WARNING TO PRE-OPS: Think twice, cut once -- or else!

WOW what a thread...  Everyone take a deep breath.

Going back to the OP.  Good Advice  - that old adage measure twice, cut once is sound advice.  I had the lapband in 2000.  RNY 4 months ago.  I was self pay for lapband, but my insurance did pay to remove it and did pay for my RNY.  But Diana is right - I only get the one covered by my current insurance. 

That is why I waited for several months between lap band removal and revision surgery.  I didn't want to make the same mistake twice.  I looked at all the options, researched and talked to people who had the various procedures.  I felt RNY was best for me.  End of story - no surgery wars needed to defend or explain my choice.  But I wasn't that smart in 2000, and I wish that OH had been around back then to slap me upside the head before leaping into a surgery procedure I knew nothing about.   Lapband was brand new, and I jumped in without really exploring other options.  That was rather stupid of me.  Had I done that I would have never chose the lapband.  So again, going back to the  OP  - asking pre-ops to think twice cut once is good advice.     (side note - I'm not anti lap band, it is a good procedure, just not good for me).

How this derailed into what it did is interesting, but defeats the point.  If you are a pre-op, take the time to learn about ALL your options.  

And IMHO, if you are as new out in RNY or other WLS, listen to those farther out on the vitamin advice.  They know what they are talking about (eg Andrea and Melting Mama).   They are sharing from their experience and to disregard that information is, well, it's just plain stupid.

So- wishing you all a peaceful and happy Saturday!

Dawn

At last ! Somebody who gets the point of the original post. I could KISS you!

In the end, this doesn't boil down to which surgery you choose to get. It's about things you need to factor into the decision - which now includes the little bit of information that insurance companies are frequently not willing to pay for more than one bariatric surgery, even if your original surgery was done under a different insurance company.

I'm so glad that you did what works for you. That's all we can do in the end. Brava!

ahhh, shucks!

 A voice of reason in the wilderness.......

I was never told by anyone about other wls options. It was RNY and Lap Band. Those were my choices. If it were not for Diana paying it forward on OH for NEWBIES and PRE OPS, which are her target audience, I would have gone on with an RNY, which for me would have been a mistake. 

As for all the peripheral **** being slung, have at it.
It's all worth it if Diana and other vet DS'ers reach people with the message of informed choice.

I was fortunate, I went to a sales consult with a rny/band specialist and after explaining my medical conditions he point blank told me that both surgeries were inappropriate for me, due to my prior surgery, adhesion's and comorbids, that the DS was the best and that I really needed the expertise of the his professor Dr Gangner and he gave me a direct re feral.

Good thing Walter... see ya on the dark side!

I seemed to have gotten jumped on several times about my vitamin choices and how I will end up in trouble down the road with deficencies. 

I don't know who Andrea and vitalalady are. It makes no difference if I did know them. Are they registered dietitians with a degree in nutritioal therapy?

I will follow the advice of my registered dietitian. I'd be a fool not to. I gladly and willingly followed her and my surgeons advice before I had surgery so I'd be stupid now to say that someone on the internet is more knowledgeable about vitamins than my dietitian.
 
Wls is not something new. Most of the wls have been around quite awhile. So I am sure by now they know what a person needs vitamin wise. I am not the first patient with RNY bypass. If they were discovering deficenties they would have changed their nutritional advice to correct it by now. I am neither blind nor am I stupid. I know the educational requirements for registered dietitians in canada and think they are fairly similar in the US. It takes 4 years of hard work to earn a degree in RD so I feel confident in accepting her advice. I accepted their help quickly enough when I wanted wls. As a nurse I have worked for many years with RDs and appreciate their knowledge level.

I will confess that I don't know a great deal about eating habits of the DSer. While researching before my own wls, the thing that stood out most was the inability to eat many carbs. Not to dis DS but I think I get a more balanced diet choice with RNY.  Correct me if I am wrong. My plate at lunch consists of  1/2 a chicken breast, a boiled potato and 1/2 cup of corn. I will drink  about an hour after I eat. Is this similar to DS diet? This amount of food fills me up and I may not even be able to fini****

ALL of the wls options have their pro's and con's, complications, irratations. Not one more than the other. It boils down to if you are able to live with your choice after wls. If you are going to comply or not. If not then not one of the wls will work for you. Does not matter one iota which one it is. it is a very personal choice and one that you must make based on your own lifestyle. Don't let ANYONE tell you one is better than the other.

On a side note . Have you no respect for your elders? That was extremely rude and disrespestful to oldmedic. His observations were valid and I am pretty sure he was not spouting a pack of lies. There was not need to jump on him. I don't know about you but I was raised better than that.

Just because you're old doesn't mean you deserve respect. Take medly for example. Stupid is stupid, no matter what the age.

Where to start with this nonsense?  How about WILL YOU PLEASE ******G FIGURE OUT HOW TO RESPOND TO A POST, RATHER THAN A POST TO THE OP OF A THREAD EVERY DAMNED TIME?

If you actually believe your surgeon's dietician without question, you deserve everything that is going to happen to you.  If you have been a member of OH for as long as you have without knowing who Andrea and Vitalady are, you deserve everything that is going to happen to you.  You are so ignorant, you don't even know that you don't know **** about what you NEED to know to live the rest of your life with what you have had done to your insides.  And how unfathomably and determinedly and confidently ignorant most bariatric nutritionists and surgeons are.

Well DUH that you don't know about the nutritional requirements of the DSer.  I suspect if you fully understood what they are, you might really be regretting your surgery right about now.  Correct you if you're wrong?  Gladly -- you're wrong.  We don't have to avoid drinking before, during and after meals -- gagggh -- that was one of the non-starters for me when I refused to consider the RNY.  Your boring dull tasteless meal looks AWFUL to me.  Add a half cup or so of a nice alfredo sauce to the chicken to make it nice and moist and creamy, drown that potato and corn in butter (oh wait -- WTF are you doing eating so many carbs??), and MAYBE I'd be interested -- although I would eat the potato OR the corn, and add a nice green salad DROWNED in full fat salad dressing, or perhaps some creamed spinach -- full fat of course -- with asiago cheese.  Do you get the difference now??  Oh, and I will only absorb 20% or less of the delicious fat that I will have added to my meal.

I have no respect for ANYONE, regardless of their age, who spouts harmful bull**** and that is exactly what Ancient Anus does.  In fact, I have even LESS respect for him because at his age, he should know better.  He has his head buried so far up his ass he doesn't even know what's going on in the real world -- he is SO wrong and so INVESTED in the choice he made, he's willing to spew his dangerous lies no matter who might get hurt. 

And notice he never ONCE provides references for the lies he pukes up every time -- which is of course because he's making it up from whole cloth.  So you're wrong too, and again with no factual basis -- you're "pretty sure he was not spouting a pack of lies" -- on what grounds do you make this astute observation??  Because he wrote a bunch of letters after his name??  Because he's OLD?? Well, I'm 56 and have a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from UCLA Medical School, as well as a being an attorney licensed to practice in VA and CA (that's two bar exams I passed, both on the first try), as well as licensed to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office (a third bar exam I passed on the first try), so maybe you should be giving ME more respect than you are automatically giving Ancient Anus just because he's old.

(And no, actually, I don't think you should believe me because I'm old too, and more educated than the Anus, although I am -- you should believe me because I provide citations to actual medical research when I state facts, and because I DO state facts, and not lies.)