Considering DS....Why did you choose the DS?
Here's my 10 cents worth. Most of the RNY failures are due to the body adapting to the surgically induced malabsorbtion. Somewhere around the 2 year mark, it's gone, and many start re-gaining. The DS has so much of the small gut bypassed the body can't completely adapt.
I had surgery at the same time as a bunch of my co-workers. I was the only DSer. They all were banded or RNY. Today, more than 10 years later, I am the only one who didn't gain everything plus more, back. Now to be fair I have to tell you I never reached skinny and I will probably always fall in the overweight category. But for my age, I look like an average woman. And I'm healthy! I'm much better off than my co-workers.
Hi! I saw your post and noticed that you are 10 years out. I'm interested in the DS as I have 150lbs to lose, am a point away from diabetic and have high blood pressure. Would you mind sharing if you have had any serious vitamin deficiencies or complications-ie bowel obstruction, osteopenia etc- along the way. Could you also share if it's been difficult to keep the weight off and if you can eat a variety of foods-including carbs. Do you have to take vitamins 4x per day or do you just take them 2 x per day. If there was one thing you hate about DS what would it be and what would be one thing you love? Just curious. I know everyone is different but just gathering feedback.
Thank you!
Vites twice a day, morning and bedtime. I have had absolutely zero problems. I've never even thrown up since surgery. I just had a bone scan last Friday and I am 10% OVER average for a woman my age. Yaay me! I am never sick either. I can eat and drink anything and I mean anything.
One thing I love. Well the hardest part is picking only one. I'll go with freedom. I now live without limitations. I've been on zip lines, rode a horse across Mexico, rappelled down cliffs, and kayaked the Amazon River. And a bunch of other stuff too. Yes, freedom. I am no longer a prisoner of fat. I am able to do more physical activities than when I was 20.
It's hard to pick just one thing I hate too. I hate it that I can't afford plastics! I would love to have arms that stopped waving when I did. Naked I look like a train wreck! I also hate it that I didn't have the DS at about 10. I guess what I hate most is that I didn't get one of the DSes that lost too much weight! I so wanted to to wear 2's and 4's. But that was not to be. I had to work to lose the weight and I still diet to keep it off. And with a CC of 75...it should have been easy.
If you dont mind me asking, how did the RNY fail you?
Thanks,
Barbie.
Hi Barbie,
RNY started out bad for me right from the start. I had an extremely hard time eating...ANYTHING... At first I thought it was me just not being use to my "new" gut. I followed the rules, chewed my food to mush, did not drink with meals, actually avoided drinking one hour before and one hour after meals. (Not being able to drink with meals was very hard for me and never did get easier. I think this is one thing you take for granted until you actually have to live it).
Even after 9 years living with the RNY I could not tolerate meat of any kind. Or I should say "my pouch" could not tolerate it, no matter how tender it was or how much I chewed. My obstinate pouch even had issues with many veggies. I ended up in the bathroom after meals "loosing" what I just consumed more often then not. I could only eat very soft things like mashed potatoes, cream soups, cheese, cottage cheese etc. On some days I couldn't eat anything without getting sick, even water. I learned to "read" my gut. It was like playing Russian Roulette. :-) It was actually funny how I could tolerate "bad" foods like chips and such, as long as they "liquefied" while in your mouth. I would have eaten nothing but potato chips if I could have, simply because they did not make me sick. For this reason I refused to have "junk" in the house for a very long time. I started grazing just to try and fill a "need" to have some kind of food in me. I did loose all my weight and even got under goal. But like was mentioned by another poster, after about 2 years my body did an excellent job at learning to compensate for what I did to it. What little malabsorbtion I had was gone, my metabolism was shot and the weight started returning. EVEN Though I was not consuming near as much as prior to my RNY... There was a spell where I consumed a lot of carbs simply because they were the only type of food I could eat without getting sick so often. I did get this under control but it meant returning to not eating much.
After about 4 years I developed reactive hypoglycimia, food would dump into my small intestine to fast causing me to feel nauseous and faint. It got worse as it went on. I started passing out and having more frequent dizzy spells.
After about 5 years I developed severe Osteoporosis in my spine, hips and arms. RNY - the gift that just keeps giving. :-)
All this and I still gained the majority of my weight back. I did revise to an ERNY in 2008 because of weight gain. The only reason I chose to be revised to ERNY was because I was to scared to undergo a revision to DS due to how risky of a revision it was. I did end up loosing the weight again over the next 2 years. But my other problems remained as I kept the pouch. With the ERNY I could not stop loosing weight and my vitamin levels were dropping steadily regardless of how many vites I took daily. I got down to 106 pounds, and a size "0" was becoming baggy when I decided something needed to be done.
After much research and asking questions on this site I started consulting with revision doctors. I ended up traveling from MI to CA to see Dr. Keshishian. He performed an EDG, found my stoma wide open (did not surprise me) and my pouch dilated. He was very concerned about my vitamin levels and recommended I do something sooner rather then later as if I tanked to low I would not be able to undergo any type of surgery. He recommended a doctor in MI for me to see, which I did. Long story short, I ended up with Dr. Keshishian for my DS revision in 2010. He put my "stomach" back together then re-sectioned it to a sleeve and performed the switch part of my intestines. He said my CC was made less then 50 cm during my ERNY and he lengthened it to 75.
Physically I feel much better since my DS. The thing I like the absolutely most is to be able to enjoy a normal meal and to actually be able to drink with my meals again. Obviously the Osteoporosis will be a long time struggle to correct, even if I am able to. But I will give it my best shot! I have gained some of my weight back which in my "fat mind" scares the crap out of me, even if I did need it. I never could shed that "fat picture" I carry/carried around in my mind my whole life. Even when I was at my lowest of 106 lbs.
Personally I wish they would discontinue the RNY. It seems so archaic and has to be one of the more "unnatural" ways of living... But I also understand that the DS is not for everyone.
That's kind of a shortened version of my very long story.
Good luck to you and your decision. Just remember, go into this knowing it's the right choice for you and with the mindset that you really only want to do this one time.... If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask or PM me.
SH
Hi MSSEX, there's always hope. 
Good luck on your upcoming surgery! You will absolutely love Dr. K.! He's one of the best. You will also love being rid of that damned pouch! Trust me...
SH
SH,
What an ordeal WOW! I've heard of people having a lot of problems with the RNY, I've talked to a few people who had the RNY and have not had any problems, and I've also heard horror stories about it as well....everyone's body reacts differently, but I don't want to take the chance of having an awful experience such as yours. One of the reasons DS is appealing to me.
I hope you are ok internally with the revisions you've had, I can't imagine going through all that. Thank you for sharing your experience with all of us here, I do appreciate it.
Barbie
SH,
What an ordeal WOW! I've heard of people having a lot of problems with the RNY, I've talked to a few people who had the RNY and have not had any problems, and I've also heard horror stories about it as well....everyone's body reacts differently, but I don't want to take the chance of having an awful experience such as yours. One of the reasons DS is appealing to me.
I hope you are ok internally with the revisions you've had, I can't imagine going through all that. Thank you for sharing your experience with all of us here, I do appreciate it.
Barbie
You're welcome! If my story can cause even one person to investigate a little further before deciding on a procedure that does not have a success rate equal to what you are putting your body through then it was worth it. I am not saying that the RNY might not be ok for some, but at least make an informed decision without any blinders on, if you know what I mean.
I agree with you about the chance you may be taking. I surely didn't go into my first WLS procedure planning on failing and did not reconfigure my insides just to have health issues and not loose the weight.
Good Luck to you in your journey.
SH
