Noobie Here, Howdy Ho

Hello everyone.   My name is Leonia, I signed up with OH back in 2005 when I was pursuing lap band surgery and got turned down by my then insurance co.  That was the end of that journey because I was too afraid of surgery to pursue it any further, but I am glad because I now know I may not have had the success with the lap band that I can possibly have with the Duodenal Switch which is the WLS I am currently pursuing.  I am now ready for the surgery and the responsibilities of post-op maintenance and I'm looking forward to its positive results after years of disappointment resulting from trying unsuccessfully to manage my weight on my own. I am in the 5th month of my insurance's mandatory 6 month supervised pre-approval diet, and I have been doing extensive research on the DS procedure and it's results, pros, cons, etc.

I have visited a few message boards, but unfortunately have had problems with technical issues (on their part) and no luck with tech support.  One board in particular seriously has me freaked out.  In the 2 months I've been involved in their message exchange, so far I have heard repeatedly of orange oily fecal "oil slick" leaks, having to carry extra changes of clothes and diapers everywhere you go, odor emanating form your pores and causing you to smell like rotting garbage, a man getting fired from his job because of his uncontrollable offensive gas, having to make sure you are near a restroom at all times, acne, spousal jealousy and divorce, and the outrageous expenses of post-DS vitamins and medical care. They always end their post with "even through all of this, I would have the surgery all over again!", but after reading it all, I'm like !!

Which led me here, I dunno why it took me so long. lol  I have been (naturally) nervous enough as it is about surgically altering my digestive system and the normal fear of the unknown etc, but now I am getting worried.  Although I am seriously overweight (SMO) and have been battling my body since childhood and would give almost anything to be near a normal weight, I have no serious co-morbidities, so I'm beginning to wonder if I'm prepared to trade being able to not crap my size 32 pants for crapping in my size 10 pants everywhere I go.

Can any of you tell me, did I just happen upon an unlucky oddball bunch who like to linger on the worse case scenarios, or am I truly facing a life of fecal incontinence and uncontrollable gas and body odor?  I understand that gas and BM odor will probably be worse after surgery, heck it ALL stinks, but I don't want to be some kind of disgusting gastro-intestinal monster.   Are they exaggerating the prominence of these symptoms?  Or is that the case at first then it gets better after a few months?

PLEASE give me some good news!

[edited to remove personal information]

 I found a couple of DS forums before this one and didnt like the other forums.  I think this forum should be your new home!

I am only seven weeks out, so I will let others answer your questions about bowels, etc. My short take is, it will depend on how long your small intestine will be (the configurations of the "malabsorption" component of the surgery) and what you eat!

I have not had any problems with my bowels that I can't pinpoint....sugar alcohols caused me SEVERE pain.  One day while travelling I wasn't well prepared with my food...I ate part of a bagel, because I was hungry and nothing was available. I had two protein bars later in the day!  I paid for that later!  Your body will tell you when you've been naughty, at a 7 weeks out perspective!

This topic gets discussed on this forum a lot. I would suggest going back page by page and learning everything you can about all aspects of the surgery.   You won't regret the hours and hours you spend reading!  Then just check in for daily updates. 

Best wishes!

Yegads.

I cannot address all of your questions, but I can tell you my life has been awesome since my DS almost 4 years ago. I have not had oil slicks or uncontrollable gas, poops or odors. When I eat a meal with other people, no one can tell that I had surgery. I have not crapped in my pants. I try to eat protein first, get in all of my vites and then enjoy my meals, from salads to desserts. Frankly, my DS has been kind of...boring. Thank goodness!

Read as many posts as you can in this forum. You'll see that no two DSers are the same. Some of us have food sensitivities. Some of us need more vites than others. Some of us need to drink protein shakes. If we're smart, we would recognize that these differences or ones like them were there all along, but now, with the DS we are hyper-alert for things, wondering what can go "wrong." For example, we are all humans, but we all have different bodies and those bodies have different needs. For example, we all know a skinny person who cannot seem to gain weight no matter what crap they eat, right? We know slugs who never exercise but stay thin, right? Kind of the same after a DS, I think. Every one is different.

Choose a great surgeon (I picked Rabkin in San Fran), do your research, be as compliant as you can be on taking vites, eating/drinking protein, and hope. Hope that you will have as an uneventful DS experience as possible.

As to your relationship, I can't say what will happen. I think WLS can bring about a lot of change in how a person views themself and how their loved one views them. We see a lot of people wanting to make up for "lost time" that they "wasted" by being fat and that starts to jeopardize their relationship, no matter what surgery type they had. They start actively seeking the opposite sex's attention, going to bars without their spouse, engaging in stupid behavior that they try to rationalize here and lots of like-minded people say "you GO, girl! You deserve to be happy, go for it!" And soo-prise, soo-prise, their husband/wife is evil and never understood them and they MUST get a divorce and shack up with their honey ASAP. Those people will never be happy, anyway. Instead of enjoying the journey they are on, they just keep wistfully looking at other people on different journeys. They keep changing direction so often, they forgot who they are and that they hurt people along the way.

As to the DS specifically and relationships, since we can eat a lot of the same foods as a "normie," I would imagine there would be less crabbiness about "diet food" and the like. Also, when other WLS fails and the people start regaining, I would imagine the relationship could suffer in some ways--feelings of failure, "I told you so," etc. Since the DS has the best long-term weight loss results, I would imagine that dynamic does not come into play as often. Just my opinion.

I wore a size 30-32 jean when I had my DS. Four years later, I wear an 8 or 10. It takes very little effort on my part to stay this way. I try and get my labs done every 6 months to see how I am doing and to tweak my vites as needed.

I think the DS is both what you make of it AND the luck of the draw in some ways.

Best of luck.

Nicolle

ETA: I just saw your surgeon's name. He is not listed as one of the vetted DS surgeons. His web site says all of the RIGHT things about the DS, but be sure. Proceed carefully, or you may end up with a doc who SAYS he does the DS and you will end up with something different. Ask for lots of patient referrals here and there. Check out www.dsfacts.com.

You are probably going to get a lot of personal experiences here which is exactly what you need to hear. I am almost three weeks out and my experiences thus far are this: I have not had one slick. My poo looks like something you'd find in the cat box and thank goodness it does NOT smell as bad. Artificial sweeteners are the devil for me and so are cream of anything soups. Other than that, I have had no issue with foods but I am avoiding all breads and other white carbs. I don't need them nor want them.  There is a saying on this site (there are a few, actually) that goes like this: never trust a fart.  I am not prone to diarrhea post op (unless I eat those troublesome foods) so I have not had any urgent bathroom issues whatsoever. It took 10 days post op before I had my first bowel movement (BM) and immediately after that I had quite a few a day. That only lasted about 2 days. Now I can even go a day and not poo. At first I though I was consitpated, but no, I just didn't accumulate enough to produce a BM. I went to another surgeon for my first consultation and he warned me I would be very 'farty.' It just hasn't happened to me. Yes, I get the occasional urge to pass gas but it is absolutely no different than how it was pre-op. I rarely use the Gas-X strips that I have and I only chew on a Pepcid occasionally.

I think I can shed some light on the body odor thing. For me, I noticed immediately that I 'smelled' differently. We all produce a natural aroma (for lack of bettter word) and mine changed. I don't think it is any better or worse, but it is different and for me, very strange to get used to. I am noticing these past two days that either I am getting used to it or it is subsiding. 

All that being said, I think I need to point ou tthat my situation did not just miraculously happen. First of all, I prepared my body for the upcoming surgery. I took probiotics to make sure my gut was happy. I have actually been taking many vitamins (including probiotics) for many years so I was ready for this surgery.  I drank protein shakes before the surgery, thank goodness because they taste like crap now and I am having a hard time choking them down. I made sure my body was as ready and prepared as it could be for what I was about to do to it. The other thing I want to bring up is my choice of surgeon. You will be hit with a bad case of the jitters right around 2 weeks prior to your surgery date. It happened to me and it is normal so get your head wrapped around this now.  The only thing that got me through it was I knew I had the best surgeon, period. I am not familiar with your surgeon and I am sure others will chime in with their concerns as well. This is complicated surgery even if you are a virgin DS like me and you. My surgeon understands the DS is the absolute best surgery for weight loss, particularly long term maintenance and I needed a surgeon who 'knew' this was the right surgery. The first surgeon I spoke to was an RNY guy. It makes a difference.

As for the other sites you  have visited, there are lots of trolls out there trying to influence people away from the DS. A troll is someone who does not actually have the DS and for whatever reason feels the need to convince others it is a bad surgery. Check the revision board on this site. There are no DS people looking to revise to anything else. There are PLENTY of RNY, crap-band, etc. people looking to revise to a DS. Which brings me to another popular saying on this site: think twice but cut once. I don't need to stress this point to you since you have already figured it out on your own so good for you for doing your homework!  I think you will be happy with your decision.

So this is a recent post op's experience. You also need to hear from some real vets on this site and I am sure they will chime in. Everyone has different experiences and let me just tell you that YMMV means your mileage may vary. You'll see this a lot in the posts you read. It just means no two experiences are alike as there is much variability but there are certain tendencies and that's what you want to familiarize yourself with.

Good luck to you and please keep us posted on your progress!

Edited to add: it looks like Nicolle got her post in just before mine and has already brought up the surgeon issue with you. We can't stress enough how important it is to find the right surgeon. I traveled across the country to have the best take care of me. You are lucky to live in a state that boasts a very fine DS surgeon. Check out Dr. Daryl Stewart in Denton, TX.  His contact info is on dsfacts.com. You should read that entire website as it has great information as to what to expect both pre-op and post-op.

You mentioned smelling different in the beginning.  That happened to me too.  I had forgotten!  I also remember sweating a lot in the beginning.  It's all gone now; I'm back to normal!

First of all let me say I love the new avatar!

I am so happy to hear that odd smell goes away. I really don't like it. I have Hashimoto's disease so I am always cold but immediately after surgery I sweated so much I thought it was because of the surgery. When I got home I had to put the a/c on (i'm in Florida so this is not odd) but about a week after I got home, I started to get cold again and I haven't had the air on since.  Can I ask, how long before that smell went away? This is the first time I've read on the boards that someone else had this side effect. It really distressed me because I was completely unprepared for it.

 I finally got on my computer and figured out the avatar thing!  I'm usually on my phone.

I can't recall an exact time when the smell went away. It is gone at 7 weeks out. I used to sweat A LOT after surgery. I was losing weight rapidly during that time and thought that might have had something to do with it. I am now settling in about 2 pounds per week and back to where I was pre-op. 

So, Paul did land somewhere else.  He used to be out here complaining about these things, however he was unwilling to change his way of eating, which would pretty much eliminate most of the problems.

*Gas and BM odor is definitely different, and stinks.  I find that it stinks less when I'm eating yogurt regularly (good bugs in my system) and especially bad after indulging in pasta or some ice creams.  You learn how new foods affect you along the way and adjust your eating accordingly.  For the most part, it really is that easy, and that hard for people to get through their heads.

*I did have the orangy stuff the first year or so in the toilet, but never had the need for  extra stash of clothes or diapers.  It was bizarre to look at, but no big deal. 

"So, Paul did land somewhere else.  He used to be out here complaining about these things, however he was unwilling to change his way of eating, which would pretty much eliminate most of the problems."

LOL. I bet you're right, Val!

Nicolle