Alright folks, give it to me straight...life after DS

Good for you, asking all the right questions.  I was a "lightweight" with a BMI of 42 so don't be afraid of the DS.  As for your questions, I have less gas now than I did preop!  I do keep my carbs quite low though.  I have very solid BMs, once a day, in the morning.  I take a stool softener every day to keep it manageable.  I have no food intolerances at all, but I don't eat pasta because it has too many carbs and I'm still losing, but nothing is off limits forever.  The white flour in pasta will probably give you gas though - unless it's Dreamfields, which tastes just like the real thing!  And you probably won't have a lot of room for pasta after you eat your protein.  Protein first, always!  You do have to be diligent with your supplements and getting your labs. READ THEM YOURSELF, and chart them to watch for trends downward to prevent something tanking on you.  Don't take some primary care doc's word that "everything looks ok."  I would start right now taking a daily prenatal vitamin and maybe some Vitamin D as well, to get everything where it should be preop, because it's harder to get the levels up afterward, especially D.  You want to get off on the right foot.  I agree with the others as to your surgeon - I've never head of him and if he's not on the list, he either doesn't do DS or hasn't done enough of them.  You don't want a surgeon who has only done a few of these, this surgery is a lot more complicated and lengthy than RNY, so look at the list and start planning to travel for your DS, as most of us did.  I went to Brazil for mine!

Finally, I am so sorry about your MIL.  I did have a leak, which was diagnosed almost 3 weeks postop.  It took a couple weeks in the hospital, a drain in my gut for a month, and lots of antibiotics to heal, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.  I LOVE my DS!

Wow, thanks again for all the good information. You would think I'd be wiser to the WLS surgeon thing after our experience with my MIL but it never occurred to me that a surgeon could state he does DS and you end up with RNY. That's scary and unethical. 

For those who travelled a distance to get their surgeries -- how have you handled follow-up care? I've heard a lot of stories (from all surgery types) about not being able to get a local doctor to provide follow-up care because they went out of state or out of country for their surgery. NYC is not ideal, logistically, but it's not impossible to do a few times. 

Thanks again! 

I went back to my surgeon's office at 1 week and 2 weeks post-op (about 2 hours away with traffic). Quite frankly, I don't plan on going back unless I have a real problem. My PCP can order labs for me just fine, and I can find a local endocrinologist if I have problems with my labs.

You shouldn't have any trouble finding a local doc for follow-up, unless you're trying to do follow-up with an actual surgeon, which isn't necessary (IMO) unless you have a problem. Heck, even when I go to my surgeon's office for follow-up, I never see him, but his nurse instead. I can see a nurse much closer to home, thanks!

I traveled over 3,000 miles for my DS, not unlike many DSers.  My PCP and surgeon take care of my follow-up together.  I get my lab work done and my PCP faxes it to my surgeon.  Also, my surgeon faxed all my reports to my PCP, so they both stay in the loop concerning my health.  There are only about 50 DS surgeons in the world, so many people do travel great distances in order to get the real DS by a true DS surgeon.  My surgeon was very willing to work with me, but some surgeons that I looked into were not as keen on the idea.  I basically had to interview surgeons until the right one fit my cir****tances.
Good luck!
Trish

O Joy!  I love Surveys!

1. The gas. Is it as horrible as I've read about? Is it controllable (ie, will it happen when I'm doing a presentation at work?) 

Gas, is gas.  It stinks.  Yours stinks.  Mine stinks.  My Cat Stinks.  My dog Stinks.  So yea, it's bad...lol.  DS gas is a bit more Rancid than "Normie" gas, but it is totally controllable.  If I eat tons of carbs, I am going to have bad gas.  It's as simple as that.  They do have probiotics and such which do help keep the gas issues at bay, but I haven't found the need for them yet.  I can control my gas just fine.

2. Do you ever have a solid BM again? I've heard that you don't (have also heard this with RNYers too)

My BM's are solid.  If you are asking if DSers get Diarrhea?  Then No.  I haven't had Diarrhea since about 5 days post-op.  That was only because I was consuming liquids.  Other than that, my BM's are normal.

3. What is the recovery time like? 

It all depends on alot of things.  Whether your surgery was open or lap.  Your body size. Age.  Just alot of different things.  Most people recommend about 6 weeks before you start feeling normal again.  Some longer, and some shorter.  I felt good about 3 weeks out, but I refused to go back to wor****il I was 6 weeks out.  Just because I wanted to take it easy.

4. Alcohol -- can you have it eventually?

Why not?

5. Food tolerance -- sushi is my absolute fave followed by pasta and Mexican. Are all these out for good?

Out for good? No, Something you can have everyday and lose weight? No.  During your weight loss window you want to keep it as low carb as possible to maximize your weight loss.  Most of us recommend staying under 50g a day.  I was a huuuuge carb junkie before surgery.  I love sushi, pasta and every carb under the sun, and all of a sudden I turned into a carnivore after surgery.  I literally crave meat, and that is usually all I want.  It's very strange actually.  So you would have to cut that out for a bit, but it's definitely not gone for good.  With other surgeries, it may be that way though.


6. Post surgery vitamin deficiencies -- how serious are they? Are they easily controlled by supplements?

As far as seriousness is concerned, it really just all depends how low your numbers are.  I am somewhat slightly Vitamin A Deficient Per my 6 month labs.  I was in range, but at the very low side of things.  However, they are usually very easily controlled with just increasing your supplement intake.  That's why we need to take our supplements religiously as well as getting our labs drawn every 6 months to a year.

7. At one point do you not have to worry about leaks? I am particularly concerned about this question as I believe it was a leak that killed my MIL -- she was a week out. Will I ever be able to breathe a sigh of relief that I'm "okay" and life can go on after my surgery?

Good question.  Um, I heard that after about 6 weeks or so your intestines are pretty much healed, and most people are able to breathe a sigh of relief after the first month or so.  However, I have heard of some patients getting a leak later down the line, and I am not exactly sure why this happens.  I don't want to tell you the wrong info, so I'll just leave it at that.  However, Bowel obstructions (Which can happen to anyone, with or without surgery) can happen at anytime for the rest of your life.  So that is something that you definitely be aware of.

1. The gas. Is it as horrible as I've read about? Is it controllable (ie, will it happen when I'm doing a presentation at work?) 
I rarely fart during the day. Any gas I have is at night...if I have any gas at all. It's rarely dependent on what I eat. The only food that ALWAYS makes me far are White Castle sliders. I even eat tons of beans at Taco Bell and don't get gas. White carbs also never give me gas.

2. Do you ever have a solid BM again? I've heard that you don't (have also heard this with RNYers too)

My BMs are solid. They are formed. They do vary in texture from smooth to what I call "fluffy" with feather-like edges.

3. What is the recovery time like? 

My surgery was done lap so I think I recovered quicker...I was also young (35) and in relatively good physical condition with a lower BMI. I say that because I think my recovery was easier than most.

4. Alcohol -- can you have it eventually?
I don't drink so thats not an issue for me. But the golden rule is that it's OK after a year.


5. Food tolerance -- sushi is my absolute fave followed by pasta and Mexican. Are all these out for good?
I had Olive Garden for lunch yesterday and local Mexican today. Taco Bell (OK...not real mexican) is a staple in my diet.

6. Post surgery vitamin deficiencies -- how serious are they? Are they easily controlled by supplements?
I'm only 1.5 years out and haven't had any issues. My labs have been very good. Maybe a DS vet could speak to this more clearly.

7. At one point do you not have to worry about leaks? I am particularly concerned about this question as I believe it was a leak that killed my MIL -- she was a week out. Will I ever be able to breathe a sigh of relief that I'm "okay" and life can go on after my surgery?

I was concerned about leaks initially. But, my surgeon does a leak test the day after the surgery. All was well. This gave me great comfort.