IF DS is an option....get your facts! Know all there is to know!
Hi,
The DS has never really been an option in NB, now I understand this is changing. As you will find out there....everyone tends to love the surgery they had. And rightfully so, we have to believe 100% in our own surgery choices...it is a key part of success.
So, when get all the facts about each of the surgeries, get the stats on success rates, on average weight losses, long term potential, the "rules" of each of the surgeries...because trust me...they all have rules.
I see a new site on the DS which looks interesting...I have not gone over it all very closely, so as it is not a medical study (which are the only real ones to trust) then just take the info and store with all your other info.
http://www.dsfacts.com/index.html
I will paste some other good info here as well. I know that now having this 3rd option in NB...will cause some folks to question their original choices...and my advice...do not rush into anything. Get the facts...one surgery...the band, the rny or the ds will just be right for you.
And...rule number 1... you need to choose what you will live with...in all my research and visiting several countries of people with WLS...I have never heard a good argument on Drs telling patients what surgery is the only option for them. They can recommend...but... you live with the surgery...and you need to feel 100% it fits to you.
Take CAre,
Catherine
The DS has never really been an option in NB, now I understand this is changing. As you will find out there....everyone tends to love the surgery they had. And rightfully so, we have to believe 100% in our own surgery choices...it is a key part of success.
So, when get all the facts about each of the surgeries, get the stats on success rates, on average weight losses, long term potential, the "rules" of each of the surgeries...because trust me...they all have rules.
I see a new site on the DS which looks interesting...I have not gone over it all very closely, so as it is not a medical study (which are the only real ones to trust) then just take the info and store with all your other info.
http://www.dsfacts.com/index.html
I will paste some other good info here as well. I know that now having this 3rd option in NB...will cause some folks to question their original choices...and my advice...do not rush into anything. Get the facts...one surgery...the band, the rny or the ds will just be right for you.
And...rule number 1... you need to choose what you will live with...in all my research and visiting several countries of people with WLS...I have never heard a good argument on Drs telling patients what surgery is the only option for them. They can recommend...but... you live with the surgery...and you need to feel 100% it fits to you.
Take CAre,
Catherine
and DSers need to eat alot of protien...so if you dont like steak, fish, chicken, burgers, eggs, bacon, ham, meat, meat, meat, then you will struggle...
But...there are vegetarian DSers...it is just more complicated.
Here are some food ideas on a DSers recipe site:
http://recipes.switchsister.com/forum/index.php
But...there are vegetarian DSers...it is just more complicated.
Here are some food ideas on a DSers recipe site:
http://recipes.switchsister.com/forum/index.php
Thanks so much for the info C! I really appreciate it.
Did you find losing weight through DS to be easy, or was it still a bit of a struggle?
Also, did you have a hard time healing after surgery? I'm such a wuss regarding pain, and I think that since the procedure is an open one, that my ribs will have to be cracked, and I'm wonderign how that's going to be like. Yikes! also, how long were given to recover?
Thanks for the info! :-)
Did you find losing weight through DS to be easy, or was it still a bit of a struggle?
Loosing weight was not my challenge. My weight just fell off...all 175 pounds of it, not much challenge really. I was a bit concerned after about 18 months when the weight loss did not slow down...but then one day...it just stopped. Most people say it stops when your body reaches its own right size. This is what happened with me.
I chose the DS because statistically my research was telling me it has the best record for long term weight loss, and in my mid 40s I only wanted to make one kick at the can. So...loosing the weight is not a DSers challenge. I don't really know of any DSers who don't loose their excess weight. It probably does happen...I just never met any. I am coming from Europe...and there are many DSers there. What I did see amongst my DS peers, is people loosing too much weight. Right now that probably seems impossible, but I see people having real problems trying to stay healthy...and getting too thin.
See....I don't do anything to loose weight...I don't diet. I don't buy fat free, I just choose the normal products. Every day I try to eat 100 grams of protein...if I have room for other things like a potato with my meal...I have it. But to make it even faintly worthwhile I pile about 1/4 cup sour cream on it. This sounds perfect I know when you are heavy, and I am not complaining at all, but I do realize if I ever get sick...I can not fool around. I instantly need to take supplements and make sure I do not fall short on protein. So, I am very diligent about my food intake.
The real challenge here, and I can not stress enough, is to make sure you take the very best care of yourself you can. You will bypass 80 to 90% of your small intestine. Unlike with Band and RNY...you can never ever forget you had WLS, not matter how great you feel...for as long as you live...you need to remember you had a DS...you need to eat in a healthy DS manner. And a DS healthy meal is not necessarily that normal compared to others. You need a little dose of veggies and fruit...but I went 6 to 8 months without them...no space...and your vitamins give you that nutrition anyway.
I love food and love to eat, but I totally gave up carbs...bread, potatoes...because nutritionally...they do not give me any benefit...I needed to focus on the proteins, like meat, poultry and fish. I never drank a glass of milk in my life past about 6 months of life..hated it. Well...as a DSer it would have been very silly of me to not drink milk...so now I just put a spot of coffee in it and have several lattes a day.
I love steaks, burgers, chicken, cheese, fish, shellfish...so it is not at all a hardship to eat the meat part of my meal first. In restaurants I order the steak. I have days when I can eat more then others. But DSers eat more then RNYers anyway.
One of the negatives for DSers, and it can be a big negative is the toilet trips. I myself have normal trips to the loo, about every 2 to 3 days. But if you read more on the DS forums...you can see that some people do have real problems in the poo area.
The DS is a much more seriously invasive operation then the RNY. This is why it is not commonly done by Drs. It is just plain harder to do, and takes longer. I am not sure there is even one other surgeon doing it in canada. I see on the Ontario and Quebec forum someone was looking in Quebec to see if it could be done. We do have the advantage of having one of the world leaders in this surgery in Quebec, and I understand the Dr. in Bathurst worked with him. This would give me alot of confidence if it is true. I am sure that in not time when word is out...people will flood here to NB for their DS...if their own province will pay the medicare for it.
Also, did you have a hard time healing after surgery?
I had one of the worst things happen after my surgery. I got a leak in my bowel. There was so much swelling and my pancreas got an infection which acted up after surgery. Leaks are nightmares, and if you read about them, they can be a death sentence. My Dr did not want to repair as he preferred to wait it out as he felt it would heal up. So, I was 16 days in hospital sitting around with no food or liquids...just waiting to heal. And heal I did. I was so very thankful to have had one of the world leaders on DS. He has seen it all. And after 16 days sitting around i was fine. So, I am not that normal when talking about the time right after surgery. Generally I saw other patients up walking the day after, leaving hospital after 4 days, talking a few pain killers and not looking too bad. For me, at 16 days, I left hospital and drove 2.5 hours to my home and later that night I went to watch a soccer game as it was world cup in Germany. I went back to work in another week and 8 week after my operation I flew to Fredericton to see my family...who I did not tell I had WLS, and although they knew I was dieting...did not think I was frail or anything. So...once the leak was gone...I was fine.
I have mentioned it a few times...for forgive me for being boring...but even in the earlier days...I never felt like I had anything major done. And...that works against us DSers all the time. We need to be pretty darn anal about eating.
I keep peanut butter cups in my purse all the time, or bags of nuts, or almonds, icecream. If you ask any of my friends they will tell you, I am snacking all the time...or what seems like alot to them. But it is healthy to me...I rarely stray away from protein
.
I'm such a wuss regarding pain, and I think that since the procedure is an open one, that my ribs will have to be cracked, and I'm wondering how that's going to be like. Yikes! also, how long were given to recover?
I know I met people on the UK site, and at the European meets...who had open. No one mentioned having their ribs cracked. Did the Dr. tell you this? The open is quite often done still...it comes back to again being such a serious surgery. Open is easier for the Dr is my understanding. So, if I had been given the choice...I would have been ok with Open, if my Dr. preferred it that way
it is a pretty long winded answer....I could have shortened it...by saying....I have been extremely successful with my DS. I am very careful to eat properly, food is my medicine. I dont diet, I dont ever consider calories. It is a whole new world.
I hope we can meet at dinner on the 1st Tuesday...we can talk more, if I have not bored you to tears with my long winded reply
.
Take Care,
C
Loosing weight was not my challenge. My weight just fell off...all 175 pounds of it, not much challenge really. I was a bit concerned after about 18 months when the weight loss did not slow down...but then one day...it just stopped. Most people say it stops when your body reaches its own right size. This is what happened with me.
I chose the DS because statistically my research was telling me it has the best record for long term weight loss, and in my mid 40s I only wanted to make one kick at the can. So...loosing the weight is not a DSers challenge. I don't really know of any DSers who don't loose their excess weight. It probably does happen...I just never met any. I am coming from Europe...and there are many DSers there. What I did see amongst my DS peers, is people loosing too much weight. Right now that probably seems impossible, but I see people having real problems trying to stay healthy...and getting too thin.
See....I don't do anything to loose weight...I don't diet. I don't buy fat free, I just choose the normal products. Every day I try to eat 100 grams of protein...if I have room for other things like a potato with my meal...I have it. But to make it even faintly worthwhile I pile about 1/4 cup sour cream on it. This sounds perfect I know when you are heavy, and I am not complaining at all, but I do realize if I ever get sick...I can not fool around. I instantly need to take supplements and make sure I do not fall short on protein. So, I am very diligent about my food intake.
The real challenge here, and I can not stress enough, is to make sure you take the very best care of yourself you can. You will bypass 80 to 90% of your small intestine. Unlike with Band and RNY...you can never ever forget you had WLS, not matter how great you feel...for as long as you live...you need to remember you had a DS...you need to eat in a healthy DS manner. And a DS healthy meal is not necessarily that normal compared to others. You need a little dose of veggies and fruit...but I went 6 to 8 months without them...no space...and your vitamins give you that nutrition anyway.
I love food and love to eat, but I totally gave up carbs...bread, potatoes...because nutritionally...they do not give me any benefit...I needed to focus on the proteins, like meat, poultry and fish. I never drank a glass of milk in my life past about 6 months of life..hated it. Well...as a DSer it would have been very silly of me to not drink milk...so now I just put a spot of coffee in it and have several lattes a day.
I love steaks, burgers, chicken, cheese, fish, shellfish...so it is not at all a hardship to eat the meat part of my meal first. In restaurants I order the steak. I have days when I can eat more then others. But DSers eat more then RNYers anyway.
One of the negatives for DSers, and it can be a big negative is the toilet trips. I myself have normal trips to the loo, about every 2 to 3 days. But if you read more on the DS forums...you can see that some people do have real problems in the poo area.
The DS is a much more seriously invasive operation then the RNY. This is why it is not commonly done by Drs. It is just plain harder to do, and takes longer. I am not sure there is even one other surgeon doing it in canada. I see on the Ontario and Quebec forum someone was looking in Quebec to see if it could be done. We do have the advantage of having one of the world leaders in this surgery in Quebec, and I understand the Dr. in Bathurst worked with him. This would give me alot of confidence if it is true. I am sure that in not time when word is out...people will flood here to NB for their DS...if their own province will pay the medicare for it.
Also, did you have a hard time healing after surgery?
I had one of the worst things happen after my surgery. I got a leak in my bowel. There was so much swelling and my pancreas got an infection which acted up after surgery. Leaks are nightmares, and if you read about them, they can be a death sentence. My Dr did not want to repair as he preferred to wait it out as he felt it would heal up. So, I was 16 days in hospital sitting around with no food or liquids...just waiting to heal. And heal I did. I was so very thankful to have had one of the world leaders on DS. He has seen it all. And after 16 days sitting around i was fine. So, I am not that normal when talking about the time right after surgery. Generally I saw other patients up walking the day after, leaving hospital after 4 days, talking a few pain killers and not looking too bad. For me, at 16 days, I left hospital and drove 2.5 hours to my home and later that night I went to watch a soccer game as it was world cup in Germany. I went back to work in another week and 8 week after my operation I flew to Fredericton to see my family...who I did not tell I had WLS, and although they knew I was dieting...did not think I was frail or anything. So...once the leak was gone...I was fine.
I have mentioned it a few times...for forgive me for being boring...but even in the earlier days...I never felt like I had anything major done. And...that works against us DSers all the time. We need to be pretty darn anal about eating.
I keep peanut butter cups in my purse all the time, or bags of nuts, or almonds, icecream. If you ask any of my friends they will tell you, I am snacking all the time...or what seems like alot to them. But it is healthy to me...I rarely stray away from protein
.
I'm such a wuss regarding pain, and I think that since the procedure is an open one, that my ribs will have to be cracked, and I'm wondering how that's going to be like. Yikes! also, how long were given to recover?
I know I met people on the UK site, and at the European meets...who had open. No one mentioned having their ribs cracked. Did the Dr. tell you this? The open is quite often done still...it comes back to again being such a serious surgery. Open is easier for the Dr is my understanding. So, if I had been given the choice...I would have been ok with Open, if my Dr. preferred it that way
it is a pretty long winded answer....I could have shortened it...by saying....I have been extremely successful with my DS. I am very careful to eat properly, food is my medicine. I dont diet, I dont ever consider calories. It is a whole new world.
I hope we can meet at dinner on the 1st Tuesday...we can talk more, if I have not bored you to tears with my long winded reply
.
Take Care,
C
DS Surgery June 2006, Been fine every since. Weight stays the same. Rarely remember I had surgery.....except for the daily vitamins.
oh..and eating 100grms of protein is not enough to keep you alive....I take 12 vitamins a day. 4upon waking, 4 in afternoon, 4 at bedtime.
I also have regular blood work to see how my vits and minerals are, and if they were down in any way...I would have to take more vits. If you read the DS forums...look very carefully at the Vitamins. It is your life line...and you just can not forget them too often..or again....a sick little Dser.
I also have regular blood work to see how my vits and minerals are, and if they were down in any way...I would have to take more vits. If you read the DS forums...look very carefully at the Vitamins. It is your life line...and you just can not forget them too often..or again....a sick little Dser.
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