Recent Posts
Topic: RE: Alcohol??
Yes I have a solutin- I take a prescription calle d NATREXON, a 50 MG Tablet once aday. This is agreat medication, it totlly turns you off to drinking (alcohol)I am trying to stay sober. And I know it is working because I rarely don' crave it znymore
Ask yoour Doc about it.
Good luck-
Grace
Ask yoour Doc about it.
Good luck-
Grace
Topic: RE: Alcohol??
Could use support as well. Can we help each other? Have you had any success finding things that can help?
Topic: RE: Alcohol??
I am drinking one after the other as well. Have you encountered any ways out of this? How are you doing?
Topic: RE: Regretting the DS
It's true, Dawn -- we really ARE that happy with the DS. Keep watching our board, and please step up and ask questions. We're very open over there.
Valerie
DS 2005
There is room on this earth for all of God's creatures..
next to the mashed potatoes
Topic: RE: Regretting the DS
If you have a sleeve and not a Scorpinaro BPD stomach pouch, you can have your sleeve made smaller to increase your restriction. I knew of another old-timer who had this done, and she explained that they used to make the sleeves much larger than they do today.
Valerie
DS 2005
There is room on this earth for all of God's creatures..
next to the mashed potatoes
StacysMom
on 3/7/09 7:11 pm
on 3/7/09 7:11 pm
Topic: RE: Do you regret the type of wls you had?
Before you get the RNY, do yourself a favor and look into the sleeve procedure. Lots of people have had it done in Mexico with great results. You are right, though, it is very difficult to find a U.S. doctor to do your follow-up when you've had surgery in Mexico. It's because their malpractice insurance won't let them. Also, you probably didn't know that the lapband was pioneered in Mexico and that the Mexican docs are the ones who taught and proctored the U.S. docs on the procedure. Surprising, but true!! Some people have a wonderful time getting WLS in Mexico and others have a horror story. It all depends who you go to and where in Mexico you go. Some areas are even dangerous.
The sleeve procedure is something else that is being done in Mexico, but just starting to catch on in the U.S. Not that many U.S. docs are doing it yet. They are "behind the times" still doing the RNY. The long term stats on the sleeve are equal to those of the RNY, but the educational curve for the docs hasn't caught up yet. It's a more "natural" surgery which preserves your stomach, just makes it smaller. And, there is no intestinal bypass to risk complications with. And, it can be done LAP! If you find you need the malabsorption, it can be added later, turning the surgery into the modern DS, and your common channel length can be tailored to your personal needs at that time. Once you cut your stomach into the RNY pouch, you will have great difficulty revising to the DS if the RNY proves unsuccessful for you in the long run.
Check out the sleeve forum for more info.
The sleeve procedure is something else that is being done in Mexico, but just starting to catch on in the U.S. Not that many U.S. docs are doing it yet. They are "behind the times" still doing the RNY. The long term stats on the sleeve are equal to those of the RNY, but the educational curve for the docs hasn't caught up yet. It's a more "natural" surgery which preserves your stomach, just makes it smaller. And, there is no intestinal bypass to risk complications with. And, it can be done LAP! If you find you need the malabsorption, it can be added later, turning the surgery into the modern DS, and your common channel length can be tailored to your personal needs at that time. Once you cut your stomach into the RNY pouch, you will have great difficulty revising to the DS if the RNY proves unsuccessful for you in the long run.
Check out the sleeve forum for more info.
StacysMom
on 3/7/09 5:52 pm, edited 3/7/09 5:57 pm
on 3/7/09 5:52 pm, edited 3/7/09 5:57 pm
Topic: RE: Do you regret the type of wls you had?
If you have the "long limbed" approach to the RNY it sounds like either distal or extended RNY, which provides equal and sometimes MORE malabsorption than the modern DS. You also mention that you have a "smaller stomach". Well, if you still have a functioning stomach, you don't have an RNY, you have a DS. An RNY utilizes a pouch.
The extensive malnutrition and malabsorption your doctor was talking about wasn't about the MODERN DS - he was describing the old BPD/DS procedure (also known as the Scopinaro procedure). It involved making a pouch which is similar to the RNY pouch, but larger - then removing the stomach entirely (the RNY leaves the stomach in the patient, but it is a "blind" stomach), and then shortening the common channel to provide the malabsorption. This old procedure was very problematic and was a last resort type surgery for the SMO only.
The MODERN DS involves making a sleeve stomach (not a pouch) which functions like a normal stomach only that it is smaller and give you restriction. There is no pouch. The sleeve can be made in different sizes to provide different amounts of restriction. Then the common channel where your food is absorbed is shortened, and this too, is tailored to the individual needs of the patient. From what I've observed, the modern DS has less side effects and future complications than the RNY, because all of the pouch problems and issues regarding the "blind stomach" are eliminated.
It doesn't sound like your doctor was "up" on the latest procedures. He probably doesn't perform the modern DS procedure.
NEWS FLASH !! Your surgeon does NOT do the modern DS procedure. It sounds like you have been the victim of the ol' "bait & don't switch". This happens every day all over the country because only a few surgeons actually do the modern DS and they will say whatever they have to in order to get you into their office and then they use their status, medical lingo and gentle manipulation to get the you to come to the surgical choice that the DOCTOR prefers. This is happening more and more because more and more people are losing their jobs in this economy and with that goes their medical insurance. There is more competition than ever for elective surgery. Don't forget, your surgeon is in BUSINESS to make $$$$.
I'm glad to hear your RNY is working out for you. If it was a distal, you will have a better chance of keeping your weight off than with a proximal RNY, but your malabsorption and vitamin requirements will be almost the same as with the modern DS. So it sounds like he gave you what you were scared of - he just called it something different for his own benefit.
The extensive malnutrition and malabsorption your doctor was talking about wasn't about the MODERN DS - he was describing the old BPD/DS procedure (also known as the Scopinaro procedure). It involved making a pouch which is similar to the RNY pouch, but larger - then removing the stomach entirely (the RNY leaves the stomach in the patient, but it is a "blind" stomach), and then shortening the common channel to provide the malabsorption. This old procedure was very problematic and was a last resort type surgery for the SMO only.
The MODERN DS involves making a sleeve stomach (not a pouch) which functions like a normal stomach only that it is smaller and give you restriction. There is no pouch. The sleeve can be made in different sizes to provide different amounts of restriction. Then the common channel where your food is absorbed is shortened, and this too, is tailored to the individual needs of the patient. From what I've observed, the modern DS has less side effects and future complications than the RNY, because all of the pouch problems and issues regarding the "blind stomach" are eliminated.
It doesn't sound like your doctor was "up" on the latest procedures. He probably doesn't perform the modern DS procedure.
NEWS FLASH !! Your surgeon does NOT do the modern DS procedure. It sounds like you have been the victim of the ol' "bait & don't switch". This happens every day all over the country because only a few surgeons actually do the modern DS and they will say whatever they have to in order to get you into their office and then they use their status, medical lingo and gentle manipulation to get the you to come to the surgical choice that the DOCTOR prefers. This is happening more and more because more and more people are losing their jobs in this economy and with that goes their medical insurance. There is more competition than ever for elective surgery. Don't forget, your surgeon is in BUSINESS to make $$$$.
I'm glad to hear your RNY is working out for you. If it was a distal, you will have a better chance of keeping your weight off than with a proximal RNY, but your malabsorption and vitamin requirements will be almost the same as with the modern DS. So it sounds like he gave you what you were scared of - he just called it something different for his own benefit.
StacysMom
on 3/7/09 5:27 pm
on 3/7/09 5:27 pm
Topic: RE: Regretting the DS
Do you have the DS with the sleeve stomach? If so, what size is your sleeve? Or did you get the older BPD/DS (Scopinaro) procedure which utilizes a pouch and is similar to the RNY, but with more malabsorption?
I'm asking because the ONLY people I have ever heard of who are unhappy with the DS are the ones who had the older procedure. It gets confused with the modern DS because it is called the same thing. Your profile says you got WLS in 2001 and I'm not sure they were doing the DS with the sleeve back then, unless it was the first half of a two part procedures for SMO patients.
I'm asking because the ONLY people I have ever heard of who are unhappy with the DS are the ones who had the older procedure. It gets confused with the modern DS because it is called the same thing. Your profile says you got WLS in 2001 and I'm not sure they were doing the DS with the sleeve back then, unless it was the first half of a two part procedures for SMO patients.
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