almost 700 lbs

i got my surgery date for oct 19, interested to hear from anyone that might of been my size as to their experience and how they are doing. im having lap rny surgery and will start 2 week liquid diet on oct 5.
thanks,
Russ

Hi Russ,
I started at 491 and am still preop myself, having surgery 10/20.  I think I am one of the biggest folks around here.  I have been losing weight preop because my surgeon wants me to lose as much as possible before surgery.  I have been doing mostly shakes and fruits and veggies for a while in preparation but originally I was suppossed to be having my surgery 9/29 and got changed due to doctor's scheduling issues.  But today I have started to do all shakes for the rest of the time until 10/20.  By my idea, my surgeon just wants me to lose as much as possible before surgery, never said do this or that, but in the past I had done medically supervised fasts 3 times and am used to doing them.   Would be interested to see how you do as we continue on since we are both having the surgery basically the same time.  You maybe could try posting this same on the men's forum.  Maybe some other guys are on the heavier side on their forum?  We do get some guys on here but not a lot and I think I am one of the biggest woman (starting weight wise) on this forum, but there have been others around and hopefully they will respond to your post.  Good luck on the upcoming day, I know I am so ready to have it done and let the major pound melting begin! 

As far as the DS goes, it IS THE BEST SURGERY OUT THERE FOR WEIGHT LOSS AND WEIGHT CONTROL. Okay, I did have the RnY in '05, lost 90 pounds in 8 months, but after over a year and a half, started gaining and could not control it. I did not know about the DS, but then found out about it in '07. I had my revision in May '09. You do owe it to yourself to at least check out the DS before you go ahead with the RnY. Have you read the "regrets" forum or "failed weight loss surgery" forum, or the "revision" forum?. Many people on those sites looking for somethiing better as their original surgery of choice did not work for them. Those are people who had either theRnY or the lapband. Neither of them work for so many people. It is a crapshoot whether the RnY will work for you, but why take that risk?. With the DS, you have such a better chance for it to work for you, and the more you weigh, the better the DS is, though lightweights can have the DS too. If your surgeon does not do the DS, do not ask him/her about the DS, just find a reputable DS surgeons and go see them or go to their seminar. You need to get all the facts before you get cut. I wish you good luck in achieving your goal.

At your weight, you should really, REALLY look into the DS surgery before getting on the table to get the RNY. The RNY is the most popular surgery, but it is NOT the most sucessful. The DS is the surgery type with the best weight loss and less regain problems in longterm. The RNY has a failure rate of 35- over 50% for patients starting with a BMI over 50, and with your weight being so high, you personal risk of failing with the RNY is rather 50 or more percent. Did your doc tell you that? The stats for the DS look so much better while the risk is the same. You can find out more on the DS board, it is not too late yet.

Doesn't the DS surgery require a longer time on the table, under sedation? I know I've heard the argument that most surgeons don't do the DS because it is more complex and takes longer. So if a patient in in very poor health, "estimated time under" might be a consideration.

It depends on the skill of the surgeon regarding time under and on the table.  I believe it's about the same.  My friend had an RNY and it took her surgeon 7 hours because my friend had lots of scar tissue from previous surgeries.  So, it is not necessarily more time.....  

The DS is more complex for the surgeon, which is why he/she should be an experienced DS surgeon.  But an experienced surgeon can often times do the DS in less than 3 hours.  Most docs who do the DS have extensive experience with high risk patients, since the DS was originally only given to those with the most weight to lose -the SMO  (making them higher risk).  it has now been shown to have the same surgical risk and better weightloss and weightloss maintenance as the RnY.

That statement is not entirely true.  If they are a very skilled surgeon It can be done in less than four hours.  There is NO more risk to a DS surgery than an RNY.  Look at the stats.  The DS has the best success rate long term and especially for folks who are over a 50 BMI to begin with. 

My DS was a 2 hour lonf surgery

My open DS took less than 2 hrs OR time.