DS?

SOME insurance companies (by way of the "owners" of the policies, also known as your employer) and SOME surgeons only consider the DS for those over a 50BMI... The thinking is that you lose less with a RNY than a DS. THAT is HORSESH&T. There are very qualified surgeons who will do a DS on a lightweight...my starting BMI was a WHOPPING 35.2! I had a grand total of 53 lbs to lose. I did have co-morbids but even if my BMI had been a 39 and not a 35, I would have had to have them.

The most important thing you should know about the difference between the RNY and the DS is the long-term, maintained results. The DS has far better ones. Equally important to ME was that the post-op DS eating plan suited me far better.

Here's a pic of the RNY:
 

And here's a pic of the DS:



Well, here's a clearer one:



What the DS does is allow you to have your normal stomach anatomy (just MUCH smaller). It keeps the pyloric valve which regulates how fast food gets into your intestine. You can also take NSAIDS.

For more information on the DS, read DSFacts

There is also a study that was released recently about the DS. Thread is here

I agree you need to get rid of the lapband...but revision surgeon's are far more scarce than those who do a virgin DS. Make sure he's not JUST a DS surgeon but ask how many revision DS's he has done.

Liz

Hello and welcome Iam a bandster and have my revision to DS on Jan 24th....I, too, thought and wondered the same thing pertaining to my BMI...which is lurking bw 40 and 41. Anatomically, the DS just made sense to me. I already know what restriction is...been dealing with this darn band for 5 1/2 years. I know that the DS is the right choice for me. Good luck to u

If your surgeon that you think does the Ds is the one named in your post, I can tell you that he doesn't do the DS except maybe for someone with a bmi over 70. He will tell you that it has a higher complciation rate, but in reality, he has created a self-fulfilling prophecy by only doing it, if at all, on the patients who are at the highest risk for complications, AND by doing it rarely doesn't get a lot of practice at it. This is a set up for problems.

However, you have the great good fortune to be somewhere in CA, so you aren't too far from 2 of the best DS and DS revision surgeons around, Dr. John Rabkin in San Francisco and Dr. Ara Keshishian in Glendale (and sometimes in Delano). I would strongly recommend that you contact one of them. You are going to get nowhere with the surgeon you have named.

And as others have said, the DS is NOT only for people with the highest bmi's, it works great for someone with your bmi as well. It has the best statistics of any wls for percentage excess weight loss, for maintaining that weight loss, and for resolution fo almost all comorbidities. It also has significant lifestyle advantages over gastric bypass - no laundry list of foods you can never eat again, no dumping (which is NOT a weight loss tool, just a very nasty side effect that some, not all, people with gastric bypass get), you can drink liquids with meals, no food getting stuck at the stoma because there is no stoma, and you can take NSAIDs safely, which is a biggie.

You are very smart to be researching all your options. Read more about the ds at dsfacts.com, and get yourself to a real DS surgeon.

Larra

DS qualification varies from insurance company to insurance company.  Some are smooth as silk, some cover it, but make you walk through Hades to qualify, and still others don't cover it at all.  Check your own policy, and give the customer service line a call to be sure.

 The difference between the two surgeries has been covered, so I' ll just add this:

If you want to eat like a normal person, without a list of  forbidden foods, choose the DS.

Compared to what you went through with the band, the DS is a normal life.