HELP...........I REALLY WANT TO KNOW

Hi Huneypie, 
There were indeed times when I was completely miserable as a pre-op.  I would alternate between periods of constipation (going once or twice a week was not uncommon for me) or I would be at the total other end of the spectrum for days or even months at a time.  If I had one of my trigger foods, I would be miserable and I was tied to my bathroom.  I became afraid to eat.  I went through a period (months) where the only foods that I could tolerate were bananas and baked Lays potato chips.  Anything else seemed to give me pain within minutes.  My "transit" time was very quick ... within a half hour of eating, I would be pooping out what I'd just eaten.  It was painful and exhausting.  My heart would race, I would sweat, I would be in severe pain.  I used to take two or three different medications...  Lomitil which I took several times a day for chronic diarrhea as well as another pill something when I'd have an "attack" and I'd place the pill under my tongue.  

Stress also played a large role in my IBS.  I still get stress a lot but I try and find other outlets.  I've been so blessed to not have been plagued by any IBS issues.  I do have to watch my carbs but even if I eat something that I know that I shouldn't ... the effects might not be great but it's still nowhere as bad as how things were as a pre-op.  

Good luck!

Some aspects sound like me (constipation and diarrhea).  I used to have a BM 30 minutes after having a hot chocolate (made with powdered milk), I gave that up many years ago though.

Thank you for taking the time to detail things.

I'm with Gail. My IBS is gone. I'm almost a year out.

Wow, that's amazing.  I've had IBS for 10 years.  I may have to start my own thread on this, as I may just have stumbled across 3 really lucky DSers LOL! 

Many thanks for your input.

I can give you the perspective of a recent post op. I will be 4 weeks out on Thursday and I had a very smooth recovery. I am convinced this was mostly due to two factors; One, I prepared my body for this surgery. I have been taking vitamins for years and this mandatory part of after care did not scare me. I am able to tolerate the full vitamin schedule at almost 4 weeks out already. Many cannot do this.  I also took probiotics for years and I increased this even more the months prior to surgery. The second factor is the surgeon I chose. Dr. K in LA is the best. He has over 1700 DS surgeries under his belt and you just cannot compare an experienced surgeon like him to someone who does a DS once a month or so. 

I had a consultation with another bariatric surgeon in March in NY and I had to talk him into the DS for me because I was considered a lightweight. Once I could explain the surgery to him in detail and explain to him that the DS was the only surgery that would resolve my mild diabetes and guarantee it would never develop into full blown diabetes, he agreed he'd give it to me. I wasn't really happy with this attitude though and my insurance denied me so I decided if I was going to be a self pay, I was going to go with the best.  I traveled across the country to be a patient of the best DS surgeon available.

The NY doctor told me I would be very gassy and have loose stools. Never happened. I have less gas now (thank you probiotics!) As for loose stools, I am consipated, darn it! I have to take lots of calcium and it binds you. I ordered some triphala (a natural product that does not cause cramping and does wonders for me) so this will be temporary.  The worst of it for me is eating. Ironic, I know. But this is part of the process and at one month out, it really is getting better already.  Some days are better than others. Protein shakes suck big hairy rat balls (you'll understand this new motto of ours if you hang around here long enough...) 

Would I do it again? Hell yes! I have guaranteed myself no diabetes, no heart disease, and once the weight comes off, I will never be fat again. I was not an overeater to begin with but I do have Hashimoto's disease (autoimmune thyroid disorder) so I gain weight eating just 750 calories. I guess I should say I used to gain weight.  You just can't buy that kind of peace of mind.  All this with no dumping syndrom, reoccurrence of diabetes, massive weight regain, or foamies, all RNY common problems (not to mention a blind stomach!)

I very highly recommend that YOU choose the procedure you want and THEN see a surgeon. Most surgeons do not perform all of the different types of procedures, and they are very unlikely to recommend a procedure they do not perform. So, you go to someone who does RNY and bands, and I bet they recommend an RNY or band with little to no mention of other options (unless to DOWNplay them, like telling you how dangerous and scary the DS is).

I chose the DS before I saw any surgeons. I then went to the info sessions at two different practices and started meeting with local DSers in my area. They all seemed so happy and NORMAL. I'd had friends/coworkers with RNY before, and I'd watched them rush of to puke after indulging in a couple of nachos from an appetizer while out at lunch, watched their hair fall out and skin age rapidly (likely due to insufficient supplementation), and watched them gaze longingly at certain foods that they knew they wouldn't be able to eat without discomfort. I didn't want that for myself. RNY scared the crap out of me.

I also had type 2 diabetes (diagnosed at age 25), and my research showed the DS as having hands down the BEST type 2 diabetes resolution rate, including in the long term. Add to that the icing on the cake of the DS also happening to have hands down the best long-term stats for maintenance of weight loss, and I was sold! And no mention in studies of things like reactive hypoglycemia, dumping syndrome, seizures, etc., all of which I had come across when reading up on RNY.

So, off to get my DS I went. But I woke up to some bad news - due to dense adhesions from a prios abdominal surgery (not WLS related), my surgeon gave me a VERY long common channel. So, I do not have a "typical" DS construction. I do have a VSG stomach, and I do have intestinal bypass, but the bypass is only about the same as that of a proximal RNY. As a result, I have what is technically considere to be a DS, but I have much less malabsorption than any other DSer I know.

However, I've still done well. My highest known weight was 324 pounds; I was 308.5 on the morning of surgery. I got down to a low of about 175. I'm now 24 weeks pregnant, so all bets are off as far as weight is concerned!

I never had any complications or issues. Too many starchy carbs sometimes make me gassy, but I actually believe that is more a result of having eaten super low in carbs and then adding them back in, not a direct result of my surgery. I have regular bowel movements (once a day, maybe twice a day on occasion). Nothing sends me running to the toilet. I don't have any food intolerances - even though starchy carbs sometimes make me gassy, actual sugar doesn't bother me at all.

And my diabetes is essentially gone. I've been off all meds since 6 months post-op (my doc was conservative and tapered me off my metformin instead of cuting it off right away). My A1Cs and fasting glucose levels, even now that I'm pregnant, are ridiculously normal even though I've quite honestly been eating whatever I want, whenever I want for about a month and a half now.

I haven't battled any major vitamin or mineral deficiencies. I track my own lab results so I can see if anything is trending down and can step in to correct it before it becomes a problem. I had to do this with iron (started out not taking any iron supplements and had to add them in later) and with zinc, and I've had to adjust some supplements due to high levels of copper, B1, and B6. I'm currently trying a different type of iron since my ferritin was dropping (but not yet low - just don't want it to GET low).

Life's been pretty easy peasy honestly. Here's hoping it continues since I'm only 29 (had surgery when I was 26)!

I worked with Kaiser for years to get accepted into their bariatric program. My health was deteriorating rapidly. I was finally assigned to Dr. Fisher, your doctor, who insisted I had to lose 10% of my weight. I had already struggled to achieve that, but did it at the wrong time-before my appointment, not after. I had joined an RNY support group and made friends with a number of people with that surgery. I saw many of them not loose the weight, significantly regain, or have serious issues with strictures, nausea, etc.
Thank goodness I discovered the DS. Kaiser would have never told me about it because they do not have anyone qualified to perform this surgery. With the help of others on this board, I was able to appeal Kaiser's refusal to offer the DS. Please read my profile for more information. The quote from the CA insurance board tells it all. Good luck to you!

HI!

When I was researching WLS, I came across a surgery war and found out about the DS.  I had just decided that I would have no WLS at all until then.  My insurance at the time would have covered RNY surgery 100%, right down the street from my house.  Instead, I self-paid and flew to Brazil to have my DS. 

Choose your surgery first, then your doctor!!!

I use the bathroom once in the morning, very rarely I will also go in the evening.  I had IBS pre-op and that has resolved along with my Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sleep apnea.

The only foods I have problems with are white flour products and I now HATE most processed foods as I can taste the chemicals in them.

My weight loss stats are in my signature line.

Kaiser in CA can be made to pay for DS surgery.

Michele

I chose it.  I paid out of pocket for the surgery, and flew to another country to have it. (Mexico)

My surgery weight was 310 (or so).  I'm currently in the 180's range.  Which is exactly where I want to be.  I'm nearly 5'10", and this is a healthy size for me.

I really didn't want any kind of surgery.  Except for being morbidly obese (oh, and miserable), there wasn't much wrong with me, so I reasoned that surgery was taking an unnecessary risk with my life.  But I kept getting more and more miserable, so, DID get the only weight loss surgery that made any sense to me.

I am so glad I did.  I struggled to eat enough early out, and did get malnourished, simply because I didn't take care of myself.  I'm damned lucky that I don't SEEM to have done any permanent damage to myself, but it was a six month battle to approach anything near good health after slipping down to 140 pounds.  I looked like a skeleton with skin stretched over it.  (Except for my legs, which looked like puffy trees due to the edema I had developed with the protein deficiency.)

Anyway, here I am, 4 years out from surgery and deliriously happy with my choice.  I can eat just about anything, in moderation.  I poop, a lot, first thing in the morning, then I don't poop until the next morning.  The exception to that is if I indulge in a LOT of carbs, then I may have to poop again that day.

My cravings for some kinds of foods have changed, but that's different for everybody, so don't make any decisions based on that.  But, for me, bread isn't nearly as attractive as it used to be.

I wish you well in your pursuit of a suitable WLS for yourself.

OMG, I would never guess you were 180 lbs, cuz you're so thin....but I guess that goes with the height.  I've not seen you in so long, I forgot how tall you are.