Long term effects of the DS?

Yes Dianne r this helps so much! these are the posts Im looking for just to tame my worries:) im excited n scared mixed up~ thanks bunches

I didn't / don't have any more info than what is posted here on long-term effects of the DS but I have plenty of info on the long term effects of NOT having the DS.. Good enough for me. lol

My only regret about having the DS is that I didn't know about it sooner.

Michele 

I too have all the info I need on the NOT having the DS part lol , and I agree with you on the good enough on my part as well~ these are questions my family and friends are asking n just got me thinking. I will get my surgery date right after labor day~ I am excited n cant wait to just stand up with out hurting grrrr,  I just have so many stupid questions I dont even think to ask bc I dont want to look stupid lol.. so thank you for your response.. best wishes:)

My mom's story holds both comfort and caution for me. When she was 24, she had a jejunoileal bypass, which bears some similarity to the intestinal portion of the DS surgery. She had it for severe Crohn's disease. She is now 73, still battles the Crohn's, has some deficiencies (calcium, D, and more) but her young life was saved, our family kept our wonderful mom, and her friends and community have been greatly enriched by her contributions. She has a good quality of life, despite a surgery arguably more radical than ours, despite the complete lack of info about needed diet and supplements in the 1960s, despite her battle with deficiencies. Her story helps me feel that the future for DSers, armed with much better information on how to care for themselves, is bright. Only an anecdote, of course, but a relevant one.

-- Lenore

I was 56 when I had mine...25 years would make me 80...I definitely wasn't going to live that long as I was and the other surgeries were NOT an option.

Prior to my DS, I was an insulin dependant diabetic ON an insulin pump and also taking an oral diabetes medication. I was on a cholesterol medication and overwieght enough, my daddy who is almost 84 was thankful I decided to go for surgery...his comment...he wanted ME to live longer than he did and he feared he would end up burying me from obesity related issues. My 83 year old father said that and he knows almost nothing about which surgery I got, just glad I did get one.

Yes, maybe I won't live to be 80 but then again, I could get hit by a bus just as easy and die that way. Every day is a gift, regardless of how long that is...don't waste them.

Liz

Edited for a typo.

 I can tell you about mal absorbtion.  Short answer...it could affect your dosing, but the longer  after surgery that you have problems... the less likely it is to negatively affect your outcome.   
     first a brief history. I had a surgery 15 yrs ago)called "The Memphis By-Pass" by my attending surgeon. For many years I had a drawing of the procedure, but did not fully understand what procedures it involved until a conversation inspired me to  further  question the procedure I had, as called by the terms that is used on this OH board....What I found out was the surgery I had was  a RNY on steroids...because in addition to the RNy I had a bowel resection that removed all but 2 feet of my Colon(.appendix out, gall bladder removed and some other hernias, ulcers... and ect taken care of..) This was done to change my body's ability to absorb the huge percentage of food for metabolism.  I was absorbing something like 40% more than normal.
       Most obesity surgeries have been modified and "tweaked " many times since their beginning. Don't allow it to "freak you out", that obesity surgeries have only been done so long....After about 2 years  your body adjusts it's metabolism... to what you have...to some extent. I could not take any extended release medications for several years after surgey,and have effectiveness, but now use what I need, as prescribed for any other patient...with the exception of NSAIDS, and any other  medication that has a side effect of causing gastric distress. I have a set of meds I am permitted to use, that includes  Prevacid to  protect my pouch and shortened intestinal span. I usually will use  my prescribed protocol 2 times a week in winter when my joint problems are much more pronounced.
      My advise:   Be more nervous about the damage  of carrying around the extra pounds and the stress it puts on your body. 

Since several of our vets have answered this question, I'm going to step a bit sideways and suggest this. IF you have breast cancer in your immediate family, mother, sister, grandmother, etc., you should have a genetic blood test that markers wheter or not you have the gene that points to you getting breast cancer. If this is indeed the case you may want to think long and hard about having a double radical mastectomy and then a rebuild BEFORE you get breast cancer. Yes, it's quite a leap of faith, but if you have breast cancer in your family and you marker for it as well the likelihood of you getting breast cancer is extrodinarily high (like 95%). 

My cousins have uterine cancer in their mom's family. Mother, grandmother, greatgrandmother, aunts and more have all gotten uterine cancer and died from it. Many were quite young too (in their 30's and 40's). At the urging of their doctor they both went and got the genetic marker test and both markered for getting uterine cancer. Well, the younger one (already had 2 kids) decided to have a hysterectomy even though she didn't have cancer. The other one was going to have the same thing done, but it turned out too late, that she already had uterine cancer despite going to the gyno every three months for testing. She had her uterus and ovaries taken out and went through a round of chemo (several months worth) plus radiation. She was pronnounced in remission. Less than a year later the cancer was back and this time pissed. She is currently in a clinical trial and though there hasn't been any significant improvement there hasn't been any growth either. It's sort of stopped, but she isn't cancer free yet. Prognosis isn't great, but she is a fighter and I pray and hope with all my being that she will fight and win. She has a couple of amazing kids too and they still need her.

Anyway, give it some  thought and research. In the end it might be worth it to have to forgo all of the chemo and crap and illness.

Maddie