Lots of questions Need Answers

 Hi everyone. I have a few questions. First off I am having revision from a band to DS just waiting on insurance approval and the doctor is working on that now.  My surgeon is Dr. Gary Antone out of Methodist hospital in Omaha Nebraska. He has recommend that before the DS surgery I have my incision hernia repaired and have some excess skin removed from my abdomen removed so when I have the DS surgery about 3 months later after I heal up it will prevent me from developing another hernia. Is it common to have this done before a DS surgery? My second question is how successful is DS surgery? My greatest fear is doing it and losing a little weight and the gaining it back. If I do it and live a healthy life will I succeed? How much weight will I be able to lose and how long should it usually take? Will I be able to reach my goal weight quickly? I need to lose about 235 pounds. I am 435 now.  I am 5 foot 9 and the chart says I should get to about 160 or so but the doctor thinks that is unrealistic . With my frame and body type he feels I should shoot for about 200 hundred or so. I don't want to be able to eat like a pig after the surgery but I want to feel like I can fit in and eat a normal sized meal. Is this realistic or am I just dreaming? I am sick and tired of being sick and tired but I am scared that I will fail at this like the band surgery. I love food and love to eat but I don't want to be dead before I reach 50 and I am 39 now. How long does it take to recover from the DS surgery? The doctor said about 8 weeks. I want to make sure that I don't go back to work to soon and complicate my recovery. How many have had follow up surgeries to remove excess skin and reconstruct areas of your body? Being a male who has lived almost all of my adult life with man boobs I am looking forward to not having them any more as well as seeing my penis again and to stand up instead of sitting down to pee anymore for fear of peeing on my self. Did any of your insurance companies pay for the cosmetic surgery? What are dry vitamins and who is the vita lady? Where can I find her? How much protein should I consume in a day what are some of the best sources to get it? I have seen the whey protein at Walmart will that do or do I have to order special shakes to get in my protein?  I am scared. I want this so badly I can hardly stand it any more. People of normal size have no idea what it's like to feel alone even if you are in a room full of people or feel like everyone is staring at you and making snide little comments about you.  Or even worse saying them out loud for you and everyone else to hear and you just have to pretend you didn't hear or just laugh while on the inside you are bawling like a new born baby.  They don't know how it feels to have to order clothes from a big and tall company while they just buy off the rack.  God that will be such an awesome day when I can walk in to a store and buy something to wear and I didn't have to pay 25 dollars for a tee shirt or 50 for a pair of pants.  I'm sorry for ranting and don't mean to seem like I am feeling sorry for myself but y'all know what I am talking about and how it feels.  Anyway I'm sorry being so drawn out. I'm sure I will have a lot more questions in the future so please be patient with me as I continue my journey toward a new life. I can't wait for my second birth day when I can start living my life the way I have always dreamed.

I think the DS forum is the place for this post and wish you the best.  Hugs ((()))

The DS has the very BEST long-term, maintained weight-loss stats, period. If you can't be successful with the DS, you're unlikely to be successful with ANY sort of WLS.

 

Most people can lose a LOT of weight, with any form of WLS---the trick is keeping it off. Again, the DS has the best track record for SUSTAINED weight loss. How quickly you reach you goal depends on many factors, not all of which you have control over. Certainly, the better you can control your diet the better you'll do, in both the short- and the long-term, but other factors matter too---age and genetics being the two biggies.

 

Yes, with a DS you will be able to eat pretty 'normally'----and by 'normally', I mean you'll be able to eat like 'normally thin' people. You will be able to eat pretty much anything you choose to eat---which means you WILL need to take responsibility for what you put into your mouth.  The DS does NOT 'punish' you for making so-called 'bad' choices.

 

Recovery from any sort of WLS takes about 6-8 weeks. Plan on taking at least this long to pamper yourself, post-op.

 

Excess skin removal is individual. I'd like to have some done, but I can happily live the rest of my life without it.

 

I prefer to see someone else's penis. (*grin*---I'm a girl.)

 

Most people's insurance doesn't cover cosmetic surgery---we don't get plastics unless we can show 'medical necessity'.

 

Dry vitamins are water-dissolvable forms of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Vitalady is Michelle Curran, and you can Google her.

 

Your labs will tell you how much protein YOU need daily. Most DSers need a minimum of 100 grams a day. My body wants at least 125, but some people need as much as 200 grams. The best sources of protein are animals, seafood, eggs, dairy, and nuts. Protein shakes SUCK, but some people need them. Treat them like medicine----you don't have to like them, just to tolerate them.

 

I think most of us here know what it's like to feel alone and scared, to be stared at and ridiculed, to be unable to buy clothes at a 'normal' store. After your DS, you'll get a real thrill going to the Goodwill and buying 50-cent tee-shirts. (*grin)

 

Ask all the questions you'd like. We're here to help! (Just try to use paragraphs, okay?)

I'm not sure why remove excess skin before surgery. To make surgery easier, losing a few pounds like 20-30 would make your liver smaller which would be a big help.

And repairing a hernia if you're having open DS, not lap DS, seems the surgeon would repair that hernia at the same time. Ask questions until you feel comfortable that you understand the reasoning behind what the surgeon wants you to do.

I had RNY with a DS common channel, and have had great results and long term maintainance since 7 yrs ago. I think a DS will be the best for someone who needs to lose 235 lbs.

I think we focus on things like what can I eat afterwards, or on drinking protein shakes, when almost any will work fine. Just find something you can stomach the taste of. After a few months you will probably be eating plenty of protein and may not need shakes.

Buying off the rack is a great experience, and I know you will enjoy the whole shopping when it's not such an exhausting thing.

Best wishes.

 

Ok, first thing you need to do is go to dsfacts.com and read EVERYTHING.  Based on your post, if seems like you haven't done any research on what is going to be done to you.  It is VERY IMPORTANT that you research before this surgery because there are non-negotiable requirements that you have to follow FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.  Non-negotiable in that if you don't follow them, YOU WILL DIE.  Make sure you are well versed on the protein requirements, vitamin requirements and lab requirements. 

Second...post on the DS forum.  You will get much more help there as many of us really only follow our forum.

Hello there!  I just did a shout-out to my DS guy-friends to come out here and share their experiences for you.  You obviously haven't done a lot of research on the DS yet, so I'd like to direct you to DSFacts.com to learn more about it.  The DS is the most drastic of the wls procedures, and it has the highest statistics for long-term weight loss and lowest rate of regain.  The responsibility of the patient is to take charge of your nutritional health, and the DSers are happy to share what they've learned along the way that many times the surgeons and nutritionists have not gotten up to speed on yet.  Protein can be consumed by shakes, bars, or plain ol food.  The goal is 100g per day.  This is hard at first without the help of shakes, but over time you can easily enjoy a fairly normal sized meal and like me, get in that 100g with good wholesome food every day. 

Dry vitamins are those which customarily come dispensed in an oil capsule (A,E,K,D) but can be formulated as a powder (dry) that is more easily absorbed.  DSers malabsorb much of the fat (whi*****ludes oil)  we consume, so this is important to us.  Vitalady is a resource for vitamins, protein and such.  She has a distal RNY (pouch like RNY, but malabsorption like DS), so she has a great understanding of what we need, and her prices are very reasonable for vitamins.  Her site is vitalady.com.

 I'm taking it that the DS revision was recommended by Anthone?  He's got a fantastic reputation so you're in good hands.  I've not heard of having skin removed before revisions, but if Anthone thinks it's necessary, I wouldn't argue with him.  If the skin removal is a medical necessity, then you may be able to get insurance to cover it.  Cosmetic reasons are a different story, but lets take this one step at a time.  

You've asked a lot of different questions, but my guess is that your greatest concern is that you will have the same experience with the DS that you have had with the band. Not so.

 

    The DS has the best statistics of any wls for percentage excess weight loss, for maintaining that weight loss (so important!) and for resolution of almost all comorbidities. It also has a much more normal lifestyle of eating than other wls - no dumping, no food getting stuck, you list of foods you are never supposed to eat again in your life, you can drink liquids with meals. Of course there is a recovery period, but eventually you will be able to eat small normal meals.

     You will also be able to take NSAIDs, which are contraindicated with gastric bypass.

     Dr. Antone is a experienced DS surgeon with an excellent reputation. You will be in good hands. As to why he wants you to get the hernia repaired first, etc, I can't say. I would suggest you ask him that yourself. And yes, if you live a healthy life and follow the DS rules (lots of protein, as much fat as you like, limit carbs) you should lose a lot of weight and be very successful. And for others who may be reading this, while the DS is the best choice for the heaviest people, it also works great for the "lightweights" of the MO world. It is a standard of care operation for anyone who meets the usual criteria for wls.

     I agree with everyone else *****commended that you continue to research. You need to understand what you are getting into, esp with the vitamin and mineral requirements. dsfacts.com is an excellent website for you to read.

Larra

Sounds like you are a great candidate for the DS. You will do just fine. I second the other comments and suggestions. Go for it!

Lots of good questions...

 

Is it common to have hernia surgery done before a DS surgery? I think it depends on the surgeon. I had one that didn't cause problems, so they waited to fix it until after surgery.

My second question is how successful is DS surgery?

I've seen it rarely fail. Usually it was because the person didn't follow directions (not taking vitamins). I only know of two people in my local area who got revisions because they were malabsorbing.

 

My greatest fear is doing it and losing a little weight and the gaining it back. If I do it and live a healthy life will I succeed?

If you can limit the carbs and stay on the protein and vitamins, it's pretty fool-proof.

 

How much weight will I be able to lose and how long should it usually take?

Too many factors to tell, usually it takes 18 months for the main weight loss and you can find the stats on the average, it's better than any other method.

 

Will I be able to reach my goal weight quickly?

Focus on getting healthy. That should be your goal.

 

Normal meal, Is this realistic or am I just dreaming?

Not at first, you'll be taking a lot home and I rarely do fast food now. I see it as a waste of bread and money.

 

How long does it take to recover from the DS surgery?

I was moving around pretty good after 4 weeks. I went back to work after 6. I should have given myself 8.

 

How many have had follow up surgeries to remove excess skin and reconstruct areas of your body?

I had the hernia repair and a pannilectomy at about 30 months out. Both were needed. Insurance only covered the hernia repair, it did cost less to do both at the same time.

 

Your best bet is to read everything on the OH and Dsfacts boards. Listen to your doctor and use your best judgment. Best of Luck!