Hey there,

im in the process of getting my rny converted to the DS. There aren't a ton of surgeons qualified to do this surgeon.

ive learned a lot from the DS and Revision boards at bariatricfacts.org. There's a list of vetted surgeons.

who are you speaking with?

there are a few important facts to gain clarity on before moving forward.

1. Does your surgeon do the full DS or the SIPS, SADI or LoopDS? I personally would only do the full DS.
2. will your insurance pay for 2 separate surgeries months apart? And, will they pay for the SIPS, SADI or Loop DS? My empire bcbs will not pay for either 2 surgeries or these procedures.

There's no one in NYC that will do a revision DS in one surgery. I'm using Dr. Antanavicius in PA.

let me know if you have any questions.

best of luck!

United Healthcare. I updated my original post. More bad news for me.

I met with Dr. Ayoola. He is doing my rny to DS, as soon as I get the money or insurance to cover it. Tell him Angelina sent you.

I'm not within the timeframe specified in your post, but thought I'd respond anyway. I converted from VSG to RNY in July, 2016 due to persistent, non-responsive GERD. I did not have GERD or Reflux prior to surgery. It was 100% due to my sleeve.

The conversion did not resolve my GERD 100%, but it is manageable with medication (usually a dose of prevacid and zantac will handle it). Prior to revision no amount of medication gave me any relief.

I had gained approximately 12lbs prior to my conversion to RNY because crackers were about the only thing that gave me any relief and I was eating them constantly. I was able to lose the 12 lb regain relatively quickly. I was back to goal and maintaining within 6 months of my RNY surgery.

The downsides: I ended up with dumping syndrome and hypoglycemia (both Reactive Hypoglycemia and regular hypoglycemia) so I'm working with an endocrinologist to try and get that under control and I just started a new medication (today, in fact). I'm not happy that I take more daily medication now than I did prior to my VSG, but it is what it is. Both dumping and hypoglycemia suck. If I could control it by staying away from sugar, it wouldn't be a problem, but I can have dumping off of milk, yogurt, and some foods not high in sugar (for me it's a carb/sugar combination most times) and the hypoglycemia is a total crap shoot; I never know what's going to trigger it.

I don't regret it for the simple reason that uncontrolled GERD could have lead to esophageal cancer which could have killed me. So, while dumping/hypoglycemia sucks, I'd rather have that than die.

Here is some information on the surgeons mentioned in this thread for you....

Micheal Sarr

Micheal Sarr, M.D. Bariatrics
Rochester

https://mayoclinic.pure.elsevier.com/en/persons/michael-greg ory-sarr

Ara Keshishian

Central Valley Bariatrics
Pasadena
Phone: 818-812-7222 https://www.dssurgery.com/

John Rabkin

Pacific Laparoscopy
San Francisco

http://www.paclap.com/pacific-laparoscopy/dr-rabkin.cfm

Let us know if we can be of any further help