Before you make any decision, get to the SF support group, hear Dr. Rabkin's presentation for new people, ask questions, and talk with some of the post-ops you will meet there. Ask him about that mortality rate - keep in mind that when the DS is "reserved" for the heaviest and highest risk patients, it's bound to have a higher mortality rate than an operation that is done on the lighter, healthier, lower risk patients. And even then I think that number is high. But ask the expert, Dr. Rabkin, about his personal mortality rate. You can also ask if he's really done just 10 patients from Kaiser. I have my doubts about that number as well, but I don't have the numbers, and Dr. Rabkin will.
Regarding malabsorption, we do have more malabsorption with the DS than people with RNY. People can, and sadly do, get into trouble with either operation, and you can get into trouble faster with the DS, but in most cases with both operations it's due to noncompliance. Not always, but most of the time. So if you are willing to learn what you need to take and how much, and willing to make that lifetime commitment to keeping up with vitamins, minerals, protein and lab work, you should do just fine with the DS. When people decide they are special and don't need the same supplements as everyone else, that's when they get into trouble, and once you become deficient it's much harder to catch up than it is to stay healthy to begin with.
Keep in mind also that the malabsorption is one of the big reasons that people do so much better with DS than RNY for weight loss and esp for maintenance of that weight loss, which is a big issue with both RNY and sleeve. Yes, it's a bigger operation with a bit higher risk, but what is the point of having any operation that doesn't get good results?
