HELP!!!!! BPD/DS around the corner, any long term issues?

I am new here and just wanted some much needed feedback.......I have been morbidly obese since I was 6. I have decided to have the Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch. I am 342 pounds at 5'3". I have a seizure disorder, migraines, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, ulcers, reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, kidney deficiency and an enlarged heart. The closer I am getting to it, the more nervous I become. I have read all these studies and let me tell you some of the long term side effects are scary. Family of course says I am taking the lazy/easy way out and every chance they get they let me know of every horror story out there post-surgery. I have lost 150-200 twice since I was 18, both times with diet pills and insane exercise and hardly eating. I am 33 years old and a mother of 5. Oldest is 11 and youngest is 8 months. Any thoughts after having this procedure done? long term side effects? Will I have any issues with controlling my medical conditions (the ones that are not going away after surgery) due to the absorption process in my body will change? Should I consider alternative procedure?

Welcome aboard!  

I'm almost 9 years post-op and I've avoided the scary stuff you read about.  I'm totally committed to taking a boatload of vitamins and making sure I get more than enough protein via protein shakes. So far so good {knocking on wood}.  

You may have to consult your docs specifically about how and where in your system your medications are absorbed.  Slow released meds might have to be changed to immediate release. You may read here about ladies getting pregnant even while on birth control pills perhaps because they aren't absorbing the medication as they did before.

I hope other folks will chime in. Wishing all the best. Breathe and try not to worry.

--gina 

Who is your surgeon?  Hope you have asked for the most drastic DS possible!  You are most likely a superabsorber.  One of the people who would survive the apocalypse!  Me too!  You were heavy before you were even making your own food choices.

As long as you are willing to eat right and take your supplements, you will most likely be fine.  Much better off than you are today.  Surgeons are cutters and their supplement advice is usually not worth the paper it's printed on.  Take a look at vitalady's DS list.  It is much closer to what you will really need.

Here's the deal.  Obesity is a disease, not a character flaw.  Would your family give you a bandaid if your leg was broken?  You need to treat your disease.  And it is a disease.  There is less than a 5% chance that anyone who is morbidly obese will ever be able to lose the weight and keep it off.  Plus every diet slows down your metabolism a little bit more and that 100lbs gets harder and harder to lose.

Whoever told you you need the DS was right.  It's your best chance to lose the weight, keep it off, and be able to function long enough to reach your old age years.  There is no WLS out there with better, more dramatic, results.  Period.  None.

You will probably lose quite a few of your problems postop.  Some are weight related and the rest will most likely improve to some degree because of the metabolic changes.  Some of us can't take extended release meds postop and some can.  You will have to wait and see.  You will have to educate your docs about the DS and make sure they understand your malabsorbtion.  You will have to be your own advocate.

Best of luck!

I'm on my 11th year post op and no problems here.  The biggest issue I've seen is from those who don't take the time to understand their labs THEMSELVES, and depend on their doc or nurse to say "everything's fine" without defining what "fine" is.  With that, their numbers plummet and they have no knowledge of what to do.

I'm glad you're hearing from some of us long term post-ops. I'm over 10 years out and have absolutely no regrets. As the others have said, you need to take lots of vitamins - cricial, but not difficult, and it becomes simply a part of your daily routine. You follow your labs (and yes, you need to know the results yourself and not just that they are "normal" and adjust supplements occasionally as needed.

It makes me angry when someone trots out that "you are taking the easy way out" crap. For us, it is the only way out, and there is nothing easy about having major surgery and adjusting to a whole new metabolism and intestinal configuration. But you can do it, and IMHO the risks of the surgery are not only far outweighed by the potential benefits, but also pale compared to the risks of staying MO, esp with the multiple medical problems you already have at such a young age.

Let's get real. If you could have kept all the weight you lost off, you would have. And you needed pills even to lost the weight, and you have a life and can't make exercising all day your job. The problems that aren't resolved with the DS (no bariatric surgery fixes everything) will probably be easier to control, or at least easier to live with.

The DS has the best statistics of any bariatric surgery for percentage excess weight loss, for maintaining that weight loss, and for resolution of almost all comorbidites. It's very important to have an experienced DS surgeon, which is why you were asked that question. In the right hands, the risks are very reasonable, and again, remember that you face a lot of risks if you stay MO. I think you've made a great decision.

Larra

Congrats!  Definitely not the easy way out. Nobody should mock you for doing something that is going to help you.

I'm 3 years out and so far all my problems are due to pre-op conditions or not DS related. It's helped turn my life around. Not always the easiest lifestyle at first. I tend to be a meat eeater so the high protein was right up my alley any way.

Given your history of weight regain I think the DS is your best choice.  That was among my top reasons for getting the DS. I could do phenomenally well losing weight and then just as well gaining it back and more.

I'm just curious, when you say you read about long term side effects what exactly were you thinking about. For me and a lot of others things usually go along fine as long as we keep up with our vitamins and labs.

Just remember. First thing post-op is to stay hydrated....

Pete

My Surgeon is Dr. Stephen Boyce out of Knoxville, TN. Very well known here in TN and has been around for years. I had initially gone to see him when I was 24, right after baby #3 and at that point I was convinced that I wanted to do it but did not have financial support from my first husband. He wanted me to do it the natural way. So I have been thinking about this for years. Second husband is a lot more supportive and had two more babies and that definitely did not help my body. I was suppose to have surgery 01/2015 but found out I was pregnant at my pre-op visit, WHILE ON CONTRACEPTIVES!!! (babies 2-6 are here thanks to failed contraceptives...miscarried one) Now have had tubal ligation and nothing will stop me. Thank you all for your feedback and words of encouragement!!! LET'S DO THIS!!!