HELP!!!!! BPD/DS around the corner, any long term issues?

I am new here and just wanted some much needed feedback.......I have been morbidly obese since I was 6. I have decided to have the Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch. I am 342 pounds at 5'3". I have a seizure disorder, migraines, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, ulcers, reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, kidney deficiency and an enlarged heart. The closer I am getting to it, the more nervous I become. I have read all these studies and let me tell you some of the long term side effects are scary. Family of course says I am taking the lazy/easy way out and every chance they get they let me know of every horror story out there post-surgery. I have lost 150-200 twice since I was 18, both times with diet pills and insane exercise and hardly eating. I am 33 years old and a mother of 5. Oldest is 11 and youngest is 8 months. Any thoughts after having this procedure done? long term side effects? Will I have any issues with controlling my medical conditions (the ones that are not going away after surgery) due to the absorption process in my body will change? Should I consider alternative procedure?

Talk with your doctor about what risks are with your current conditions. That is best. Research. I would not want to steer you wrong. If it is anything like how I feel about getting the surgery... I was scared but was more afraid of the what if I don't! We each have individual health concerns where what is good for one may not be for the other. Also I had the RNY. Have had friends that had RNY and DS.
Hang in there and do what you feel is right.
HUGS MAMA!

I'm a content long term DSer, and have gotten rid of all co-morbs I had before surgery, but I do stay tapped into many groups and know that when folks have issues with a malabsorbtive surgery like DS or RNY, it usually stems from lack of vigilance with vitamins/supplementation. 

Our surgeons need to be good cutters, but what many of us learn is they don't give good advice on supplementation, and that's OK because surgeons usually aren't in the business of lifelong follow up. It DOES mean that you need to be on top of what you need, and not just rely on your doctor to pull thorough enough labs. You have to actually make sure they draw ALL the labs your surgeon states, and then get copies for yourself.

Another thing many of us learn is that PCPs don't understand that yes, we really do need all those labs because we don't absorb stuff like their normal patients, and that PCPs also don't tell us anything is amiss until a reading is so far out of whack that it's flagged by the lab. Most of us also watch for trends, so we can see if something is rising or dropping too fast so we can correct it before it's completely out of whack. Some of the DS groups are great at helping figure out some of that stuff when anyone needs help.

If you can know you won't forget to bother with supplementation (when you get to a normal weight, and feel great and can do stuff you haven't done since you were a kid, and feel so NORMAL, it does happen) and follow what is going on with labs, the DS life is as close to "normal" as many of us have ever known. I can eat fat for the first time in my life, lol.  The vitamins and eating protein first becomes habit.