WLS'rs- Why do you do this to yourselves?

WTF? What did he mean, he doesn't do the RNY on "people like you"?!! ARGH.

That's exactly what I said! Then he tried to clean it up and say well I save it for the really sick. I told him I am sick. Sick of worrying about when I am going to die from hypertension, diabetes and the other weight related problems. I don't know what happens next with my insurance and this second opinion situation since the only surgeon in my manage care group is an asshole, but hoperfully they will grant me this time to be able to go outside of my managed care group!

Well, in California you have some options with insurance that don't necessarily exist in other states. Please talk to some people on the CA or insurance boards about this. There are folks who will be able to give you insight into how to make your state's laws work for you.

I'm flabbergasted. What a fricking creep.

If you're referring to your avatar's listed surgeon, he is NOT known to have performed many, if any true DS procedures. Could be he assisted or sat in on a few?

It's not a technically easy procedure to learn to perform or masterwith proficiency. Would not consider having this done by any surgeon having done less than some 200 or more.

How many has the surgeon you might be referring to done?

Rockne

yes you are right, statistics don't lie but I took what surgery my insurance would pay for.  So this is another reason for health care reform--so we could get the surgery that works the best.  I tried to get the DS but could not prove my need for it over RNY so I must continue to struggle to not put on weight.  Yes, I still get full quite easily, but what I can eat without putting weight back on changes  monthly so now I find myself being really restricted again.  I say go for DS if you can.

Right on - my husband said he never paid much attention to healthcare issues in the US until he saw all I had to go through for my surgery (including a policy change that actually resulted in us getting married just so I could get his insurance!).

Sadly, you’re likely MISTAKEN on both counts. Have you read the 1000 page so called heath care reform bill? You're hardly alone, few of the lawmakers pitting it forth by their own admission haven't  either.  It will be about RATIONING and having the government dictate what care you'll recoeve and WHEN.

Think the DS is hard to get now? It cost more! Canada just recently put out an edict they won't be paying for DS any longer without any rhyme or reason.  I tremble in fear at what might lie before us for both young and old which is hardly limited to Bariatrics. Hell, talk with ANY anesthesiologist or pathologist in the know lately? Under this President's/ Administration proposed health care options those skilled practitioners will be leaving in droves. Under current Medicaid they’re getting paid  ~ 20 cents on the dollar. The Medicare reimbursement rates have decreased consistently since 1999 with a threat of another 20% cut.  Why the hell would anyone expect them to stick around? Obama is delusional or lying when he says you can keep your current medical insurance plan. A "government option" will work quickly and effectively to cripple private insurance, and to think otherwise gives no critical scrutiny about how businesses are run. No, I'm no big fan of insurance companies, but I'll be damned if such a large expansive government run program will afford us even remotely more in the way of choice and options most of us now enjoy. 

So this government, or any previously in charge could and will NOW decide my health care? Presently, another 2 billion of my tax dollars is being proposed for the damn “Cash for Clunkers ($4,500 give away) for vehicles to achieve a mere 3 to 4 gal differential (+) for older cars.. Something, I, as a perfectly lousy do-it-yourself mechanic could likely achieve with a basic tune-up, oil change and adequate tire inflation in most older cars. Sorry, but not very.

As for your not getting the DS in CA, I don't know your cir****tances but were the full appeals process available to you all the way through external review, you would have likley won hands down. Took years, but the CA Dept of Managed Health Care charged with deciding those type of external appeals has seen fit to approve and even recommend the DS over other sought after WLS type appeals. Personal and employer self managed- funded plans differ, but if you had a fully funded HMO type plan, you should have prevailed. Easily!

Rockne

As for me personally, I had never heard of DS until after my surgery.  I had done some internet research and had regularly attended a support group for a year prior to surgery.  My surgeon is great but only performed RNY and lap-banding.  I never knew that DS was an option, and it was never mentioned by anyone on my medical team.   I live in a rural area so maybe that didn't help. My RNY was in June of this year.  It was only after I found this board that I discovered DS and I began questioning my decision.  I am doing well but worry if I will be able to keep the weight off in the future.  Part of me wishes that someday I could eat a ton of calories and not have to worry about it.  On the other hand, part of my decision to have RNY was to get rid of my diabetes and high blood pressure (it has) and to stop consuming so much of the earth's consumables--for example, I wish I could be a vegetarian but I love meat so at least this way I consume less.  Some studies seem to show that eating fewer calories may be associated with living longer.  I appreciate the info about DS that I have found here, but it is also disheartening that the tone of DSers is often condenscending.  I am not an idiot.  I have a Ph.D. and work at a university. I did do a lot of research and did not enter into the decision impulsively. I wonder if someday I may gain weight back or even want to revise to DS.  I don't know if that is even possible.  Anyway, I can see that people in all groups have been successful.  Some have just required more lifestyle changes than others.  That is encouraging.

I'm amazed that, as a diabetic, you didn't come across the DS in your research. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in May 2008 and began researching WLS in June 2008. Within a week of beginning my research, I decided on the DS (primarily for its highest resolution rate of type 2 diabetes)and never looked back. My PCP never heard of the DS (she had mentioned the Lap Band to me - HA!), and I never met with a surgeon until after I decided which procedure I wanted.

BTW, yes, it is possible to revise an RNY to a DS if needed.

I have already made my decision, but hearing  your post just makes me want to !!!

Thanks for the information!

I just wish I had the information I had in 2006 that I have now, I would have only had to be cut once...but, no, so now I have to do it all over again, but this time I am doing it RIGHT!