that he does something else to prevent that from happening.

 

[Larra]

"He" who?

I'm very dubious about this. It's the nature of the operation. Keep in mind that if you go to Mexico and either have a complication or don't get the results you want, you have no recourse. There are excellent and reputable surgeons in Mexico, but there are also others who are not so much.
Don't believe me? Check out Holly Kim's story, both here and on OH. she is now reporting on OH that her prior bariatric surgery - where she was told she was getting a DS and got a SADI instead and wasn't even told that that was what she had - has now been corrected (it apparently wasn't done right even for a SADI) and has also been converted to a real DS. Both surgeries were done in Mexico, but the last was just done by Dr. Ungson, a very reputable and experienced DS surgeon.

 

[Band07Sleeve13]

Sorry, yes Dr. Rodriguez was who recommended the MGB, I have also consulted with Dr. Wilhmey who works along side Dr. Ungson as well as Dr. Ariel Ortiz and Dr. Corvola. I have done obsessive research and have narrowed it down to those few very well reviewed, well credentialed surgeons. It was actually Mexicali Bariatrics with Dr. Ungson and Wilhmey who agreed to do the resleeve procedure but recommended the SADI should i want to go with a malobsorbtion procedure.

 

[Soonerjoseph]

Dr. Rodriguez does the Caballero/Carbajo "stitch". Once I get enough of a post count to post links I'll come back and post a medical article outlining what it does.

 

[Band07Sleeve13]

What does this mean ? Is this good or bad ?

 

[Elizabeth N.]

I think you're completely out of your mind to consider ANY of these options.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Risking a THIRD surgery, one of THOSE options, for what you hope might get you 29 whole pounds?!?!!

 

[Band07Sleeve13]

I can only guess from your response that you have either never been truly overweight and unhealthy or you forget what it feels like. You obviously don't know the desperation of never wanting to experience that again. My BMI is 30.9, I am obese and I'm literally fighting everyday with my eating and exercise not to gain even more. I remember being 260 lbs with HTN and high cholesterol and sleep apnea and being so depressed I didn't even want to leave the house, I remember not being able to tie my shoes and breath at the same time or fit comfortably in a booth. It may seem extreme or crazy to you but I will take risks in order to never go back to that life. My metabolic rate has been compromised after so long with the band so Iv been told by doctors my "sleeve" is not a sleeve at all, I'm looking for other options because I'm terrified of gaining the weight back, I truly hope you never have to experience what this feels like.

 

[southernlady]

@Band07Sleeve13 I don't know who this is addressed to but if Elizabeth N., you are SO wrong to say she doesn't know what truly overweight and unhealthy feels like. Now, if it wasn't addressed to her, I apologize but it was addressed to someone.

I can only guess from your response that you have either never been truly overweight and unhealthy or you forget what it feels like. You obviously don't know the desperation of never wanting to experience that again. My BMI is 30.9, I am obese and I'm literally fighting everyday with my eating and exercise not to gain even more. I remember being 260 lbs with HTN and high cholesterol and sleep apnea and being so depressed I didn't even want to leave the house, I remember not being able to tie my shoes and breath at the same time or fit comfortably in a booth. It may seem extreme or crazy to you but I will take risks in order to never go back to that life. My metabolic rate has been compromised after so long with the band so Iv been told by doctors my "sleeve" is not a sleeve at all, I'm looking for other options because I'm terrified of gaining the weight back, I truly hope you never have to experience what this feels like.

@Elizabeth N. was in the high 300's when she had her DS and was literally at death's door. She would not have survived to see 50 which she was able to see last year. She paid out of pocket to have the DS.

*I* am probably one of the lightest weight virgin DS'ers as my starting BMI the day I signed into my surgeon's office was 35.2.

Btw, sleep apnea can be genetic and just made worse by weight. Not everyone gets off the cpap after surgery. EN didn't, my husband didn't.

IF you are going to go under the knife again, don't you want the BEST possible outcome and not another crappy solution for you? If so, then get a traditional DS. Not a MGB or just a resleeve or even a "mini" DS. Get the real thing...the one that has a 20+ year track record.

But I will also suggest that your depression needs help. Talk to your PCP about it and see what he/she suggests. What WLS does not fix is depression. It can't and won't. While being obese is not fun, most US surgeons, esp on a revision, want you either to be morbidly obese (over 35 BMI) OR have a failure of your current WLS. IF you lost 50% of your excess weight, you are not considered a failure BY THEIR STANDARDS.

For me, 50% of my excess would still make me obese...not morbidly obese, but still beyond overweight. Given your posted weights:

highest weight 260 day of lap band surgery 223 lowest weight post band 139 maintained around 142/145 for years. Day of sleeve surgery 169 today 179, my ideal weight is around 150.

IF your ideal weight is 150, that meant at your highest, you were only 110 lbs over so 50% of that is ONLY 55 lbs. So anything BELOW 205 is in excess of 50%. YOU are still considered successful.

This is WHY we advocate "Think twice, CUT ONCE" and "ONE and DONE"