Sleeve to DS: Officially starting the journey!

[KyahRose]

11/27/23 - I had my consultation today with Dr. Mustafa Alibhai. I have decided to go ahead with the DS procedure. I'm even more confident going into this after my consult. He told me he usually does a 150 cm common channel, and was fully willing to discuss with me his reasoning for that length as it still will provide adequate weight loss, but will have less negative malabsorption vitamin deficiency issues. We discussed the pros / cons and differences at length between his DS, SADI, (and as my mom was with me as support, we even discussed in terms of RNY as that is what she had in 2007). He will be doing an endoscopy and barium swallow on me to get an idea ahead of time. But, also advised that as a revision, he may go with a slightly shorter common channel than the 150 he standardly does on virgin patients; and will take a better look at my sleeve as well deciding if he makes it smaller or not will more than likely be a matter of if it's large enough or what. (he worded this so much better than I'm wording it here....but, this is the nutshell.) Either way, I'm a lot more optimistic about going through with this revisional surgery. Now to start jumping through all the insurance requirement hoops and hurdles.

Weigh in today was 283.4 lbs at 5'3 inches....giving me a bmi of 50.1 according to their fancy scale. I'll add more updates to this thread as I move forward with all of the pre-op insurance requirements.

 

[ShrinkingMyTiara]

Yay for getting started!! I hope your Mom is a little more at ease after the doctor's appointment. I know she's scared of the DS. I think you are going to do great though...

Good luck with the tests! I did a barium swallow and then some weird sort of barium thing where they flip you all over the place---it made me really motion sick. But it showed how my stomach was functioning so that was fascinating. LOL

 

[KyahRose]

1/23/2024 - Wow, it's been a while since I have been on this forum. I've been working through the insurance prerequisite studies. I have 2 more nutritionist appointments and the endoscopy exam and I'll be ready to schedule my surgery date. I have one of those 2 nutrition appointments tomorrow - 1/23/2024; and sadly as of late have really been slacking on tracking meals, portions, etc. Its not that I'm necessarily eating bad, I just feel that I've lost my way a bit. I'm hoping to get back on track going forward. My weight has been fluctuating between 278 - 280 give or take; and I've been slacking with my water intake lately. I've begun building a routine with vitamins so far. And I am struggling with getting much exercise outside of the one night of bowling league I do each week. I have some ideas on this matter I want to look into and try, though. All in all, I'm getting more and more nervous as this moves along. So far, I've been cleared by everyone / thing to move on with the surgery. The psych evaluation went well enough, and I was cleared there, though the lady I saw strongly encouraged / insisted on therapy. I'm not really good with therapy. I did some counselling in my early days of my bipolar depression diagnosis; and after a few visits requested to stop. I liked the counsellor / therapist enough and all....I just never really had anything to talk about or that I wanted to talk about and just over all felt it was a waste of both of our times trying to force the appointments. I never really felt better through the appointments, etc either, so I just felt like I was wasting my time and the therapist's time.
It seems a surgery date is possibly really close at hand, and I am feeling very conflicted with wanting to finish the bowling league season (which ends in May) and also wanting to get my DS revision sooner rather than later. In some ways, I'm kinda shooting for end of March or Early April for a surgery date. In some ways, I'm kinda wanting to do it around March 27th which was the date I had my VSG initially back in 2012. I feel this date is more significant....but at the same time, I don't know that I want my revision surgery to fall on the same date either. All in all, I am still kinda holding onto late March or Early April, and perhaps be able to bowl again in the Summer.
Bowling has also been harsh on my left knee, and I know a lot of this reason is due to me being so over weight. This will hopefully get better soon.

 

[ShrinkingMyTiara]

Glad things are progressing along! Good luck with the rest of your tests and appointments! You'll get back on track with your eating, making small consistent changes is better than trying to correct everything at once. Perhaps with your movement you could try tracking your steps and just add some every week? I've found this to be the best way to get my activity in thus far and those steps add up fast! It is interesting how I find ways to fit them in here and there throughout the day... Some I break up through the day, but as the number climbs I've started walking at the mall most mornings (they open early for walkers) since it is heated and my lungs hate the cold. It doesn't take long but it makes me feel like I'm doing something tangible to support my health!

I hope you get whatever date you settle on. Picking the right time can be a challenge, especially when you have things you want to do!

 

[KyahRose]

Glad things are progressing along! Good luck with the rest of your tests and appointments! You'll get back on track with your eating, making small consistent changes is better than trying to correct everything at once. Perhaps with your movement you could try tracking your steps and just add some every week? I've found this to be the best way to get my activity in thus far and those steps add up fast! It is interesting how I find ways to fit them in here and there throughout the day... Some I break up through the day, but as the number climbs I've started walking at the mall most mornings (they open early for walkers) since it is heated and my lungs hate the cold. It doesn't take long but it makes me feel like I'm doing something tangible to support my health!

I hope you get whatever date you settle on. Picking the right time can be a challenge, especially when you have things you want to do!

Omg, so....things are definitely moving along.....swiftly! My final pre-op nutrition appointment is set for Wednesday, Feb 14th. My endoscopy procedure (if I'm correct, the procedure to show my sleeve, etc), is set for Friday, Feb 16th at For Fucks Sake o'clock in the morning. I'll then be called to set an appointment soon after that for a final consult with the surgeon to go over all the results of all the tests, etc. I have a tentative surgery date set for either March 25th or March 26th....most likely will be March 26th. In so many ways I have mixed feelings of this surgery date....My VSG was done March 27th, 2012. I'm excited, nervous, so many other feelings, thoughts, and emotions I can't even pick them apart to know what or how I feel. I'll have 2-3 weeks of pre-op diet also....something I am both looking forward to and loathing at the same time.

I can do this. I am, overall happy and excited to have this done....I've been working for this. I just didn't think it would / could come together within 3 - 5 months. I still have things I need and want to work on. Those will come with time, practice, and patience.

 

[ShrinkingMyTiara]

Omg, so....things are definitely moving along.....swiftly! My final pre-op nutrition appointment is set for Wednesday, Feb 14th. My endoscopy procedure (if I'm correct, the procedure to show my sleeve, etc), is set for Friday, Feb 16th at For Fucks Sake o'clock in the morning. I'll then be called to set an appointment soon after that for a final consult with the surgeon to go over all the results of all the tests, etc. I have a tentative surgery date set for either March 25th or March 26th....most likely will be March 26th. In so many ways I have mixed feelings of this surgery date....My VSG was done March 27th, 2012. I'm excited, nervous, so many other feelings, thoughts, and emotions I can't even pick them apart to know what or how I feel. I'll have 2-3 weeks of pre-op diet also....something I am both looking forward to and loathing at the same time.

I can do this. I am, overall happy and excited to have this done....I've been working for this. I just didn't think it would / could come together within 3 - 5 months. I still have things I need and want to work on. Those will come with time, practice, and patience.

It is both exciting and scary as fuck when things pick up the pace and it suddenly feels real!! I didn't expect mine to go so quickly either, and we ended up moving it to 6 weeks earlier than I'd planned due to other circumstances, so I basically had to start my pre-op diet the day the scheduler called to set my surgery date. I don't recommend that! LOL Yes, the endoscopy will let them check your sleeve for structural issues. You can do this!! Things will fall into place and what doesn't you'll find a way to settle in some manner before or after surgery! My birthday is March 25th, I can't believe we are already towards the end of January!

 

[KyahRose]

It is both exciting and scary as fuck when things pick up the pace and it suddenly feels real!! I didn't expect mine to go so quickly either, and we ended up moving it to 6 weeks earlier than I'd planned due to other circumstances, so I basically had to start my pre-op diet the day the scheduler called to set my surgery date. I don't recommend that! LOL Yes, the endoscopy will let them check your sleeve for structural issues. You can do this!! Things will fall into place and what doesn't you'll find a way to settle in some manner before or after surgery! My birthday is March 25th, I can't believe we are already towards the end of January!

oh wow!! Happy early birthday! Yeah, I definitely want to have some time, a week or something to process and prepare for starting my pre-op diet. I would love to either go to Japan House (which is essentially a Japanese restaurant that has an all you can eat option), or I want to go to Fogo De Chao to have a sort of celebratory dinner. They're both roughly the same price...Japan House is probably about 5-10 dollars cheaper....so, it's more or less a question of if I want all you can eat Steak or all you can eat Japanese cuisine.

 

[ShrinkingMyTiara]

I'd totally go for the all you can eat Japanese food... Japanese is one of my favorite cuisines!!

 

[southernlady]

The only issue with all you can eat, is you almost never eat enough to justify the cost. There is a Chin restaurant in our area that has a buffet option. We never choose that option as we prefer to take our leftovers home and usually they don’t allow that but a standard meal, yes you can.

 

[KyahRose]

Officially started My pre-op diet today! My surgery will be March 26th. This morning I weighed in at 285 lbs, but I think my legs / feet are also retaining fluid this morning, as they felt swollen. So, My pre-op diet is mostly liquid, 2 protein shakes per day, and 1 small meal consisting of 3-4 oz protein and 1/2 - 1 cup non starch veggie. I can have a max of 2 sugar free jello / pudding / popsickles per day. So far, my iron, and D vitamins are low as of my initial bloodwork done back in december. Surgeon is going to give me a boost of iron in the hospital. He is going to do a 150cm common channel. I am looking forward to this next phase journey.

 

[southernlady]

Between now and the day of surgery, get dry D3 50,000 from Amazon, and take two a day until the hospital tells you to stop all medications.

 

[ShrinkingMyTiara]

Officially started My pre-op diet today! My surgery will be March 26th. This morning I weighed in at 285 lbs, but I think my legs / feet are also retaining fluid this morning, as they felt swollen. So, My pre-op diet is mostly liquid, 2 protein shakes per day, and 1 small meal consisting of 3-4 oz protein and 1/2 - 1 cup non starch veggie. I can have a max of 2 sugar free jello / pudding / popsickles per day. So far, my iron, and D vitamins are low as of my initial bloodwork done back in december. Surgeon is going to give me a boost of iron in the hospital. He is going to do a 150cm common channel. I am looking forward to this next phase journey.

I'm so excited for you!! I had that pre-op diet for 2 weeks, then a 3rd week that was straight shakes only... I'm sending much good juju to you for surgery!! A 150 cm channel is a good length. Boosting that Vitamin D will help with energy going forward, I can definitely tell the difference now!