REVISION 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

 
Lots of people have, unfortunately, had failed weight loss surgeries.  They either never lost the weight they needed to, or they lost it only to regain much of it later.  The patient didn't fail; their surgery did.

What I appreciate about the DS is that it's made for the long haul.  The malabsorption continues to work with and for the patient, even after the sleeve portion of the surgery has stretched a bit (or a lot).  The weight comes off and stays off!  The DS's malabsorption continues for life; by comparison, the malabsorption in the gastric bypass stops being effective after about 2-3 years.  

If you're considering a revision, it's important not only to discuss your options with your current surgeon, but to get a consultation with a vetted DS surgeon.  Like Diana said, a lot of doctors SAY  they do the DS, but they will "bait and NOT switch" you, convincing you that another surgery is a better option.  We want to trust our doctors, but we have to do our own research as well.  There is a list of surgeons on the DSFacts.com website.  You can do phone consultations with as many as you choose to get the information you want and to feel comfortable about your decision.

My best to everyone who is seeking revision surgery.

I wish I'd known you in 2003, information like this might have saved me a lot of medical complications.

Ditto what Bailymouse said... except I wish I had this information iback in 2001, so I could have made a more informed decision, and had surgery nearly 9 years ago & not still be struggling with a revision approval..... Not to mention the risk of another surgery......



-Jamie

The thing I don't understand is why, with all of this great information, you feel the need to try to make people feel stupid. All of the comments under the "you should NOT consider DS" section are beyond insulting. Why can't you disseminate this information without trying to belittle those who may not end up going in the same direction as you? 

1) Unless you feel the need to self-identify with the characteristics on that list, I didn't call anyone stupid, etc.  That was a list of reasons to NOT have a DS.  It was not an exclusive list of reasons not to have a DS, but it was a start.

2) I wrote that to be provocative!  Because I know people can be counted on reliably to misread the actual words (plausible deniability), and it would generate discussion, and hits, and more people learned about the DS as a surgical option these last few days (I assume you saw the posts on the MB and other boards, some of which the chicken**** mods have deleted after tens of thousands of hits).  I didn't say anything actually calling anyone anything, but due to the way I deliberately worded it, it pissed silly people off - despite what I didn't say.  And that's what I was expecting to happen, and I did it so that the post would get more widely read - AND REMEMBERED! - than some nicey nicey thread would.

And if people would have used their reading comprehension skills, it wouldn't have happened.  But I knew I could rely on them NOT using - or having - them.

And by the way, to paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, nobody can make you feel stupid without your consent.

What makes you so bitter that you automatically assume the worst of people? Regardless of how you choose to package these comments and justify them, they are still covered with venom. The fact that you think that  couching your remarks in what you call "provocative" language will accomplish your overall goal is miserable and sad to me. Why can't you educate without trying to lump those who maybe have different opinions into groups like "stupid" or "silly"? Maybe someone decides they don't want to live with the rules that are particular to the DS. Does that make them stupid or weak? 

I am reading your words just fine. I don't have any comprehension issues. I have a master's degree in English education. I think the problem is that so typically, many of the DSers have such a militaristic approach to trying to convince everyone else to get a DS. Why can't you just educate without trying to indoctrinate? Just share your experience and the joys you have found in the process without browbeating your readers.

And, please, don't quote Eleanor Roosevelt unless you truly understand the context of her words.

Oh puh-leeze.

I'm not assuming, and I'm not bitter.  This post was not my first surgery war.  I KNOW people are going to do it, because they do it EVERY TIME, and I exploited it.

Are you still having reading comprehension problems?  I didn't call anyone anything.  If you are reading it that way, you should ask yourself why.

I will post any way I damned well please, and quote anyone I want.  The context of this quote is exactly the same as the original.  Who are you, the board police?

PS: I'll see your masters and raise you a bachelor's from Yale, a PhD and a JD.  It doesn't change the fact that you, along with many with lesser "education," misread the context of the post - as I knew would happen.

If you still don't understand why, go look at the threads I posted on the Main Board about reading comprehension and good cop/bad cop.

I have a lowly Bachelor's degree from Thomas Edison State. It never once occurred to me to take offense at the "you shouldn't" portions, as they don't apply to me in the least. I'm baffled that people get offended, unless of course some of these folks really are stupid, weak, dimwitted, self loathing, and lack self control. 
Then it makes perfect sense.

 wouldn't waste your time on her!  She's just looking for a fight and this is NOT the place to do it.  Rise about her!