RE-Intro

Hi I'm Denise. I was here a couple of years ago, but stopped getting emails from OH when they redid the site. My husband Les and I recently had duodenal switch surgery with Dr. Gary Anthone in Omaha, Neb. I chose DS because, after doing MUCH RESEARCH into ALL of the types of WLS, it was the only one where the majority of those who were 2 or more years out weren't worried about regaining, had no problems eating, and didn't have to follow a strict, low fat, low calorie diet. We had decided on surgery in late 2002, gave up on it when I realized that none of the other surgeries promised a life of normal healthy eating and habits, but instead after a 'honeymoon period' required going back on diet and exercise. We have both been able to lose a lot of weight over the years, but we regained it all. There didn't seem to be much reason to get surgery, only to find ourselves back in the same mode that had already failed us time and again. When I found out about DS surgery, again we wanted very badly to have surgery. Les works at a hospital, but his insurance excludes WLS. Talk about hypocritical! Besides, he takes care of "gone wrong" WLS patients and the main surgeon who does it at his hospital has a LOT of those patients. So we weren't ABOUT to have any kind of surgery there, even if he had done our surgery of choice. Not going to our hospital meant that we'd have a lot more out of pocket, but it was worth getting an EXCELLENT surgeon with a thousand procedures under his belt and a nearly nonexistent complication rate. Last year Dr. Anthone was named one of America's Best Doctors. I had spent years cleaning houses for a living, but dropped that and went to work in retail so I could get insurance to cover us. I didn't have much in the way of life-threatening comorbs, even though my bmi was 46.8. But I did develop mobility and pain problems to the point that there was no way I could work a 40 hr job. Someone suggested that I check with Arkansas Rehab, and I did. They don't like to pay for WLS anymore, and my counselor was dead set against it. Most of the people that they pay for WLS went to Dr. Baker and, despite having statistically "successful" surgeries, they were very unhappy with their weight loss, their co-morbs didn't improve enough to get them back into the workforce (Which is rehab's #1 goal), and some other reasons. The counselor did her very best to talk me out of WLS. Their requirements are very stringent anyway...bmi of 55+ and one year of following a weight loss program of their choosing. So neither of us would have qualified for them to pay for WLS. I did begin their program. Went to a recommended diet center with an eating program very similar to LA Weight Loss. It's a good program and I intend to follow it post-surgery. DS provides 80% malabsorption of fats, so I will not have to follow the low-fat part of it. No diet mayo! No FF cream cheese! In fact, today I am going to make a cheesecake with splenda, throw in a little extra protein powder, and eat as much as I want of it. (Which is not much...my tummy is not a pouch, but it is only 100mls. ) In the process, during 2005-6 I lost 45lbs, and went down to a bmi of 40. I did develop sleep apnea and hypertension during this time, so there were two of the required life threatening comorbidities. Les already had those, plus he developed diabetes. After I'd lost about 30lbs, the weight loss slowed down. But I was improved enough in mobility that I was able to get a job in retail which covered WLS and after I'd worked enough to qualify for insurance, we were on. We consulted Dr. Anthone just a few days before Christmas. Our surgeries were approved by UHC by the middle of February, and we had our surgeries one day apart in Omaha on March 19 & 20. We are still learning to eat with our new tummies. Instead of a pouch, DS surgery does a vertical sleeve gastrectomy to the stomach. That means that they fully remove the greater curvature of the stomach in a vertical direction, which removes tissue that produces a hormone called ghrelin that stimulates appetite. Otherwise, the function of the stomach, the churning that does what we otherwise have to do chewing or pureeing food, and the pylorus (valve that lets food out of the stomach a little bit at a time) all function normally. But boy, I did NOT realize how fast I shovel food into my mouth until I got to the place where I just can't. It's definitely a whole relearning process. That goes for figuring out what to put on my plate, and how to stop even when there is food left. This past Tuesday I was three weeks out. I did keep a few of my houses, and cleaned one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. I don't want to lay around and lose more strength. I was very active and strong before the surgery and sure don't want to lose that. I have lost 18 lbs according to our home scales from the day before surgery till now. I have 53 to go to get to my goal of a bmi of 25...that will put me at 151lbs and will represent 80% EWL. Les has lost nearly 60 lbs since he went on the pre-surgical weight loss around the beginning of February. He can lose really fast. Dr. Anthone required that he lose 10lbs before the surgery to make his liver easier to move around (our surgeries were open). He went on Atkins and lost 27 before surgery. He started at a bmi of 52, and has already lost about 25% of his excess weight. We have very little gas and, except for that first week out of the hospital, our gas or bm's have not smelled any worse than they did before. We are both dealing more with constipation (likely from the iron in our vitamins) than diarrhea. Hopefully, once we can eat a little more, the consitpation issue will go away as we can add more fat volume to our diet, and it tends to make for looser stools. For now we get our nutrition from protein shakes. 2 12oz shakes each with a scoop of unjury gives us about 66gms protein, which isn't bad for 3 weeks out. As long as we get our liquids and shakes in, then we add any other protein food that we want. This is hardest for the moment for no other reason than that removing the ghrelin-producing tissue of our stomachs has left us with almost no appetite. Eventually, as we can eat a little more, we will aim for 90-120 grams of protein from food exclusively. We still are required to eat protein first! Then add low glycemic complex carbs and finally, if we have any room, we can have a dab of simple carbs or sugar. Because we have a functionin pylorus and duodenum, we won't dump. But simple carbs/sugars are not malabsorbed at all, so every calorie in every bite counts! Best to save them for occasional treats. We also do not have to worry that carbonation will stretch our stomachs, so after we're healed and doing well, we can have carbonated drinks again. Anyway, that's our story. I will be excited to get on board with this group and share our journeys. Denise/river valley bordertown

Hi Denise, Welcome back, and thanks for sharing your stories with us. It's so good for us to be aware of all the different types of surgeries out there if we're really going to be able to support each other. Our little board has gotten much busier lately, glad you're here!!! Take care Susan (sometimes known as Ilean, as I'm on crutches recovering from surgery)