DS as "Part Two" to VSG?
I've never dumped and I'm 19 months out. From what I've read it can happen occasionally to anyone.
Unfortunately the way they cut the stomach for an RnY makes dumping pretty common for people with
a gastric bypass..
It's not common for the rest of us because we keep the pyloric valve to regulate
food entering our stomachs. Still, I've seen posts from DS'rs and read some stuff
that lead me to believe it occasionally happens, just very rarely. I tend to think for
those people it may not be strictly DS related since it happens so rarely but I don't really know.
They seem to have all the classic symptoms
All in all it's pretty safe to assume you won't dump with the DS. We can have our own problems
but dumping isn't one we think about.
I think the key to being covered by your insurance is that you must consistently say that you were compliaint with the post-op diet and exercise program. If you make the mistake of saying that you were noncompliant even a little, they may (probably will) use that as an excuse to deny coverage. Remember, your insurance company is there to make money, not to act in your best interests. It's sad, but that's what happens when we make medical insurance a for profit business.
Also, it would be best if you saw a surgeon who does the DS. Many surgeons offer the sleeve these days, far fewer are experienced with the DS. The best list of DS surgeons can be found at dsfacts.
Larra
And no, we don't dump with the DS. That happens to some (not all) patients with gastric bypass, but is very rare with the DS. So take that worry off your list.
what you are describing is expected from the vsg as a stand alone procedure regardless of your psych rxs, but the amount may be different in total weight regain. At about 2 years PO vsg it has doubled in size. It sounds like you are interested in the 2nd half of the DS, since you are still MO with a bmi of >40 you qualify for wls per NIH guidelines and you are not a failure. I am not sure who your surgeon is but to a certain extent that is an issue with all of us, we tend to blame ourselves, but your surgeon should see this occurence and I think that resleeving or DS following VSG standalone will become more common, as the vsg has only been used as stand alone for about 5 years. good luck with your surgery.
