Looking for patients of Dr. Schweitzer that had DS surgery

Hello,

I am leaning towards having the DS surgery since I had the gastroplasy sleeve done in 2007 but am still on the fence with RNY. Obviously my sleeve surgery was not sucessful for me so now it is revision time. I am nervous and would like imput on how you choose DS or RNY.

Thanks in advance,Elaine

I had the DS with Dr S.  I would think the DS would be the logical revision since you already have the sleeve.  He actually now does the DS in two parts.  He believes most people can loose with just a sleeve, but he is willing to do the switch if it is not successful.  I personally chose the DS because I was concerned about the "pouch" concept, I like the idea of maintaining a fully functioning stomach.  Also, after research I discovered the long term results were a little better.  Feel free to ask me any more questions you might have.

Hi I had the DS with Dr. Schweitzer. He did great by me and I was and have been complication free. I choose the DS because I liked the idea of keeping a stomach as opposed to the pouch. I am not on OH much at all these days but feel free to email me if you have any questions as [email protected]  Good luck.

Hi -jack  Hey stranger how are you doing????

Darla I am doing great, how are you?

I had a revision with Dr. Schweitzer in 2006. My revision was from a proximal RNY (1995) to a distal RNY. Dr. S was only willing to do the revision to distal, (bottom half of a DS) and we left the original RNY pouch.
The surgery was fine, but I had a pretty significant complication when I developed an allergy to mesh used to reinforce my incision. I had an open abdominal wound for 6 months and sustained a staph infection. I was pretty sick!, but healed completely. 

Before my RNY in 1995, I weighed 316 (I'm 5'1"). I lost to 210, but then regained to 250. then went on Medifast and lost to 147. Then, I regained to 245 before my revision. After my revision, I lost to 185, and have stayed there pretty consistently (about 3 years now). So, I'm down about 130 lbs from my original weight and about 60 lbs from my revision. I am still about 50 lbs overweight and on a 5'1" frame, I'm still definitely overweight, but i"m entirely happy with where I'm at and the fact that I can wear the same size clothes consistently for 3 years now and I mostly feel great and I actually look pretty good! 

I had a TT when I was at 147, but really need PS from top to bottom, so losing more weight without being able to have plastics wouldn't do me any favors.

I have a few issues, including shockingly smelly and loud poops and a need to go about 4-5 times a day, which makes me always worry about finding private bathrooms. I have a very senior government job so this is a constant worry. I also apparently have some occasional body and breath odor issues that I don't smell so I constantly worry about that too. I don't know ho to prevent them, though I've tried devrom, sprays, antibiotics, etc. I was trying to take flagyl to treay BLS but it makes me really, really sick. I've had significant deficiencies (anemia, D, B12), and I also have some bizarre sudden and unpredictable hypoglycemia that worries me and feels awful when its happening.

I haven't been good about following up with Dr. S, though I am vigilent with my primary care doc and my rheumatologist (I have RA that may or may not be WLS related) in dealing with my WLS related issues (deficiencies, blind loop syndrome, etc.)

I take daily 50K dry D, Vitalady multi ADEK, Vitron C, folic acid,B complex, B12 sublingual and calcium. I also take Plaquinal and Methotrexate for RA.

I love being a revision survivor andlove my life. I'd love more weight loss and less smell and deficiencies, but if nothing ever changes, I am just fine with where I'm at and would do it all again without hesitation!

Hijack - I am a Dr Schweitzer patient who had the sleeve instead of the DS but I want to ask how your labs are?  You don't seem to be taking nearly as many vitamins as I read from Other DSers.

Also, about your BO and smelly poops... have you tried eliminating white flour from your diet? That's could be a usual suspect.  Also, have you posted any of this on the DS board? There are some true gurus over there who could help you tweak your diet and vitamin regimen to eliminate these issues if you are truly worried about them. 

Best wishes,
Angie

Angie-

Thanks for your note!
I take:
Vitron C, Vitalady D3 50K, Vitalady Calcium with D3, Vitalady multi, B complex, B12 sublingual. I dont think I'm missing anything and my numbers have been good... stable osteopenia (53-post menopausal), previously very anemic- now acceptale range. Very low D, now acceptable range

As for BO and smelly poops, I thin you're right, I should give a good try with eliminating white flour and probably eliminate sugar too...

Best-
Marcie

You should post over on the Duodenal Switch Forum about your bathroom issues. We see this sort of thing when people don't follow up and find out what foods their system can and can't handle. Your symptoms sound like classical white flour or simple carb problems. Some people can handle them and some can't without having the problems you describe.

The body and breath odor are most likely ketosis and not related to any particular WLS, they happen any time you're burning your fat stores for energy. The best hing you can do is drink lots and lots of water; like at least 120 oz a day. And breath mints also help; but ketosis is a good thing, it means you're burning fat.

Kerry

Thanks, Kerry!
I think eliminating the whites and simples is probably the way to go... (sigh... :)
Water and lots of sugarless gum are my constant friends!

Best-
Marcie