Can't get the surgery if over 50+ BMI
If your insurance will pay for the other WLS, they can more than likely be made to pay for the DS. DO NOT let that stop you. Do your research and choose your surgery first, then choose your surgeon based on the surgery that you want.
Research, research, research...that is the key. Once you have all the correct information about all the surgery options, then and only then can you really choose what is best for you. Think twice, cut once! I am a RNY to DS revision and I sure wish I would have researched ALL of my options at the time I had RNY. It was my own fault for not learning everything I could and because of that I ended up having to get a revision because of complications from the RNY. If I would have known about the DS before having the RNY I would have never had the RNY.
I guess all I am saying is make sure that you know ALL your options. You don't want to look back on anything with regrets, or have to get a revision down the road. Best wishes to you!
RNY to DS Revision 4/29/2011
Dr. Henry Buchwald
"Think twice.....Cut ONCE"
Was your own insurance ultimately useful?
Were your RNY complications, in your opinion, a result of a surgery prone to complications (compared to the RNY).
I had lunch with Scorpinaro last Sept. Probably 80 years old by now. (He invented, kind of, the DS). A nice, intelligent, crumpled Italian. His big theme was how DS was different from BPD/DS. Just curious... did your surgeon ever talk about "BPD" at all as assocaited with DS?
Experienced surgeons (ex: Gagner (NY)) describe very low mortality rates for the very highest EWL% improvements.
It's interesting how lap band proponents emphasize reversibility, and sleeve advocates emphasize RNY-value,l but ith lap band risks. Meanwhile, a good dozen or so world DS/BPD leaders have held their own with the DS as a gold standard in, hand down, achieving the very best EWL% results (with additional mortality rates varying). Something very traditionally respectful, I believe, in deciding on desired results and going with the best proven method to get those results, even with some additional risk.
Did your RNY doc even mention the DS as an option?
Have your heard it ? Read about it ?
Go to www.dsfacts.com and check it out... do not miss an opportunity. There are a lot of people with tricare who have gotten the DS approved, although I think have had to appeal to get it covered.. But it's worth it ! If you are going to have surgery do it right the first time.. There are also yahoo groups that talk about the DS as well.. you can go to http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/duodenalswitch/?yguid=4 73555398 for another forum... want to see a BUNCH of pre/post op pics Go here http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/duodenalswitch_extra/?y guid=204075911
My first WLS was botched.. I had to have a revision a few years later. Please research thoroughly and do not jump at the first chance you get.
Also get the wording directly from Tricare on what is covered and not covered.. Check the insurance codes etc and their exact wording.
Ginger<><
Revision #2 Dr John Rabkin June 21, 2013; First Revision DS - Dr Maguire 5-18-09; First DS 7-15-2003 Dr Clark Warden = Third time is the charm
Why settle for less than the best ? Vetted DS surgeons are few and far between, but they are worth the travel to get to one. Of course, the final decision is yours, but at least take the time to check it out.
Ginger<><
Revision #2 Dr John Rabkin June 21, 2013; First Revision DS - Dr Maguire 5-18-09; First DS 7-15-2003 Dr Clark Warden = Third time is the charm
Why settle for less than the best ? Vetted DS surgeons are few and far between, but they are worth the travel to get to one. Of course, the final decision is yours, but at least take the time to check it out.
I had mine done in Kuwait but I lived there at the time. My mother however lives in Michigan and traveled over to have her DS with the same surgeon that I had mine with. Travel is more and more the norm for a lot of procedures.
Elizabeth
Back in the U.S.A.
"I have lost the lumbering hulk that I once was. I don't hide behind my clothes or behind my door. I am part of life's rich tapestry not an observer." Kirmy
Most of us pick our surgery and then our surgeon and if we have to travel, so be it...Think TWICE, CUT ONCE.
Also make sure you check the revisions and the regrets boards.
The DS (even at MY BMI pre-op of 35.2) was the single best decision I made.
Liz
Duodenal Switch (Lap) 01-24-11 | Surgeon: Stephen Boyce | High weight: 250 in 2002 | Surgery weight: 203 | Lowest weight: 121 | Current weight: 135 | Goal weight: 135