Who benefited from DSers posting on other forums?

Ok, so my Dr. had DS andmentored me into the DS....she repeatedly told me to research all types of WLS...and then 1 yr later after talking to me (to see if I HAD researched) she told me her personal story and why I should NEVER consider the other types ...for ME. She was correct of course, because I could not have done well as an RNY or other type of WLS patient. In my research I was directed to OH / DS forum and many, many questions later I was convinced beyond all doubt that this was the choice for me. All of you on this forum contributed in one way or another as I lurked and read and learned, progressed to post and read and learn, to present day actively reading, posting, still learning and paying it forward! Whi*****ludes posting and answering on the other surgery boards and as this entire topic has shown, MANY would not know of the DS option without the 'cross posting' we do!

Count me in, please. I logged on to OH about 6 months ago and I went through almost every page on this website (well, hardly, there are gazillions), but I did find the Main, RNY, and DS boards right away. I knew nothing of DS but kept reading, learning, researching, and asking questions. Thanks to Tammy B. and "Drama Mama" in MN, I am pursuing DS with Dr. Buchwald now instead of RNY! My personal decision but one I am very glad about. In MN anyhow (based on coffee group conversations) I also know that it is important to spread the word about DS because most of the surgeons here only perform RNY and Lap Band, so unless you inform others about it, they likely will never know about DS as an option. Thanks all.

Well, I'm always last to get in on these threads, guess I went to bed earlier than anyone else last night, but add me to the list anyway. I had heard of the DS but knew little about it. It seemed very complicated and I like to keep things simple, so I didn't really look into it. I was approved for and jumped through all the hoops to get RNY but was never convined it was right for me, and ultimately decided I just couldn't do it. I looked seriously - very seriously - at the post-op diet required for longterm success with RNY and could not convince myself that this was something I could live with. My RNY surgeon quoted a 30% longterm failure rate with RNY, and I couldn't live with that either. Fortunately for me, some wonderful DS'ers - Diana, Ms Batt, and Amanda S - posted on the main board and I finally got smart enough to  research DS. I found an operation that I could live with and succeed with. So many people on the main board were experiencing wonderful early success with RNY, only to be followed by weight regain. Others were succeeding but it was a daily struggle for them to sustain that success. I also attended a local support group, almost all with RNY, and found the same thing - yes, some people do great wtih RNY, but so many struggle. I had struggled with my weight all my life. I was not willing to have an operation where I would still be struggling. DS does require lifestyle change and committment to protein, vitamins, supplements and regular lab work, but the changes were so much more reasonable than with RNY, things I felt I could do longterm. I knew this was the best and only choice for me. So thank you to all the brave souls who venture over to the main board. Knowledge is power. Larra

I can honestly say that I come to the DS board on my own, but it was people like Diana, LeaAnn,Lori, Nicole, Lola, Sean, and too many others that gave me the encouragement and support to continue to fight for what I wanted and not what the ins co wanted me to have (RNY). For that ladies and gentlemen, I am and will be forever grateful.  I repect Diana's knowledge, and just because she and a few others don't "sugar coat" everything they say, it is no reason to  flame them. You have a choice, you can listen and apreciate the truth, or you can listen to fairy stories. As for me, I'd much rather have the truth. Either poo-poo or get off the potty, cause there are a lot of folks out there that need the info that these folks have to say!

I think it's been almost 5 years since I started checking in with the DS forum every day after having lurked on Main, CA, and RnY boards.  Although I didn't discover the DS from hitting other boards, I did get extraordinarily helpful info on DS surgeons from this site, especially from Diana.  She even PMd me one day to guide me away from a bait-n-switcher, bad rep guy I'd been considering. Back in those early days of my journey the posts here were very, very few in comparison with the racing pace of today.   I have to credit Diana's leadership in my journey.  I think she also guided me to duodenalswitch.com where I found the conclusive evidence supporting my DS decision.   Deep gratitude, in a weird way, goes to my RnY friend who had her RnY in '98, I think, and now has regained at least 50 of her 150# initial loss.  When I was deciding, she had already begun her regain, needed iron infusions, and vomited blodd a couple of times from stomal ulcers. I'd also like to add that I've begun to study the deeper meaning of vile and malicious in the hope that someday I'll actually have enough nerve to really begin its practice.  LOL 

I'm glad you made this post so I can once again thank Ms. Calculator, Sue, for literally saving my life.  I was a failed lap bander - and every time I went on that board for support, people treated me like there was something wrong with me for spending $13,500 out of pocket and losing a grand total of 30 lbs over a year.  Well, I don't know how it happened, but through grand intervention, I met Sue on the DS board and not only did  she write to me, she gave me her phone number. After a few conversations with her (man, talk about intelligent),  and an explorationof my insurance policy, I was scheduled to have DS with Dr. Ungson.  And it's a Good thing too - since the lapband was completely lodged in my liver.  I'll never know why someone went so far out of their way to help me like that - but hey, I'm two pounds away from the Century club - and I never would have given this forum a second look (too scared) if it weren't for Sue.  SO THANK YOU SUE.  I AM FOREVER IN YOUR DEBT.  And thanks to all who greeted me so warmly when I finally got here.  Most Sincerely, Mary

I learned about the DS from my own research, and from interviews with surgeons who did lapband, DS and RN. I read posts from DSers on the main and RNY forums and spent hours reading on the DS forum to get more of an idea of DSers experience. I weighed all the info and my options and had lap RNY on 09/24/2007. -Jasmine

I learned of the DS and am so grateful from LeaAnn and Pruett.  I posted a question on another forum Duodenal Switch.com that Pruett read and he notified LeaAnn.  Wasn't long until I heard from LeaAnn and the rest is history.  I had my DS on 8/28/2007.  I did not know much about the DS at the time and had seen so many people gain back their weight with the RNY that I knew I wanted something different. Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you-LeaAnn! Susie

I began my journey on the RNY board because I really had no idea that I had a choice of more than the lap band and the RNY. When I knew I needed a revision, I came back to the revision board. I had no idea what options I had. I did see many comments about the "DS'ers" and it was reading back and seeing comments about the DS from many of you that made me come over. Much of the support I saw was statistical , and medical, and not just emotion. That intrigued me. This is my life-I need to know the facts and not all the fluff so I can make the BEST choice for me. This is not a typical forum. I come here every day and get support from everyones comments. I learn. I see a lot of sharing. I appreciate that.

Hi Diana, I've been hesitant to post this, cuz I don't know if it's my memory, or if the chat function on the Main Forum has been disabled, or changed from when I started to visit OH or not...but anywho... My start-date on this site looks like sometime back in February 2005? I think I recall a DSer on a chatroom in the Main Chatroom (which I cannot find now). His name was Mark. He had had the DS, and spoke with me in private chat mode for a little while, letting me know how he 'ate normally' and had lost soooo much weight. He really looked too thin, to me, but he was the happiest he'd been in years and year, and he shared his journey with me, and that's how I found out about the DS. I was in so much pain (emotional and physical) from being SMO for my lifetime that I was ready for the RNY, the LapBand, or whatever other WLS was being hawked at the local WLS orientations. (I think there are LOTS of people who are in those painful shoes, who just want OUT of the OBESITY PRISON ASAP who don't think twice about the type of surgery...it's a pain response, IMNSHO.) The only other place I'd heard of the DS was through one of those orientations (I must have attended at least 6 of them within the first two months after having made the decision to have WLS). It was Dr. Fox in Tacoma, WA. He went over the DS briefly, and didn't recommend it to anybody there. (He was promoting the proximal RNY at the time, and gave a very good lecture about the history of WLS, and the "mistakes that were made" on those that went before.) More than you wanted to know, I'm sure, but in case there is someone lurking around, wondering what their next steps may be in choosing, or learning about WLS...there IS information here, right here, on ObesityHelp.com. Sometimes those of us "paying it forward" reach out to other boards to just get the information into hands of folks that might not have come by the information before. We'll keep doing this, without question, no matter how difficult the "opposition" tries to keep us out or off "their turf." Nice thread, Diana. Thanks for thinking of it.