Disappointing appt. with Dr. Kemmeter

 I just got back from my initial appointment with Dr. Kemmeter.  He said that since I had an open cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal), there could be adhesions, so I'd have to agree to have a back up plan of having an RNY.  First, I don't want that, and secondly I don't want to wake up and have that unknown when I wake up.  What a bummer.  I may just have him close me up if he can't do the DS.  I don't know.

He also said that since I have a relatively low BMI (41), he'd give me a bigger sleeve and a longer common channel than normal because he doesn't want me to lose too much weight.  I'm more worried about the maintenance portion with a longer common channel.  He said it would be at least 120 cm, so I'm hoping for close to that.

I have iron defiency anemia (Ferritin 8 [11-37] and Iron 34 [40-175]) and my Vitamin D should be higher (32 [25-70]) so he told me to take iron pills and more vitamin D, but another doctor is supposed to call me back in the next few days about my labs and I'll ask her about getting an iron transfusion.

I have a 150cc and I'm losing fine. But maybe going to a different Dr would be a better option if it is possible.

Losing is one thing.  Maintaining longterm is another.

Ya, I'm pretty confident I'll be doing that too.

Personally, I wouldn't accept RNY as any kind of a fallback. If you do decide to have him perform your surgery, he should be under strict instructions to perform as much of the DS as possible and absolutely none of the RNY.

To be frank I don't think a prior open surgery should be any impediment to having the DS done and I would look elsewhere if I were you.

Get a second opinion; I would not be ok with that at all.

 OMG, seriously? You're not even a revision and he's giving you this kind of grief? My BMI on Thursday was 38.7. Dr. K gave me a 100cc common channel. Since I can't eat more than what looks like a stain in a bowl, I'll assume my tummy is small as well. I have your same concerns - I want to make sure I can maintain. I do not have one doubt about the weight coming off; how could it not? But long term...that was my concern and I did not want a long common channel.

One thing about this surgery that I was totally confident about was my choice of doctor. It relieved a lot of stress for me because I went through a major freak session right before my surgery and had I been concerned about my surgeon, I don't know if I could have gone through with the surgery. I traveled across the country for this and after experiencing Dr. K in person, I know I could never do this with any other surgeon. Give his office a call and speak with him. I bet you will feel a thousand percent better after you do. There is no substitute for a competent surgeon.