HELP. I have no idea what surgery to choose. Please give me the details on DS.

I am only 5 months out but I am 100% happy with my DS. I will not lie to you the first two months are a ***** but once you make it through and get back to eating normal foods you will LOVE LOVE LOVE your DS. 

The only time I have bathroom issues is when I am doing something stupid to cause them. I started out going 5-6 times a day. I talked to some vets on here and we figured out how to stop it. I increased my calcium and BOOM...once or twice a day now. The only time I have stinky farts and seriously eye watering poo is when I eat a lot of bad carbs or sugar. So yeah, I cheat every now and then but I just live with the consequences. Being single makes it easier of course. LOL. Even if I were not single though I would still do it every now and then and be proud I could clear a room. It might ensure me some ME time. BWAHAHA. 

Other than that this is the craziest, coolest surgery ever. I was on a two week stall the other day and do you know how I broke it? I did what we call the KK diet. We eat a krispy kreme and flush that poop and fat out of there and boom we start dropping again. Well, I am not a big KK eater so I bought me a thin crust medium dominoes pizza and a cupcake with icing. I ate that pizza over a period of 11 hours and the cupcake. The next morning I spent my normal 30 minutes or so on the throne and BAM two pounds lighter. I am still dropping. The stall is broken. 

Regardless, we have a diet that is perfect for people who like to eat. Yes, we eat less because our tummies are small and we have to stay away from bad/high carbs but there are ways to enjoy your favorite foods in low carb. We all share recipes here. You can still eat pizza, hamburgers, etc and lose weight. The beauty of the DS. High protein, High fat low carb and sugar. I love Wendy's double baconator burgers. I take the meat and cheese off and put it on a low carb pita bread, drown it in mayo and ENJOY!!! YUM. 

Recover time was tough but I went back to work in two weeks. I am a nurse so I am always on my feet and moving peeps. I just made sure I was careful for a month with lifting. It takes about two months before you start feeling "Normal" again. It takes about a month or two before your bowels start acting normal too. Two months is not very long really considering the miracles of this surgery. I am full all the time, I eat six or seven times a day and lose weight. Taking vitamins only takes about 20 minutes of my day. Sort them out in the morning and pop them in a few secs throughout the day. Eat what you are suppose too and your bowels will be fine. It is really pretty easy. 

I like that I still have my pyloric valve and do not get dumping syndrome from sugars. If I ever want sugar I just eat it and stay home and clear the room. No being sick or the shakes. /shrug. 

I think this surgery is the closest thing you can get to normal and still lose the most weight and keep it off. 

I do recommend you do your research. It is a life long commitment to vitamins and labs. You need to make sure you can handle the commitment. 

Good luck. 

this is a decision only you can make...it will be difficult, but ask yourself, why are you on the fence between rny and ds?  do the pros and cons....also look into rny to ds revisions, people revise to the ds not from the ds, that should tell you a lot.  i am one of those revision to ds patients

at a bmi of 63 you need help....so if you can lose 70 lbs without surgery why not lose the other 150 without surgery?    this has always been a weird requirement in my mind.  

you have been MO for decades and you have kids at >400 lbs?  you need help....you have come to the right place....you are very fortunate to have a dr recommend the ds, most are so ignorant have no idea what it is or worse think it is something else.  everyone gets scared about taking the vit/ mins with a malabsorption procedure....but think about it, isn't malabsorption what you want?  don't you want to malabsorb a certain % of what you eat...isn't that the whole idea of this, to be able to eat normal portions (not 2 bites and vomit) and be somewhat normal size?

take time to read everything, look particularly at the quality of life of both surgeries you are looking into, also look at the revision rates of both....goodluck on your journey

Hi,

I'm only 9 months out I had the DS and would do it again in a heartbeat. I also thought I was going to have RNY but changed my mind after doing the first program. I had no issues at all with my DS. I actually flew to MI from Maine to have the surgery we had no surgeons even close to me.

I was back to work in 5 weeks only 6 hour days though I have a job where I walk and am on my feet all day. I was going back to work in 4 weeks but I got the flu 3 weeks after surgery and that put me down an extra week. I will say I was tired and weak feeling for a while but am so happy I did it! Do your research and best of luck!

Trish

I am almost 5 months in. It certainly takes a willingness to learn and be vigilant. I'm happy with my DS. With good health
and a good Doctor you should have a great outcome. 

Some people have problems after their DS but most issues can be managed. That is where places like this really help.

I wouldn't trade my DS for anything. The statistics about keeping the wight off are what sold me, along with my Drs. advice that this gave me the best chance to take off all the weight I wanted. Whatever tool you choose best wishes.

I really can't add any additional information.  Everyone's done a great job of that already...

But I can add my own personal situation.  I'm 32 years old.  I was 425 at my heaviest.  I chose the VSG in 2007.  Lost 189 lbs.  Weighed in at 236 lbs and only 5'2.  I managed to maintain that weight for about 2 seconds before the scale climbed back up to 353.

October 2012, I added the DS.  I'm back down to 245. 

When I look back, I realize that because I had gotten so big...  I really needed the DS to begin with.  I had no co-morbidities either.  Nothing major other than joint pain.  I see virgin DSers go into this heavier than I was and they blow past me with their weight loss. 

I can't recommend the DS for anyone.  It's a VERY personal choice.  You know your body and your needs better than anyone.  I know for me, it was the best choice.  Every restriction diet always failed because of such limited options.  Everything I did take in, my body would hold on to.  I was later diagnosed as insulin resistant and had issues with reactive hypoglycemia that it seems the DS has helped to resolve.  I was vitamin deficient before the DS, so taking vitamins post-DS has actually improved all of my levels. 

I know that the long-term changes I've made with my DS diet and the long-term effects of the DS, I will have more success than I ever did with the sleeve.  It will take me longer to get there in comparison to a virgin DSer, but that's ok with me.  My only regret is that I didn't do it first.

Good luck with your decision!!

Hi   1)o Years Of DS

My Dr calls DS the Rolls Royce of weighloss surgery I would  alwaysd choose that one  although my son had a gastric sleve  but  if you have alot to loose its not really enough .

The toilet issue become very managable one you can read the signs of the new you. I would say if you have alot of fat that will give you a few loose bowel motionas and i became lactose intollerent since the op but nothing major, The thing i like about Ds is that most of your essentual  functions are still left in like your pylric valve  very important in controling  bowel motions and  with RNY they remove that  so they have more issues

 I a;lso had a lapband before that and that about as uslees as an udder on a bull...........

OMG, you are the perfect DS candidate!  I'm nearly 8 years post op and very happy with my decision.  Malabsorption isn't a risk, it's a reality, which is why we take vitamins (and also why enjoying Bacon is a healthy thing for us).  Hernia repairs are prevalent with any surgery, and bathrooms stuff isnt so scary if you eat what you're supposed to and pay attention to your body.  I have one giant poo first thing in the morning and I'm done for the day.  The only scary part is planning my morning around it.  Totally liveable!

Oh, I also wanted to add that Kaiser is renowned for denying the DS, however given your weight, this may not be an issue at all.  CA's review board, though, is notorious for overturning these decisions with a phone consultation with your surgeon, so fear not.  CA has some of the best DS surgeons, too, so you're sure to be in good hands, and Bravo for your original surgeon for recommending it to you.