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Congrats on 16 years! 
May the next 16 years be healthy and happy!! 
HW: 398.8 SW:356 GW: 175 CW:147
I just responded to someone's post and noticed in my signature block that yesterday was my 16 year DS surgeriversary. I still love my DS every day. I'm within 10 pounds of my goal weight (I hover around 155). I eat what I want but focus on protein - at least 100+ grams per day. I take my vitamins every day and get labs done once a year. Unfortunately I have developed osteoporosis and periodically need an iron infusion. Otherwise I'm good.
For someone who's about to turn 62, I'm proud to say I don't take any prescription medications and I'm probably the healthiest I've ever been.
Janet in Leesburg
DS 2/25/03
Hazem Elariny
-175
I agree with Larra 100%. This is a complicated surgery and the two surgeons in CA are experts. Not sure if Kathy may have other information.
You need to specifically ask your insurance company about coverage. Every policy is different. Did they pay for your RNY? Some policies are limited to 1 procedure in a lifetime. Only Aetna can answer your questions.
Janet in Leesburg
DS 2/25/03
Hazem Elariny
-175
Revision of RNY to DS is a complicated and high risk operation. It requires taking apart the old RNY, restoring the original anatomy, and then performing the DS. It should only be done by a very experienced DS surgeon, not someone who does the DS every now and then, and not someone unfamiliar with this specific revision (not just revisions in general). With a less experienced RNY to DS revision surgeon, the risks escalate. There is no one in AZ that I would recommend for this specific revision.
The surgeons in CA - I would guess you are referring to Dr. Rabkin in San Francisco and Dr. Keshishian in Pasadena - are two of your best possible choices for this operation. I hope you won't let the extra distance affect your decision.
And, to the person who answered your post earlier, I have never heard of a Dr. Schuster in AZ as a DS surgeon at all, let alone as someone who does this difficult revision. That's not to say he's never done a DS, I wouldn't know, but he definitely isn't know for this revision. I recommend you also contact the surgeons in CA.
Larra
Right now it's more mindfulness than discipline. I never wrote food down in a journal, but I paid attention to my body's responses and associated those responses to what I ate. Perhaps I would have discovered my detriment to onions earlier if I had.
You are experiencing this daily, so it's probably something you're eating daily, so focus there first. Another rule I had (and still have when I teach courses in person) is no experimental eating at work. I work remotely now, but I do have one client that beckons me to their office to teach. I have to be very mindful because they love pushing food goodies at me.
Valerie
DS 2005
There is room on this earth for all of God's creatures..
next to the mashed potatoes
Hello Christy,
I have a call into Dr. Schuster's office to see if he does the revision you are looking for. As soon as I hear from them I will let you know. Check your email, info on the way 
Regards,
Kathy
Member Services
HW:330 - GW:150 - MW:118-125
RW:190 - CW:130
Does anybody know of an experienced and respected surgeon in AZ that can do an RNY to DS revision? I have found a couple of surgeons in CA and I can drive out there is they will see me but I have 2 daughters that are young so I would love to find a doctor that is here in Phoenix or at least a bit closer than California. Thanks!
If you have any advise for me about insurance, I would also appreciate that. I have Aetna PPO.
As larra also posted, the all in one bariatric vitamins aren't very good. My surgeon had me on them the first year after my DS and my numbers were so bad I was supplementing with more vitamins than in the original packet (Vita-4-Life). Ultimately gave up the V4L and started individual supplements.
If you stay on what you're taking, have your labs checked in 3-6 months to make sure they're going up and not down.
You'll find something that works!
Janet in Leesburg
DS 2/25/03
Hazem Elariny
-175
It's great that you're making the effort to improve your vitamin intake, but I would caution that these all-in-one products, even if marketed for bariatric patients, and even when ok'ed by the surgeon, tend not to work well for us. Our vitamin needs are different from,and greater than, those for people with the more common gastric bypass, for whom these vitamins are marketed (and they don't always work so well for them either). Also, you can't adjust for too much of one component and not enough of another. That's why most of us take lots of separate vitamins -we get enough of each, not too much and not too little. Yes, it's more effort, but that's what we need to do to maintain our health.
So, check your levels again soon, and be ready to take the separate A, D, K, multi, calcium, zinc, etc. And you don't need yucky tasting powders, just pills. It's well worth the effort, which is to say, YOU are worth the effort.
Larra
Update from original post!
I won't claim to be perfect, but I've been MUCH better about taking my vitamins regularly. I think I've found a regiment that works for me, made specifically for the DS. It tastes a bit like dirt going down, but it's just one managably sized pill (2x daily).
Since my first post I tried the powdered version where you mix with water and drink, and this worked for a couple weeks but then I started to not want to take them again cuz it was three doses a day that tasted like flavored vitamin. Yuk! But I kept searching and found the pills I'm on now, which are from a reputable bariatric vitamin company that my doctor gave the okay for.
Hopefully my numbers will start to rise again (again, just assuming they are low from lack of vitamin intake) with continued use and the scary "you're going to die" threats to my body will remain ideas and not become actual reality. Thank you to all who posted.
:)
