Pre-op working toward DS

[JenniferIlse]

Hi all,

I am 37, live in Cincinnati, am married with 2 kids, a 4 year old daughter and 2 year old son. I had a lap band in 2007 but after years of problems I am hoping to have a revision to traditional DS. I am so glad for this board (which I have been reading for a while though I just finally signed up) and for the Facebook groups I am in because I have gotten so much information. I had started the process with a doctor who said they offered a traditional DS but then at my most recent visit said he would do 2 anastomosis since insurance requires that for a traditional DS but that he would do a 300cm common channel because he didn't feel comfortable doing any shorter than that. I now have a consult scheduled with Dr Inman off the vetted surgeon list and am hoping I can get through the approval process quickly since I have had a lot of the pre-op testing done already through the local surgeon.

I look forward to learning from your collective wisdom and losing with you. Also, I love that rule number 1 is don't be an asshat, it really sets the tone for the group

 

[Manapan]

Welcome and good luck!

 

[Munchkin]

Welcome! And good for you not accepting the 300CC! You will be fine.

 

[Larra]

Welcome! Good decision, and Dr. Inman has an excellent reputation. Those damn lap bands - I posted an article awhile back that stated that these days, more health care dollars are being spent yanking those things out than putting them in, the results for many people have been so dismal. You will do much better with your DS.

 

[southernlady]

Welcome JenniferIlse Good decision on changing surgeons.

 

[JenniferIlse]

Yes, lap bands are evil. I wish the fda would pull approval. I am in a failed lap band Facebook group and people planning to get bands come in and even when everyone is saying don't do it, many times they still do. You always want to believe going into surgery that you are going to be the one to have no problems and lose all the weight and keep it off but for 60-80% of folks with the band, you are not the one. And then you get screwed on the other end because even if you self pay for the band, insurance doesn't usually want to pay to take it out much less give you the more successful surgery you should have gotten in the first place.

Welcome! Good decision, and Dr. Inman has an excellent reputation. Those damn lap bands - I posted an article awhile back that stated that these days, more health care dollars are being spent yanking those things out than putting them in, the results for many people have been so dismal. You will do much better with your DS.

 

[Gigindallas]

Hello, what is the normal length with the common Chanel?

 

[harrietvane]

Welcome! Getting the band out was the best thing ever - no more scoping out the bathroom in anticipation of throwing up when you go out to a restaurant!

 

[southernlady]

Hello, what is the normal length with the common Chanel?

Best method is the Hess Method and the common channel is a percentage of your total small intestine length and since that varies person to person, no way to tell.

For a cookie cutter DS, 100 cm is the most common.

 

[JackieOnLine]

Hello and welcome!

Those damn lap bands - I posted an article awhile back that stated that these days, more health care dollars are being spent yanking those things out than putting them in

and yet people are still getting them?!

 

[Larra]

JackieOnLine I think there are a couple reasons patients (thankfully less patients) are signing on for them. First, even though we all complain about our health care system, by and large people trust their own doctors, and when a doctor you respect recommends a line of treatment, that carries more weight than the strangers on the internet. Second, there is a certain appeal, for some people, in the quick recovery (no hospital stay, back to work and/or family, which for some is extremely important) and seeming simplicity of the operation, and not having their guts "rearranged", etc. the short term complication rate is also low, and the long term complications, which are many, are either ignored (that won't happen to ME) or not emphasized. It's only when you get to the long term and you can't eat without pain and you still haven't lost much weight that the reality sinks in. Thus, as one smart person put it and I'm stealing his/her words, every lap band forum eventually turns into a failed lap band forum.
My heart goes out to these folks. They have been sold a bill of goods, have paid a hefty price for it even if insurance paid for the surgery, have much more difficulty obtaining insurance coverage for additional bariatric surgery, sometimes can't even get coverage to have the band removed, sometimes live with pain, and sometimes have permanent damage to the esophagus even after the band is removed.

 

[Munchkin]

Chris Christie is my model here.... really did not seem to work for him

I have been hanging around fat world all my adult life and I am old. I know 1 person who has been successful long term with the band weight wise. But otherwise not so much. He pretty much lives on cranberry juice. That's not much of a life.

 

[Gigindallas]

Chris Christie is my model here.... really did not seem to work for him

I read somewhere he had the band...