whats the deal with rooting for "Full DS"?

Definitely talk to your surgeon about this. I consulted with three DS surgeons, and after reading about this sort of thing here I asked every one of them if there was even a slight chance I would wake up with a VSG. They all said no, barring exceptional cir****tances.

I would not have considered a surgeon who said "yes" to that question.

I'm sorry - I must speak up and disagree with you here.  I would not take a surgeon that said without question, waking up with a VSG wasn't an option - because that means they are willing to risk your life for a particular surgery and keep you under as long as necessary to get it rather than considering it might be more dangerous for you to stay under.  We are morbidly obese people with extremely high rates of complications.  I don't know about you, but I am not more skilled at this surgery and it's risks than my surgeon and since I chose carefully the best I could find, I'm going to go with his expertise on whether or not something like this is an option. 

I think we have to advocate for ourselves, of course, but it bothers me when people seem to feel they know better than a well-known surgeon with enormous success rates that speak for themselves.  Janina's doctor is the freakin' head of laparoscopic surgery at Weill-Cornell....if he says that with the removal of a lap-band and scar tissue he refuses to keep her on the table too long so she doesn't die and might have to settle right now for a VSG with plans to do the rest in six months....i'm gonna trust that he knows what the hell he's talking about. 

First of all, no surgeon told me that "without question", they would not stop at a VSG, and frankly it's kind of sleazy for you to pretend that I said that when I explicitly said otherwise. Furthermore, your suggestion that surgeons who do not do the DS in two steps are risking their patients' lives is just laughable. All of the top DS surgeons in the world do this surgery in a single step, even on very large patients, and do so safely.

I reject entirely your notion that we are not allowed to question surgeons. Ridiculous. If I talked to a surgeon who told me that he regularly fails to complete the DS, I would have thanked him for his time and walked out immediately. Totally unacceptable.

So, I stand by my post. For anyone looking at having surgery, if you are content waking up with a VSG, or even a RNY, or a sex change, or just whatever the hell your surgeon decides to do, then don't talk to your surgeon about it. If you are concerned about it, then talk to your surgeon, and if you don't like his answer, find another surgeon.

(BTW in Janina's case, she said that she was told it wasn't because she is a revision from lap band--it's because of her size. Her BMI is 50 IIRC. Fifty. Hardly a heavyweight as bariatric patients go.)

 Sorry, man, but that's simply not true. Dr. Kemmeter, my surgeon and the surgeon of many others on this board, is without a doubt considered one of the top DS surgeons in the country. That's a fact.

He is also committed to doing the DS lap and committed to the safety of his patients. He warns some that there is a slight chance that he cannot safely perform the procedure in one stage. That's honesty at its best and his patients respect him for it.

I would rather have the DS in 2 stages lap than in 1 stage open. The man who I mentioned in my post was at a risk because his abdomen was so heavy and the pumps could not safely keep him inflated. Dr. Kemmeter made the correct call by only doing the sleeve.

I am not going to get into whether your surgeon is one of the top surgeons in the country. I will just say again that all of the top surgeons in the world do this procedure in one step, safely, on patients of very high BMI.

You made the judgment that you would rather have two surgeries done lap than one done open. I would never in a million years make that judgment. You are allowed to make your decision and I am allowed to make mine.

Again, there is no argument about my surgeon's status. He simply is one of the best, if not THE best. His track record is proof.

He has safety standards for his patients. He has performed the DS lap in one stage on very high BMI patients. However, everyone is different and that's why blanket statements are ridiculous. I promise you, without a doubt, that every "top surgeon in the world" does not have a 100% success rate of completing the DS lap in one stage. Absolutely not true. 

For instance, there's a patient on the table who's been under for 2 hours and the surgeon has completed stage one and the patient begins to have breathing problems. What's the best choice?

Or, the patient's lower intestine will not safely reach up to the stomach. Do these surgeons go ahead and and pull and stretch it in order to keep their track record in tact?

It's bull. I made my choice to go lap only and chose my surgeon accordingly. I'm sure that some of the "butchers" that we read about on here claim a 100% one stage DS. However, how's that turning out for their patients?

You're just kind of all over the place with your posts to Chad... where to start??

Actually, just to say, grasshopper, that there ARE those of us that are much more familiar with Kemmeter, his track record, and those considered the top DS surgeons in the world, etc.... and while you're not "wrong" in your assertions about Kemmeter (although, as much as I worship the guy, he is NOT one of the top DS surgeons in the world -- he is NOT who complicated cases or revisions to DS seek out), you are not making any sense with what you are arguing about with Chad.

I'm not sure why you keep trying to take this personally and make it about your surgeon. While I'm sure he's a fine surgeon, I know of no one (besides you) who considers him the best in the world. It is not about any specific surgeon, though--DS surgeons all over the world do this procedure in one step, safely, on high BMI patients.

Yes, there are sometimes reasons the DS cannot be done in one step, but high BMI is not one of them, and no one with a high BMI should settle for a 2-step procedure.

Ok - first - Janina's BMI is a 58.  She also has a history of epilepsy.  And yes, he did tell her it was also do to with the revision and removal of the lapband - that takes a long time and he doesn't like to keep someone with a BMI that high under anesthesia for more than a certain length of time.  He can't possible know how long the band removal is goingn to take or how much scar tissue he'll have to get through until he gets in there.  He does know, however, that he won't keep her under at her BMI and risk her life for more than a certain number of hours.  That is why she might end up with the VSG only.  I think that's perfectly reasonable under the cir****tances.

Secondly.  Sleazy?  Really?  You said: 

"...I asked every one of them if there was even a slight chance I would wake up with a VSG"

"I would not have considered a surgeon who said "yes" to that question. "

If that's not what you MEANT then fine - if you MEANT that you would understand in certain cases why that would happen, then ok....but what you SAID is that you would walk away from a surgeon that said yes, there is a slight chance you would wake up with a VSG - which to me is ridiculous.  There is ALWAYS A SLIGHT CHANCE.  And a surgeon, in my opinion, who is willing to keep you under no matter what rather than get a morbidly obese person out from under anesthesia should be closely questioned.

So please, feel free to back up and correct the miscommuncation but don't get pissy with me for disagreeing (not attacking like you chose to do but disagreeing) with you based on what you said.  "sleazy"  Really - THAT'S where you want to go with a difference of opinion?  Read your own words again and then read mine carefully, please, before you start attacking me again.

"Furthermore, your suggestion that surgeons who do not do the DS in two steps are risking their patients' lives is just laughable. All of the top DS surgeons in the world do this surgery in a single step, even on very large patients, and do so safely."

I'm sorry, what?  When did I say that?   I never said nor intimated that surgeons that don't do the DS in two steps are risking their patient's lives.  What I said is that a surgeon might know when it's more important to not risk a life and do it in two steps than one. Very different things.  My surgery was in one step as was pretty much everyone I know......yes, it is laughable because it's not even close to what I said.

"I reject entirely your notion that we are not allowed to question surgeons. Ridiculous. If I talked to a surgeon who told me that he regularly fails to complete the DS, I would have thanked him for his time and walked out immediately. Totally unacceptable."

When did I say that, exactly? I never said 'not allowed' to do anything.  I actually said that we should advocate for ourselves.  I went on to say that when it comes down to decisions beyond our scope (I'm assuming most of us aren't surgeons) you HAVE to trust your surgeon on certain things.  Especially if you are smart, did your homework and chose a good surgeon.  I think there is a fine line between advocating for oneself and thinking you know more than your surgeon. 

If your reply is going to be vitriolic and name-calling rather than just engaging in conversation with me about how you disagree with my opinion....then please, just block me.

You're right, "sleazy" was a poor choice of words and I should have chosen a better word (though for the record I did not call you sleazy). I stand by the rest of it, though. The DS can and should be safely performed in a single step, barring exceptional cir****tances--and a high BMI is not an exceptional cir****tance.

If you don't like that, you will have to block me, because I don't have anyone here blocked, and i don't plan to.