Dr. Baker vs Dr. Ikramuddin
I live in the north metro, and am considering RNY. Would it be better to go with Dr. Baker at Unity due to the close proximity, or go with Dr. Ikramuddin due to his great track record and friendliness?
Also, is there a reason that people are choosing VSG or DS over RNY? I'm new to this, but I just figured RNY has the best results and track record.
Thanks!
Also, is there a reason that people are choosing VSG or DS over RNY? I'm new to this, but I just figured RNY has the best results and track record.
Thanks!
I wouldnt say that RNY has the best results and track record. Every person I personally know who has had it had struggled to keep their weight off after about 2 years. If I were you I would do research on all the types of weight loss surgery minus the lapband. After seeing everyone one I love deal with regain and other issues from RNY I knew that I couldnt do it. Thankfully I found out about the DS and am going to be having Dr. Buchwald do my surgery. Check all the surgery boards, look at the failed surgeries board as well. Check www.dsfacts.com for info on the DS
Well, after 1 day of researching, I'm now leaning towards DS. That would mean I would have to choose Dr. Ikramuddin, who I believe does laproscopic DS. Dr. Buchwold only does open DS.
The real question now is whether my insurance will cover it. From their medical policy, it seems like they will, but I'm right at that 49/50 BMI range...so maybe I just scrouch down when they measure my height??? I'm 6'2" male, 385 lbs., 29 yrs old.
BCBS of MA medical policy #347 covers:
Open or laparoscopic biliopancreatic bypass (i.e. the Scopinaro procedure) with duodenal switch for treatment of morbidly obese patients with BMI of 50 kg/m2 or greater that has not responded to conservative measures.
The real question now is whether my insurance will cover it. From their medical policy, it seems like they will, but I'm right at that 49/50 BMI range...so maybe I just scrouch down when they measure my height??? I'm 6'2" male, 385 lbs., 29 yrs old.
BCBS of MA medical policy #347 covers:
Open or laparoscopic biliopancreatic bypass (i.e. the Scopinaro procedure) with duodenal switch for treatment of morbidly obese patients with BMI of 50 kg/m2 or greater that has not responded to conservative measures.
I have heard a lot of wonderful things about Dr. Ikramuddin, and he has a great track record so far.
If you're right on the line for BMI, you may be able to appeal the >50 BMI requirement if they deny you on those grounds.
If you're right on the line for BMI, you may be able to appeal the >50 BMI requirement if they deny you on those grounds.
-EJ 
"If television's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up." -cat and girl
5'6" HW 325 / SW 317 / CW 214 / First Goal 190 | Century Club 09/19/2011
"If television's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up." -cat and girl
5'6" HW 325 / SW 317 / CW 214 / First Goal 190 | Century Club 09/19/2011
Well, I think I need to start going to these information seminars and meeting the docs/teams. I still have a lot of emotions and concerns regarding both DS and VSG procedures (RNY is officially out of my running):
DS:
- Seems drastic; they bypasss 5 feet of intestines. Lots of potential complications. I watched a video of a laproscopic DS and it kinda grossed me out.
- Taking so many vitamins; 15-20 @ $150/mo for the rest of my life. I know it's stupid, but if I was shipwrecked or something and had no access to vitamins...I would die! What about when I'm really old and in a nursing home...I'll be taking 30 pills a day (although without the surgery I likely wouldn't make it to a nursing home).
- More frequent/smelly bowel movements.
- Would loose too much weight? I don't care about getting skinny, I just want to be healthy so that I can watch my daughter grow up.
VSG:
- No insurance coverege (I'm kinda doubting an appeal would work).
- Results not as "garunteed" long term; I may strech my pouch and regain the weight.
- Long term effects not well understood; not many years of data.
- Surgeon/staff may not have much experience with this proceedure; less helpful care/support.
Both:
- I'll have all this excess skin that is both astetically and functionally a burden.
- I've never had ANY surgery before; it kinda scares me.
- I'll have 6-8 laproscopic scars.
- Admitting to friends/family that I couldn't do it on my own. My mom lost her weight the "old fashioned" way.
- Worried that it will change my personality. When my mom lost her weight, she become somewhat self absorbed (much unlike how she used to be).
Sorry to vent my fears, but I'm sure you guys may have had some of the same ones. Hopefully these information seminars will answer some of these questions and give me confidence that this lifestyle would be right for me.
DS:
- Seems drastic; they bypasss 5 feet of intestines. Lots of potential complications. I watched a video of a laproscopic DS and it kinda grossed me out.
- Taking so many vitamins; 15-20 @ $150/mo for the rest of my life. I know it's stupid, but if I was shipwrecked or something and had no access to vitamins...I would die! What about when I'm really old and in a nursing home...I'll be taking 30 pills a day (although without the surgery I likely wouldn't make it to a nursing home).
- More frequent/smelly bowel movements.
- Would loose too much weight? I don't care about getting skinny, I just want to be healthy so that I can watch my daughter grow up.
VSG:
- No insurance coverege (I'm kinda doubting an appeal would work).
- Results not as "garunteed" long term; I may strech my pouch and regain the weight.
- Long term effects not well understood; not many years of data.
- Surgeon/staff may not have much experience with this proceedure; less helpful care/support.
Both:
- I'll have all this excess skin that is both astetically and functionally a burden.
- I've never had ANY surgery before; it kinda scares me.
- I'll have 6-8 laproscopic scars.
- Admitting to friends/family that I couldn't do it on my own. My mom lost her weight the "old fashioned" way.
- Worried that it will change my personality. When my mom lost her weight, she become somewhat self absorbed (much unlike how she used to be).
Sorry to vent my fears, but I'm sure you guys may have had some of the same ones. Hopefully these information seminars will answer some of these questions and give me confidence that this lifestyle would be right for me.
I have no comments on the VSG, but maybe a VSGer can weigh in on this.
-Does it seem drastic? Yes. But it has a proven track record. Best track record for weight loss and remission of type II diabetes. The malabsorption helps keep the weight loss more permanent (though it is possible to eat your way through a DS, just like it is possible to eat your way through a RNY, VSG, Band).
-I do take a lot of vitamins, but I do NOT spend $150 a month on them. I just recently did a re-stock on **6 months** of vitamins from Vitalady, I spent just over $300. I don't get all my vites from her, but I will probably drop another $50-100 for 6 months worth of the other vites I need. Considering how much I was paying on co-pays for prescriptions before I lost all my weight, it's money well spent. I probably drop about $30/month on protein supplements, but you may not consider that necessary until after you can get all your protein from food. I just like drinking protein shakes.
I do keep an 6-month stash of vites available, and since I am only 30-something, I havne't really given too much thought to being in the nursing time. I'm hoping I will be ok when the time comes, but only time will tell. There are elderly DS patients out there who are thriving, so I will cross my fingers that I'll get there, too.
-I have one BM a day. In the morning, when a first wake up, and in the privacy of my own home. Does it smell? Oh hell yes. But BMs from normal people smell, too, so... eh? Yes, mine smell kind of bad, but I have Ozium, I take Devrom if I am worried about exposing others to my BM smell (which has rarely happened). My BMs were a bit more frequent for my first 2 months, but that's because there's a bit of an adjustment period.
And my gas production is pretty much tied to my diet. If I eat too much sugar or white flour carbs, there is gas, and it does not smell pretty. I can eat moderate amounts of sugar and white flour carbs and be ok.
-I am only a year out, I can't really answer the question about losing too much weight. I have seen a few people on the DS board talk about how they are losing too much weight, but it seems like most of them were lightweights to begin with.
There are also digestive enzymes (like Creon) that can be taken to slow down weight loss if it's really that drastic. But Dr. I cuts his common channel pretty conservatively (100 cm for all patients), so the chances of you losing too much weight are minimal.
As for losing weight the "old fashioned way" -- just how many diets have you been on in your lifetime? How many attempts have you made? I can give you a horrifyingly long list of things I have done in the name of losing weight. If diet and exercise eally word for everyone, there would be NO NEED for bariatric surgery at all. But it doesn't work for everyone... in fact, 95% of people who lost weight that way will gain at least some, if not ALL of it back.
I'll put it another way... if you had cancer, you'd get chemo and treatment, you wouldn't just hope that it'd go away, right? Obesity is not cancer, but there are tools and treatments for helping
If you are in the Twin Cities area, I stronly encourage you to come to one of our DS group meetings, meet with some other DSers. PM me w/ your email address and I can toss you an invite to our December and January meetings from Facebook. Also, get yourself on the DS board and read EVERYTHING.
-Does it seem drastic? Yes. But it has a proven track record. Best track record for weight loss and remission of type II diabetes. The malabsorption helps keep the weight loss more permanent (though it is possible to eat your way through a DS, just like it is possible to eat your way through a RNY, VSG, Band).
-I do take a lot of vitamins, but I do NOT spend $150 a month on them. I just recently did a re-stock on **6 months** of vitamins from Vitalady, I spent just over $300. I don't get all my vites from her, but I will probably drop another $50-100 for 6 months worth of the other vites I need. Considering how much I was paying on co-pays for prescriptions before I lost all my weight, it's money well spent. I probably drop about $30/month on protein supplements, but you may not consider that necessary until after you can get all your protein from food. I just like drinking protein shakes.
I do keep an 6-month stash of vites available, and since I am only 30-something, I havne't really given too much thought to being in the nursing time. I'm hoping I will be ok when the time comes, but only time will tell. There are elderly DS patients out there who are thriving, so I will cross my fingers that I'll get there, too.
-I have one BM a day. In the morning, when a first wake up, and in the privacy of my own home. Does it smell? Oh hell yes. But BMs from normal people smell, too, so... eh? Yes, mine smell kind of bad, but I have Ozium, I take Devrom if I am worried about exposing others to my BM smell (which has rarely happened). My BMs were a bit more frequent for my first 2 months, but that's because there's a bit of an adjustment period.
And my gas production is pretty much tied to my diet. If I eat too much sugar or white flour carbs, there is gas, and it does not smell pretty. I can eat moderate amounts of sugar and white flour carbs and be ok.
-I am only a year out, I can't really answer the question about losing too much weight. I have seen a few people on the DS board talk about how they are losing too much weight, but it seems like most of them were lightweights to begin with.
There are also digestive enzymes (like Creon) that can be taken to slow down weight loss if it's really that drastic. But Dr. I cuts his common channel pretty conservatively (100 cm for all patients), so the chances of you losing too much weight are minimal.
As for losing weight the "old fashioned way" -- just how many diets have you been on in your lifetime? How many attempts have you made? I can give you a horrifyingly long list of things I have done in the name of losing weight. If diet and exercise eally word for everyone, there would be NO NEED for bariatric surgery at all. But it doesn't work for everyone... in fact, 95% of people who lost weight that way will gain at least some, if not ALL of it back.
I'll put it another way... if you had cancer, you'd get chemo and treatment, you wouldn't just hope that it'd go away, right? Obesity is not cancer, but there are tools and treatments for helping
If you are in the Twin Cities area, I stronly encourage you to come to one of our DS group meetings, meet with some other DSers. PM me w/ your email address and I can toss you an invite to our December and January meetings from Facebook. Also, get yourself on the DS board and read EVERYTHING.
-EJ
"If television's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up." -cat and girl
5'6" HW 325 / SW 317 / CW 214 / First Goal 190 | Century Club 09/19/2011
"If television's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who won't shut up." -cat and girl
5'6" HW 325 / SW 317 / CW 214 / First Goal 190 | Century Club 09/19/2011
I take no vitamins and I have no deficiencies. I do focus on my foods every day and get my nutrients from them. It CAN be done. However, if you're deficient now, chances are, it will remain or worsen after surgery. So while it's great to be knowledgeable about other people's vitamin regimes and the cost associated with such, please keep it in perspective that YMMV.
Also, I appealed BCBS - MN for my DS coverage. Fought like you can't even believe and I did win on the 2nd appeal. Again, it CAN be done. Don't let an insurance company scare you. Fight for what you want.
I went open with Dr. Buchwald because I simply liked him way better than Dr. Ikrammudin and I felt an immediate trust with my life in his hands. Go to the info seminars and meet the surgeons. You'll know which one is right for you.
Good luck!
Also, I appealed BCBS - MN for my DS coverage. Fought like you can't even believe and I did win on the 2nd appeal. Again, it CAN be done. Don't let an insurance company scare you. Fight for what you want.
I went open with Dr. Buchwald because I simply liked him way better than Dr. Ikrammudin and I felt an immediate trust with my life in his hands. Go to the info seminars and meet the surgeons. You'll know which one is right for you.
Good luck!
I am gunning for a VSG. For me, the idea of the lowest amount of internal altering fits well. I like to say that the VSG is simply removing most of the storage capacity your body has for eating. Since always being hungry is my #1 issue with diets it is a great choice for me. As with all the surgeries they are simply a tool and you have to pick the one that works the best for you. I have read where people love the RNY simply BECAUSE of the dumping. Sugars are their weakpoints so it will help them out.
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