R N Y to DS (Including Distal)

Hi,

I am not sure you are really talking about a RNY to DS revision. It is a very complex surgery and there are only a select few surgeons who do them. I had my with Dr. John Rabkin - www.paclap.com - in March 2012. I had complications and was in the hospital for over a month and after that (4) months in bed tied to IVs. Many folks don't have complications but there are risks and I ran into some of them. If you look at www.dsfacts.com you can see the list of surgeons that have a proven track record of performing this type of surgery.

I started at 450 and got down to 299.99 for about a second with the RNY. I was back up to 375 when I had the revision. I am around 280 now. The weight loss is becoming harder and you really have to stay away from carbs and concentrate on protien, protien, protien. This has been hard for me and my lack of recent weight loss shows it.

Best of luck with your journey but please do make sure you are getting the surgery you think you are and that you have a good surgeon.

Best of luck, Terri

Last I knew (which is very recent), Dr. Sudan did not do RNY to DS conversions. He is considered an excellent DS surgeon and does do lap band to DS conversions, but that's a very different thing.

There has never been any great benefit shown by going from proximal RNY to distal RNY. To lose significantly more weight, you would need to go to ERNY, which is very distal but keeps the same RNY pouch and doesn't include the DS sleeve. This means you would have all the issues of your RNY - dumping, food getting stuck, can't take NSAIDs, possible reactive hypoglycemia, etc - and add to that the potential issues of the DS without the protection of having your pyloric valve in use to provide normal stomach emptying. ERNY carries less immediate risk but more longterm risk for nutritional problems.

If you really want a true DS, there are only a small number of surgeons who do it. In the East, your closest would probably be Dr. Roslin in NYC or maybe Dr. Greenbaum in NJ (though he is very selective). Dr. Stewart in Denton, TX is also doing them, I think.

I think you need to do some more research and ask more questions to determine what your options are and what you are getting yourself into.

Larra

Dr. Keshishian did my RNY to DS revision, there are only a few surgeons who do this procedure. Choose carefully. Like Jamie, I traveled to CA, was in the hospital 5days then flew home after about 10 days. Best decision I ever made.

4 nights in hosptial to go from RNY GB to VSG with DS.  D runs normal low.  Some parts of vitamin E are low. Zinc is a little low but rising. 

You guys give really good information - I am starting my revision journey so pls excuse my ignorance.  I meet with Dr. Sudan again on Nov 12th and I am sure I will have a better understanding.  Also, I will make sure to ask these important questions you all have shared. 

I had a distal RNY to DS revision by Dr. David Greenbaum. As a revision I had a lot of post op complications and am not the normal recovery for a revision. Pre RNY my highest weight was 430. I lost to 210 and maintained for about 4 years whereupon I began to gain weight. to 302 pounds. I had a revision and am now between 165 and 175. My lowest weight was 156, which I would love to get back to some day, but 165 is really a good weight for me. As someone who had a lot of complications I tell you that my recovery was in no way normal. I was in the hospital a total of 30 days over a 5 week period. I spent 9 of those days in CCU (Critical Care Unit).  My recovery in the end was over 18 months culminating with the loss of nearly all but about 10% of my stomach. Do not feel bad for me. I'm doing quite well despite all of this. I do have a LOT of vitamin deficiencies. I am chronically anemic which requires me to go get iron infusions on a regular schedule. My vit. D and A levels are abismal.  My b12 levels are always good, but that is because I self inject twice a month.

If you want to know if I would do it again I would tell you YES! Just not tomorrow.

 

Maddie

 

Hello Everybody,

Well I got some clarity yesterday when I went to see Dr. Sudan.

He stated he does the RNY to DS revision - and has given me the choice to have the distal or DS revision.  I am still confused when he says I will probably get the same results.  He also said he has had much success with BCBS approving the revision the first go round. 

I too was told I would get the same result,... needless to say I got on here today to start my journey for a revision to the DS.  I had the RNY, revised to distal, now I want the real deal!

PLEASE do your research!

shele

Hi Shele,

Did you loose any weight with the distal?  What were your complications - if you had any? 

Yes I did, I went from 238 to 188, but going back up again due to hypoglycemia, no restriciton at all. The only complication I had was wound healing. I had surgery in march, and had problems through November.  Ended up with a wound vac that finally aided in the healing.

I today, still have the same pouch issues as before. My hypoglycemia is horrible.  If I eat carbs (ie sandwich, veggies,) about an hour later I am shaking all over and have to eat to relieve it.  Trick is though, meat still to this day makes me sick.  Very hard to get in the protein.