Thinking of getting the SWITCH
I am in the research stages and meeting with my Dr next week. I had lapband in 2008 and had to have it removed in 2010. Is there reasons why you all picked the switch over the bypass? Can you recommend some reading for me? Questions to ask my doctor? I want to be well informed. Sorry if I sound naive.
Welcome! I picked the DS due to its long term success rate at helping us keep the weight off, the DS matched my own eating style, and the self-knowledge that I would always be a grazer and I needed a surgery strong enough to overcome my eating demons. Find a good DS surgeon to talk to. Most weight loss surgeons will only push the surgery they know how to perform and the DS is not usually one of them. They will use all kinds of scare tactics to push you towards the surgery they prefer not the one you need to be successful. One of the books I read early in my decision-making process was Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies...I kid you not. I bought mine through Amazon. Good luck with your research and decision.
--gina
5'1" -- HW 195/SW 187/GW 115 July 08/CW 121 Dec 2012
******GOAL*******
Starting BMI between 35 and 40ish?
Join us on the Lightweights Board!
DS on Aug 9, 2007 with Dr. Hazem Elariny
Good for you for doing your research! I chose the DS because it has the best statistics of any bariatric surgery for percentage excess weight loss, for maintaining that weight loss, and for resolution of almost all comorbidities. Weight regain is a major problem with other operations like sleeve and gastric bypass.
The DS also avoids some problems associated with gastric bypass - you can take NSAIDs safely, whereas they are contraindicated for the rest of your life with gastric bypass. The risk of dumping with the DS is almost zero, and dumping is NOT a weight loss mechanism, it is a potentially miserable side effect that some (not all) people have with gastric bypass. With the DS there is no laundry list of foods you can never eat again.
But as someone else already pointed out, surgeons will direct you towards the operations they do and away from those they don't do, because if you go elsewhere they lose a paying customer. Make sure your surgeon is someone who does the DS, otherwise you are wasting your time.
Larra
My insurance will only cover the switch if your BMI is 50% or greater. I am currently sitting at 46.7%. I really don't want to gain the 20 pounds to put push me over the mark, but the more I read the more research I do the more I believe this is the way I want to go. I am hoping they taking into account that I had the band before and that this is my second surgery. I of course have not met with the surgeon yet or my primary care doctor to start the process I mean its only 3.3%.
You are shorter than you think. Your excess weight causes you to slouch and have poor posture.
I got the DS because there is no better surgery with better statistics for weight lost and loss maintained. Period.
Follow the money. It is very common for doctors to say they do the DS when they don't. They are gaming you and confident of their ability to talk you into whatever surgery they do. Just remember how great that crapband was supposed to be.