PRE-OPS ONLY! Post-ops, read about the DS at your own risk.

If you have not THOROUGHLY studied the benefits of the duodenal switch (DS), you cannot make a fully informed decision about which surgery is the best one for you:

1. The DS has by far the best average weight loss of any of the surgeries – a statistical fact
2. More importantly, the DS has by far the best average LONG TERM MAINTENANCE of weight loss of all surgeries– a statistical fact
3. The DS has by far the best CURE RATE FOR TYPE 2 DIABETES, including LONG TERM CURE, even with weight regain (the others have substantial rates of diabetes returning, especially with the far more likely weight regain) – a statistical fact
4. The DS is suitable for ANYONE who qualifies for bariatric surgery, and not just SMOs, which has been recognized by the ASMBS, ACE, Medicare, and most insurance companies, even for BMIs >35 with a serious co-morbidity (especially if that is diabetes or hypercholesterolemia – a statistical fact
5. The DS has the easiest post-op dietary regimen of all of the surgeries – FAT IS YOUR FRIEND.  Little to no restriction on eating delicious high fat, high protein foods, because you don’t absorb much fat – and your cholesterol and triglycerides will plummet, without meds
6. Good DS foods include marbled steak, crab legs with butter, chicken WITH the skin, cheeseburgers with all the fixings (but hold the bun), scallops sautéed in butter, cheese of every sort, eggs – and BACON!
7. No dumping, no food getting stuck, no limitations on drinking with meals, no sliming or “productive burping," no fills and unfills, no stoma blockage, no marginal ulcers, no restrictions on taking NSAIDs

However, you should NOT consider the DS if you

1. Are too stupid to follow the simple rules of the DS: eat high protein, take your supplements, get your labs done diligently and adjust your supplements as necessary
2. Are too lacking in self-control to manage/time your overall intake of refined carbs to avoid weight gain and gas
3. Are too sheep-like to argue with your PCP or surgeon for the right to have the most effective WLS
4. Are too passive to fight your insurance company to get the DS, when most of them will LOSE on appeal
5. Are too cowed by doctors to stand up to them in the future, to explain what surgery you had and how your treatments need to be tailored
6. Are too submissive to advocate for yourself
7. Are too weak to be certain that you will ALWAYS ensure your access to necessary protein, supplements, lab tests and other medical care
8. Are too dim-witted or so brainwashed by Judeo-Christian “morality" to understand that eating delicious flavorful food that you enjoy and which is right for your anatomy is not sinful or gluttonous – it is wonderful!
9. Are so self-loathing that you feel you need to suffer to atone for your sins in order to enjoy life with weight loss surgery

Remember:

1. Insurance coverage for the DS is expanding all the time, and even if your policy does not cover the procedure you have a good chance of getting it covered on appeal
2. Only a qualified DS surgeon can help you figure out if the DS is for you - if you see a RNY surgeon, he is going to tell you to have a RNY
3. If you see a surgeon who SAYS he offers the DS, but then tries to talk you into something else, odds are you’ve gone to a “bait-and-don’t-switch" surgeon – check the surgeon list at DSFacts.com before you go.
4. WARNING: More and more insurance companies are instituting a “one bariatric surgery per lifetime" restriction on their policies, no matter WHO paid for the first surgery – and you may not get a second chance to have a revision if you pick a surgery that doesn’t work for you in the first place
5. Revision patients lose more slowly and lose less on average
6. Revisions are MUCH more dangerous surgeries than virgin surgeries
7. Think about the psychological damage it would cause you to work your ass off to work your ass off with a less effective surgery – only to have it fail

THINK TWICE, CUT ONCE!

For more information, please come over to the DS forum here, or go to www.DSFacts.com

Good information! I feel that DS, RNY and VSG are all much better options as far as WLS.

It is much better to get a more effective WLS initially that to have to revise at a later time after realizing the  high complication rate of the band!!!

Thanks Diana !!!!!

It was a post like this that got me to researching the DS !!  Even as a nurse working in a hospital that does Bariatric WLS, I was not aware of the DS,

I even have a lapband that caused a HUGE TUMER. Lap band had my body producing way too much acid and it fought to "cover" it with calcium deposits,  After not being able  to swallow, or eat,  and several EGD's, this was the result. So it   needed to be removed, and all they were offering me was RNY...

Thank you for this!!  I am much happier, can eat anything I want, I do stay away from simple carbs, and do complex carb if I need,  but eat my protein, liquids and vitamins...

We do have to be VERY proactive of our OWN health, watch our OWN labs, and be able  to explain to even other medical's what our body is like on the inside,,,You are your own warrior!!

I  am just sorry I wasted 5 years on fills, vomiting, pb'ing. not enjoying my meals and the last year of only liquids and Pain.. MY WL surgeon kept saying I was just fine, My band was fine, the under fluoro showed no dialation, no erosion, but could not figure out why I was having my issues,,,

IT TOOK THIS INFO ON DS and a NEW SURGEON WHO DID ALL 4 of the surgeries to figure it out!!!

Get a second opinion... with someone who does alll "  4  " of the available surgeries!!!

If your a revision,,, make sure they are VERY  VERY experienced in revision to DS....

Good luck in your research !!!

Debi
in pain,,,

 Debi,

I'd love it if you would please share with us a little more about what happened with your band.  Why did the band cause excess acid?  Did it relate to level of fill?  Were you medicated for acid reduction?  

You are so right that we all have to be proactive of our health, labs, and other aftercare.  Problems should never be ignored, and no one should be in pain for the sake of weight loss.

So sorry you went through this, and wish you well with the DS.

Forgive me, as I am not a pissy person like many think DS people are,,, Yes I did misspell tumor, but  just  finished almost 16 hr shift in surgery, on a heart bypass... guess I am not human....

My band, and I did well, my body was FIGHTING the foreign body, and covering it  with fibrous tissue.  They could not access the port, needles were being bent,  They thought  port was turned, so had it revised to my sternum,,  Great spot !!   ....Never hurt for fills then... But after 5 months that is when problems of blockage started...

The surgeon said that probably, as part of the stress of the band, stomach was producing more and more acid and it caused the  sludge that turned in to a huge rock.... No not related to level of fills.

There were no symptoms of acid reflux,  other than liquids not passing, or even mushy foods . It was explained as PB'ing and vomiting  and were to be expected with a band...  in other words, MY Fault I did not work my TOOL well...

I knew better,as I was very compliant.  then changed surgeons, as the old surgeon kept wanting to change to a RNY, I did  not want RNY.  my insurance did not cover VSG They considered  it still  as experimental..  When I started to research the VSG and seeking a new surgeon, found one of the post by Diana,,, but would not have know of the OTHER surgery out there,,,

Once I found a surgeon who 1.. was qualified to do revisions, and also could do them to RNY or DS,,,He is the one who finally got to  the problem and did test required to find out what was going on...

Like you said if things are not right, and YOU know but the doc is not listening,,,, FIND a new one !!  

Debi

Just ignore Coachgirl. She has a history of posting nasty remarks like that. There are many on this forum that do NOT appriciate any comments about any WLS being better than the band so this post was obviously going to get the ammunition going!

For some reason they do NOT want to hear about anyones negative band experiences! Why anyone would rather keep their head in the sand is beyond me..........go figure! Lol.

Don't know why they would think that the Lap Band forum should just receive posts about possitive experiences and not negative?! It's not like we have 2 different forums: the possitive lap band forum and the negative lap band forum! So THIS forum is intended for both possitive AND negative posts depending on our experience and also on stats!!!

Sorry about all the problems u had with the band. Thank u for sharing that b/c ppl do NEED to know that things like this happen!!!

 WOW as a nurse working in a hosp with a wls surgery floor, you'd think they'd know TUMER is actually spelled tumor.

;)

Wow, really? That is what I took away from Debi sharing her experience ... her terrible mis-spelling of the word tumor.  How dare she...

Feel better?

Sorry, unlike you , I am not a rude person,,, worked a VERY long shift, and did not use spell check...

I do not work on a wls floor, I work in surgical/heart/peripheral intervention.  No wls surgeons do the DS nor even speak about it here.. Because none can do them here... It takes up too much of their time. 

 Had to travel to another hospital to find even a  qualified revision surgeon to the band out..  The mass was filling up most of stomach, and growing  up through the esophagus , making the opening even smaller for food or liquids to pass,,,unless the other Dr had done an EDG,,,he would not have found it with just a swallow study..

D

 Yes I too work long shifts as a RN.  Apparently you had your sense of humor (rhymes with tumor) removed with your ds....

I guess you didn't notice the ;)

I posted at the bottom.