Who benefited from DSers posting on other forums?

I was a lurker on the main board when I first started my research. I read about the DS on that board and decided to come over here to find out more and I'm glad that I did.

I was on the main board , then the RNY board and Dawn found me on the revision board.. I was an RNYer looking for a revision to DS... Thank God Dawn came to my rescue, she guided me through a long hard process when most Docs turned me away because of all my complications with the RNY.. She brought me here and I learned as much as I can, then went back out on the hunt to find the very best DS revision doc in the world!  Well here I am a year later at goal, looking and feeling great Thanks to Dr. Gagner, Dawn and all of you for getting me where I am today!

ME ME ME ! I was on the ONt board and saw some people talking about DS and started to do research. 6 Months later here i am, Offically DS'ed! catnip

I was on the main board, I think. My question was, which was better, RnY or Lapband. I came from Lapbandtalk.com (? can't remember exactly) but I had no idea about the DS. THANKFULLY Laurie Loves her DS saw that I was going to a seminar in which my lovely Dr. Crookes speaks but the other Dr. , who promotes Lap RnY, doesn't even want to talk about the DS there. I am very grateful for her taking me under her wing and showing me the way to "Dark Side"

Not gonna be popular , but it's true:  I had the opposite experience. I was researching WLS and kept seeing very inflamed and testy arguments between the DSers and RNYers (on the RNY board, which I was checking out first-- during The Great Surgery Wars) and it actually kept me from looking further and getting the DS info that might have helped me make different choices which may have been better for me. I didn't understand the sound and fury and some of  the DSers--- they reminded me a little too much of the girls in high school that pushed me down the stairs for sport--- which was something I just didn't want to be a part of, and really didn't have the energy to contend with in my physically compromised (and quickly dying state.) I didn't want to be part of any "club" that caused me agita, so I blocked the annoying parties and didn't look any further into what they were espousing. "Pay it Forward" is an excellent idea, but so is practicing a little diplomacy. It's been much better since, but you know, that was too late for me--- it's something to keep in mind while you're out there spreading the gospel--while you may bring attention to yourself and your board by creating a scene, you may also turn away some people who needed you most-- and I was probably among them. Sorry guys.

Interesting. You have posted SEVERAL times in the past that your insurance didn't cover the DS and you felt you didn't have the time to fight them because you were too ill.  Now this?  And you are saying that because we had this attitude, we somehow would have been able to reach through the internets and agitate you, and THIS caused you to pick the wrong surgery? Sorry, I call BULLSHIRT on you.

For some reason, I can't view this thread anymore (don't have anyone blocked) but I will try to respond-- hope it shows up! I didn't men to imply that it's anyone's fault but my own-- and I haven't done anything to warrant your response-- I'm not a bull****ter. Let me explain if I was unclear: I was sick and short on time. My insurance told me they didn't cover the DS. If I had spent more time here, I'd have known more about things like appeals and legal angles I might have taken (I did not) and had a better sense for what the DS could and couldn't do for me-- and could have possibly looked further into it. But because I didn't spend the requisite time here, I wasn't aware that I even had more options. I asked local surgeons their opinions (not knowing that they weren't DS surgeons-- after all, they all listed it as an option ) and made my hasty decision based on what they told me-- not knowing they were bait-and-don't-switchers (something else I might have known if I'd spent any legth of time here.) My timing here was bad-- I came in the middle of a war, and couldn't make heads or tails in all the ruckus. Fact is, with my health in crisis and my stress through the roof, I couldn't stand the incessant bickering between the camps ( not a "you" thing or an "us" thing but an "everyone" thing) long enough to weed through it and find what I needed to know. Weak of me not to investigate anyway, find out more? Yes, and probably understandably so, given my cir****tances. Does this make me "too stupid to deserve a DS"? Maybe. Or maybe I just arrived at the wrong time. My point was this: you all have very important information that needs to be shared with a population of desperate people...and I fear that some might not be able to get through the noise and bombast (during the tempestuous phases) to get the knowledge they need. We all need to keep this in mind as we're out trying to help people find their way to what's best for them.

Yeh, Geesh, Shari.  I took you as smarter than that.  I always figure those that are so dumb they think that having a DS will make them a ***** rather than realizing that perhaps it took a certain aggressive personality type to seek out and fight for what's best for them in the first place is the reason for more "*****es" having the DS, don't need a DS anyhow.  I'm actually very disappointed.

I am not lacking in intelligence-- and you know that---and no, I am not aggressive, but I am assertive. I try for diplomacy, most of the time. At the time, I was also 250 pounds overweight, losing a relationship, effing up my job, dealing with a criminal in the family who was stealing from us(who we couldn't stop), passing out after meals, falling asleep while driving, and unable to walk more than 50 feet, so my energy wasn't what it could be, you know? At the end of my days, I didn't have the tenacity left to deal with any more bickering and squabbling. Wasn't a function of stupidity, but of already being at my own personal limit for agitation, if you know what I mean. I'm all for aggressive people-- and think you all do a hell of a lot of good. Just wish I was in a space where I could have seen past the noise for the content when I was making my decisions, and figuring that well, if I felt that way, maybe others have too, so I'd speak up so you knew they existed too. People have been considerably more diplomatic since last spring, I've noticed (or maybe I have just grown my thicker skin back?)-- and I think that's probably a good thing.  Regardless-- I have an RNY. Mighta had it anyway, but who the hell knows. I might have fared better with a DS. I might have found a fast way for insurance to allow me a DS if I knew enough to challenge it. I might have preferred the lifestyle the DS offers. But I am an RNYer for life, and I plan to try my damnedest to rock the crap out of this pouch of consternation. Maybe I'll be able to show you a little of the tenacity I was lacking last year. Hope you'll find it in your heart to hope so for me. I didn't think the DS would make me a ***** I just didn't want to listen to the Surgery Wars saga-- from this or ANY camp-- when what I really needed was information, rendered both gently and quickly. Thanks for hearing me out.