Why do DSers persist in posting on other message boards? Why the Surgery Wars?
In case you were wondering why we DSers "pay it forward," check out these threads:
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/ds/4159143/Did-a-surgery-w ar-open-your-eyes-to-the-DS-If-so-post-to/
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/DS/3484967/Who-benefited-f rom-DSers-posting-on-other-forums/action,replies/topic_id,34 84967/page,1/
The second thread was started in 2007, and is still being added to.
By the way, if you look closely at the threads that devolve into Surgery War, you will see that the vast majority of the time, a DSer will post FACTUAL information (supported by peer-reviewed references) demonstating the superiority of the DS for most people, and someone with another surgery will get their knickers in a twist because they take that FACTUAL information to be a personal insult, and we're off and running. But that doesn't matter to me, because these threads always get information about the DS to the attention of someone who needs to hear it.
If you are pre-op, I hope you will take a look at these threads and then do further research into the DS before you make your surgery choice.
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/ds/4159143/Did-a-surgery-w ar-open-your-eyes-to-the-DS-If-so-post-to/
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/DS/3484967/Who-benefited-f rom-DSers-posting-on-other-forums/action,replies/topic_id,34 84967/page,1/
The second thread was started in 2007, and is still being added to.
By the way, if you look closely at the threads that devolve into Surgery War, you will see that the vast majority of the time, a DSer will post FACTUAL information (supported by peer-reviewed references) demonstating the superiority of the DS for most people, and someone with another surgery will get their knickers in a twist because they take that FACTUAL information to be a personal insult, and we're off and running. But that doesn't matter to me, because these threads always get information about the DS to the attention of someone who needs to hear it.
If you are pre-op, I hope you will take a look at these threads and then do further research into the DS before you make your surgery choice.
I DETEST the surgery wars. We are ALL in this together. I am relatively new here, but quite frankly, whether the threads or factual or not a few things need to be considered.
First, not all insurance companies pay the same. Consequently if someone wants a particular surgery and they cannot get it, the surgery wars only undermine them and their mental work becomes more difficult. Patients can often go into surgery feeling like "this is not what I want and it is not the best." But in reality it is better than doing nothing.
Second, not all patients qualify for the DS. My doctor would not even discuss it with me because me BMI was not high enough. (He knows his stuff: he is director of a medical school program which is the number ten ranked medical research school in the nation.) He mentioned it in passing only. Thank goodness I had not run into any of those surgery war threads. Otherwise i might have felt defeated at the onset.
Third, perhaps the DS is possibly more appropriate for higher BMI patients. Probably so, but it is the doctor and patient who needs to decide what is best. And only during that doctor patient consult, along with all other considerations, can the best decision be made for what is appropriate. I did not know until my pre-op testing that my horrible GERD was caused by a really large hernia. Consequently I was not a good candidate for the band. I got a lot of grief for having the RNY because "people" did not think I was "big" enough for the RNY.
Fourth, my mother-in-law had one of the early bypasses. She had the extreme malabsorption. Everything went great, and she lost over half her body weight. Then unexpectedly at around age 70 or so something "kicked-in," and she lost down to 80 pounds. Essentially she was starving to death. A large team of doctors reverse her surgery, and it saved her life. WLS are constantly evolving. She is doing remarkably well and is now 80 years old. ALL surgeries have their issues.
Anytime we get into the "my dog is better than your dog," we enter into a snob factor. There is a finesse that should be used when advising/discussing somethings. We can say things that push buttons or do not push buttons. Many people do not have that skill and thus can inflame an otherwise intelligent conversation.
These boards need not disparage one surgery over another. There are many, many who have had different procedures and who have been very successful over the years with their weight loss. This is a go-it-alone journey. No one can do it for us. We alone have to decide daily to make the proper food choices and exercise. No one immune to failure no matter the procedure.
So I say to all pre-op's...listen to your doctor, be honest with her/him and be honest with yourself. There is a lot of personal accountability whatever you decide, and there is no free ride regardless what you may hear.
First, not all insurance companies pay the same. Consequently if someone wants a particular surgery and they cannot get it, the surgery wars only undermine them and their mental work becomes more difficult. Patients can often go into surgery feeling like "this is not what I want and it is not the best." But in reality it is better than doing nothing.
Second, not all patients qualify for the DS. My doctor would not even discuss it with me because me BMI was not high enough. (He knows his stuff: he is director of a medical school program which is the number ten ranked medical research school in the nation.) He mentioned it in passing only. Thank goodness I had not run into any of those surgery war threads. Otherwise i might have felt defeated at the onset.
Third, perhaps the DS is possibly more appropriate for higher BMI patients. Probably so, but it is the doctor and patient who needs to decide what is best. And only during that doctor patient consult, along with all other considerations, can the best decision be made for what is appropriate. I did not know until my pre-op testing that my horrible GERD was caused by a really large hernia. Consequently I was not a good candidate for the band. I got a lot of grief for having the RNY because "people" did not think I was "big" enough for the RNY.
Fourth, my mother-in-law had one of the early bypasses. She had the extreme malabsorption. Everything went great, and she lost over half her body weight. Then unexpectedly at around age 70 or so something "kicked-in," and she lost down to 80 pounds. Essentially she was starving to death. A large team of doctors reverse her surgery, and it saved her life. WLS are constantly evolving. She is doing remarkably well and is now 80 years old. ALL surgeries have their issues.
Anytime we get into the "my dog is better than your dog," we enter into a snob factor. There is a finesse that should be used when advising/discussing somethings. We can say things that push buttons or do not push buttons. Many people do not have that skill and thus can inflame an otherwise intelligent conversation.
These boards need not disparage one surgery over another. There are many, many who have had different procedures and who have been very successful over the years with their weight loss. This is a go-it-alone journey. No one can do it for us. We alone have to decide daily to make the proper food choices and exercise. No one immune to failure no matter the procedure.
So I say to all pre-op's...listen to your doctor, be honest with her/him and be honest with yourself. There is a lot of personal accountability whatever you decide, and there is no free ride regardless what you may hear.
Where to start with the misconceptions and lack of comprehension?
The DS has been shown to be safe, effective and superior for people with BMI <50 as well. The definitive paper is in press now (I have reviewed it -- look for the next paper from Alverdy and Prachand in the coming weeks), but there is already ample evidence. Insurance companies don't want to pay for it because it costs more. Most bariatric surgeons prefer to perform the easier surgeries and don't want to take the time to learn the more difficult procedures.
Sounds like your MIL had a JIB -- which has nothing to do with the DS.
Finally, what you don't seem to understand is that this informaiton is directed to pre-ops and those who unfortunately need revisions to their "less invasive" procedures. I don't care what procedure any particular person picks, only that they have the accurate information to give fully informed consent to whatever procedure they pick, which means that they know the TRUTH about the DS.
The DS has been shown to be safe, effective and superior for people with BMI <50 as well. The definitive paper is in press now (I have reviewed it -- look for the next paper from Alverdy and Prachand in the coming weeks), but there is already ample evidence. Insurance companies don't want to pay for it because it costs more. Most bariatric surgeons prefer to perform the easier surgeries and don't want to take the time to learn the more difficult procedures.
Sounds like your MIL had a JIB -- which has nothing to do with the DS.
Finally, what you don't seem to understand is that this informaiton is directed to pre-ops and those who unfortunately need revisions to their "less invasive" procedures. I don't care what procedure any particular person picks, only that they have the accurate information to give fully informed consent to whatever procedure they pick, which means that they know the TRUTH about the DS.
This will be my last response to you.
Like I said, in people's over zealous attitudes for one surgery or another, they often lack a certain finesse when engaging in conversation. Your reply is a perfect example of one who can inflame rather than constructively explain. Your first sentence was terse and immediately set a negative tone. It is unfortunate you misconstrued the intent of my reply. My reply was directed at all surgery wars be it Band versus RNY versus DS.... Somewhere along the way you really took it personally. But that is what happens with these types of discussions.
Like I said, in people's over zealous attitudes for one surgery or another, they often lack a certain finesse when engaging in conversation. Your reply is a perfect example of one who can inflame rather than constructively explain. Your first sentence was terse and immediately set a negative tone. It is unfortunate you misconstrued the intent of my reply. My reply was directed at all surgery wars be it Band versus RNY versus DS.... Somewhere along the way you really took it personally. But that is what happens with these types of discussions.
Thanks SO much with your suggestion to change my writing style. I'm just a lawyer, so I have NO IDEA how to write persuasively 
.
In fact, my writing style is deliberate, and it works. Read the thread I linked to if you have any doubts about that. Other DSers write differently -- this works for me. I don't start surgery wars, but if other people do, I'm happy to oblige them, because they are effective tools for disseminating information about the DS.
And I don't take any of this personally -- facts are facts, and my goal is to make sure as many people as possible have the facts they need to make a truly informed decisions.
It is funny the surgery wars they are not limited just to the Obesity Help message boards either. No matter how many facts are thrown out people have in mind what they want to or willing to go through to lose weight. Perfect example my mother is overweight and was surprised I chose Gastric Bypass surgery. I explored all my option and check with what my insurance cover and looked at the statistical data. Many insurance will only cover lap band, and gastric bypass, however slowly insurance are beginning to cover the gastric sleeve procedure. My weight was 306 lbs. and I had a BMI of 43 I could basically chose which surgery I wanted and get great results I needed to achieve. My mother really hates the idea of having the plumbing re-routed that is done in gastric bypass and DS. She really thinks I should have chosen the lapband. No one procedure is right for everyone and any place that tell someone that I would run away from there quickly. We all have our stories how we gained the weight and our attempts to lose it before surgery. Surgery is merely a tool to help us lose weight and the are a lot of other things we had to do to go along with it. My family and co-workers are amazed with the weight I have lost in 6 months. I am currently down to 212.6 lbs my BMI is the lower 30's. I still struggle being able to eat certain foods and I have to change my menu frequently because some foods I can no longer tolerate them. Yogurt, cheese, granola, protein shakes, water and protein bars are the only things that have not given me any problems. Would I have had the eating problems with going with a different surgery who knows we are uniquely different and respond differently. I had some minor complications from the surgery but I got over them. Surgery is surgery and there is risk involved with every surgery. So the battle over surgeries to me silly because each surgery in designed to be a tool to help us lose weight and it is up to the individual and their medical team to decide which surgery is best for the individual. As for me I stand by the decision the surgeon and I made, and I would do it again inn a heartbeat.
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