Please comment on my lap band doc email regarding DS

yes

You should be the ONLY person deciding which form of WLS, if ANY, is right for you.

All of them work. Some work better than others, but all of them DO work, for some people. It's important to research them all, so you can figure out which one will work the best for YOU. It's also important to know that you can fight your insurance company if they say they won't cover the WLS that YOU want.

We can help.

Thank you.  I want to it now not 1 year from now so I am willing to pay.  I am 5' 4" 195 lbs with HTN at the most and if I did get  the ins to pay they would only pay a max of 5 k it is not worth my aggravation and I am exhausted with the whole wt thing.............. Donna

I am a band to DS revision and I can tell you... well, you do poop a lot. Not ten times a day necessarily, but when you are losing weight you poop a lot. I used to wonder where weight goes when we "lose" it. Now I know!

Gas and discomfort are pretty controllable via diet though. I'm not yet three months out and I have already learned that lesson WELL.

I spent ten years in misery with the band. I threw up multiple times a day, I could never eat... especially in PUBLIC... so when I got home at night I would sit down by myself with some hot tea and ******g EAT. I was STARVING. And gaining! The band messed with my metabolism so bad. I never really lost any weight with it, maybe about 15 lbs right afterward when I was on liquids. I tried fills, unfills, I was exercising, I did Weigh****chers with it. Because I could hardly ever eat a normal (even a very small, normal) meal, it was impossible for me to really do it. Did I mention the throwing up multiple times a day? Did I mention it was AFTER I got unfilled that I continued throwing up?

Life with the DS is so awesome. I am not scared to eat anymore! It is amazing! I can even go out with friends and while I cannot eat MUCH, what I can eat I can. It's not taking one tiny bite and chewing like crazy and then... uh oh, stuck, and sitting there like a deer in the headlights unable to think about anything else until I finally go hurl.

The DS is so much better. It will take more work to maintain in terms of vitamins. But I'd much rather an effective surgery that takes work to maintain then fritter my life away working like crazy over a surgery that did not work AND made me utterly miserable.

 
10 stools a day?  Please!  I have always had only 1 stool a day, 2 if I eat like a carbaholic fool which happens on occasion.

I myself did have trouble my first year.  I vomited and had nausea a lot, and ended up being malnourished.  I was on TPN for about three months.  I resolved the issue, and I've been doing fine since.  I also picked up GERD as a result of the DS--I didn't have it before surgery.  These are realities:  just like every other surgery, some people have trouble.  Very few DSers have had the vomiting issue that I describe.

As far as labs, I do WAAAAYYYY more labs than my surgeon recommends!  I send him my lab reports every time I take them, including the weekly labs from my TPN.  Patients are likely having their labs done through their PCP and not reporting the labs to him as a surgeon.  That's very different than patients not following up at all and having their labs done.  A lot of DSers are do-it-yourself types who have learned to decipher our own labs with help and adjust our vitamins accordingly.  That's not irresponsible follow-up, that's focusing on our own biz and not waiting for a surgeon to tell us what to do!

We have a saying around here:  Your Mileage May Vary.  Everyone's experience is a bit different.  To get a feel of different types of experiences living with the DS, I would suggest that you do a lot of reading from a lot of different people who have actually had a DS and lived with it.  (Your surgeon is NOT one of those people.)  The links in my signature are a great place to start.

Thank you this is what I am looking for.  I truly appreciate your efforts and sharing as I want all the facts before I make a decision which can not be reversed.  My surgeon sent me an email and I feel better.  He has been awesome.  Answering numerous emails, taking my records reviewing them and my upper GI and endoscopy.  It concerning to just get the rose color glasses version and this is helpful...............here was his email from today & thank you again,  Donna
 

You are making the right choice Do not have doubts Luz Elvira is my office's chief and patent's coordinator but she is not a nurse. Our nurse is Lourdes and she also is awesome, you will meet them. Nice day Dr Ungson
 
Enviado desde mi iPhone
 
El 10/01/2012, a las 18:55, "Donna Landgraf" escribió:

   

I thank you for taking the time for me to talk with your nurse she is awesome.  I was set on my decision as I have done so much research but the reaction I received from one pro board site was so off the wall and my lap band doc I wanted to confirm before I went further.  You are  right if I remove the band I would gain weight I do not have one doubt.  Thank you again and I am off to book a flight.  Donna