Common Channel Length?
Hi Everyone, I will be having my surgery June 7th and I am doing the Liver Diet now! But my question is: Does anyone have a Common Channel longer than 100cm? At my Results visit, my Dr. was talking about doing a 300cm, but I am meeting with him tomorrow and talk with him about doing the common channel of 100...he's main reasoning for doing a longer channel is because of the issues of loose stools, diarrhea, and of course malabsorption. Those of you who have had the original DS, have you done in these areas?
Thanks!
Make sure you are getting a real 2 anastomosis DS. Sounds like SADI/SIPS/Loop perhaps. Get what you want but KNOW what you are getting. 300 is very long and there is a good chance you may have a hard time maintaining your weight loss. The body is always looking for ways to get back to fat and happy so it adapts.
My CC is 75 and I wi**** was shorter. I take my supplements and I have never yet been deficient in anything. No poop problems either and I have been living with this surgery since 2003.
The sleeve doesn't work well. It's just another diet with a smaller stomach. The difference between the DS and just a sleeve is malabsorbtion. That's what makes it all work. You WANT malabsorbtion.
I am not sure I'd have maintained a 300 lb weight loss with a 300 CM common channel. I have been on OH and have seen hundreds of people return after several years to say they have regained some or all of their weight.
There is an "original" DS and there is a new surgery that is being called the DS, but it is NOT the DS. No one has long term data on the SIPS or Loop DS procedures .
You have to do what you think is going to work best for you. Get a good surgeon.....trust in their experience......and hope that you get a surgery that works for you. I am SO glad I have the ORIGINAL DS...not some mutt hybrid. But 10 years a from now the mutt hybrid may be the best solution. HOWEVER .....as I've seen over the last 11 years...the new "hybrid" surgeries sometimes turn out to be nightmares.
Scott
Hi there,
I had BPDS on 12/21/17 in Phoenix AZ. Dr. Fang was my surgeon. I have a common channel of 100. My question for you is did you have issues with stalls in the beginning? I just hired a personal trainer to help me with foods and diet and exercise because I am batting in the dark here.
Thanks in advance,
Heather
Mine is 125. SADI / SIPS is a different surgery and 300 is a common length for that type of surgery but 300 is pretty long for a standard DS.
While surgeons have different lengths the only documented standard is the HESS method which deals with each person individually. I think you'll find the definition on DSFacts. Having said that I can't say I've seen any difference in weight loss for the traditional DS in lengths from 50 to 150. I don't remember ever seeing anyone with a traditional DS longer although that is up to the surgeon.
First 6 months were up and down for me but I've had regular soft stools for 3.5 years without the trouble some Docs worry about and I have to say most people are like me and not like the problem stories some surgeons pass along.
Pete
I had an excellent surgeon in San Francisco, CA but I live in West Ky. I had a revision surgery from a Roux-en-y to the DS in January 2013. Only 5 doctors in US would do that surgery at the time. My common channel is 90 cm. I am 5' 3 inches. I am having trouble losing too much weight and have malabsorption issues. I got down to 99 lbs, and finally, with excessive stomach aches, gas, bloating, and very excessive BM's, I got up to 115 for a year and a half. Then I started going down again, and currently weigh 104. It is a massive struggle. And I still have excessive stomach aches, gas, bloating, and very excessive BM's. I cannot get very far from a bathroom, which has almost stopped me from leaving the house. I also have issues with anemia despite taking extra iron pills. My DS doctor no longer takes my insurance. Plus, I can no longer fly across the USA. There are no doctors of any kind in my area that knows the first thing about DS surgery. It is scary.
My mental health has deteriorated a lot since the end of 2013, but it has nothing to do with my surgery. I have wondered if this has greatly contributed to my stomach problems. My stomach problems contribute to my mental problems, and my mental problems contribute to my stomach problems. I have extreme anxiety for one thing. It is so bad, it also causes my stomach to hurt, but it is a different kind of pain. I often have both kinds of pains at once. I can tell them apart. My stomach stays exhausted from all the pain.
I wonder what percentage of people with DS surgery have to have the just as long and big surgery to lengthen their common channel?
Hey Sleeplessinky,
I am so sorry to hear you have had such a terrible time with your surgery! My surgon and I have decided on a 150cm for my up coming surgery on the 7th of June. Dr. Enochs is an amazing Dr. I wish you could see him! I am sure your depression is due to all of this. Are you seeing a Dr. to help you with your depression?
Hi cchall. I am so glad I found your message. I had a revision from the roux-en-y surgery to the DS surgery 1/23/13. My doctor was Dr. Rabkin in San Francisco. My message to you was getting too long trying to explain my situation. So I came back to the top in case I am boring you. I am trying to find a DS surgeon that can help me with all the pain I am now in. One that can possibly do the surgery called "Lengthening the common channel." Dr. Rabkin is really too far away, and no longer takes my insurance.
Would you mind telling me where Dr. Enoch is located and mainly, if he preforms DS surgery? I need to find one that takes my insurance too. Tall order. I could possible fly if it wasn't as far as SF.
All this has only made my depression, anxiety, and other health problems worse. I have not be able to find a good psychiatrist anywhere around me though I still go to one.
I have been seeing a DS doctor, (Dr. Houston) in Nashville. But he has not been able to help me, and has never done the "lengthening the common channel" surgery.
You don't have to read all that stuff below. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.
SleeplessinKY
I am still struggling very hard to not lose more weight that I can't afford to lose. At least I have a name for it now-Mal-absorption. But what is extremely painful is all the stomachaches I get along with excessive gas, bloating and very urgent, (sometimes I don't make it to the bathroom), bowel movements. By excessive, I know you have more of those problems after the DS surgery, but I believe mine are even more excessive than that. It causes me a lot of anxiety, and I don't like leaving the house it is so bad. When my stomach hurts real bad, which is almost every day, I can't eat. I am never hungry, and food tastes funny or bad to me. It is a chore to me to have to eat, but I miss getting to enjoy a good meal.
I have talked to Dr. Rabkin's office, but he no longer takes my insurance. He did discuss the surgery called "lengthening the common channel," but I am not sure if that would help with the gas, bloating, stomachaches. It would help with the mal-absorption. That surgery is almost just as big as the original DS surgery, requiring 5 days in the hospital and a month of recovery. I am not where I can even afford to fly to SF, nor do I have anyone to travel with me. I am handicapped, and need someone.
I have been seeing Dr. Houston in Nashville, TN. He is about 2 .5 hours from where I live. He does the DS surgery, but has never done the lengthening of the common channel. Nor does he seem to want to give it a try. And I would prefer not to be his first! Last September, he gave me some dicyclomine for colon spams and megestrol acetate to stimulate my appetite. The megestrol didn't help, but the dicyclomine worked great for 2-3 weeks. Then slowly the stomachaches, etc., came back.
