Questions about the surgery lengthening the common channel

I am not sure if I should post this on the DS forum or the Revision forum. I apologize in advance for it being so long. I have rewritten it several times trying to make it shorter. This is the best I could do.

I am facing the very real possibility of having the surgery to lengthen my common channel. I don't hardly know anything about how it effects you. I tried to search for info on some support sites, but all I get are people talking about how long theirs is or how long should it be. My doctor is a long way off from where I live, and I have not been able to get there to get answers. He did say he would want me to be in the hospital a week before the surgery getting nutrition.

I had a revision from the RNY to the DS in Jan 2013. I am 5'3" and currently weigh 101 lbs. My labs are good-not great. I started losing too much weight about 10 months after the surgery. My doctor told me to eat constantly, all the time, and gave me Pancrease. The pancrease hurt my stomach, and I got down to 99 lbs. in 2014. Trying to eat all that food, I have almost constant very painful stomachaches, gas and bloating got very severe, and my bowel movements were very frequent and so urgent, most of the time I didn't make it to the bathroom. But I rarely had diarrhea. I got up to 115 lbs. for a little over a year, but then started coming back down to my current 101 lb. I seldom leave the house because of the urgent/frequent bowel movements.

I have lost all taste for food. I am never hungry. Food tastes funny, or like sawdust. I forget to eat. I changed my diet several times. Sometimes a food will not bother me, then later it will. I dread eating. This has all gotten so bad, I can't take it anymore.

If anyone has had this surgery, can you tell me-

If it will help with not wanting to eat and food tasting funny?

Will it help my appetite?

Will it help with the stomachaches, gas, bloating, and urgent/too frequent bowel movements?

How long are you in the hospital? How long is recovery?

Did it cure your malabsoprtion problem?

How do you get nutrition in the hospital? (I realize there may be more than one way).

Are there additional lifestyle changes you have to add to your life?

Thank you for your patience. I would be so grateful with any answers you can give me.

I am so sorry you are going through all this!

I have no personal experience with this so I can't help there. In your area, as you know, there are no DS surgeons. The closest I can think of to you are Dr. Boyce in TN and Dr. Ayoola in Denton, TX. Both also do RNY to DS revisions. I have no idea whether or not they would be willing to help you.

I will also send you a pm.

Larra

I'm so very sorry to hear you are going through this!

I think the most important thing for you to do is to make sure you have the best surgeon possible for this revision and that you trust him or her. Is the surgeon you refer to the one who did your original surgery? Do you trust him/her completely? If not, please get a second opinion asap.

I see you are in Kentucky. I did a quick search and found a list of bariatric surgeons:

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=bariatric+surgery+kentucky&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

I hope this helps you. Keep posting to this board, too!

I am sorry to just now be getting back to you. I have had other health problems, some making this so much worse. I appreciate your help. I tried the link, but it gives so many doctors that do not do the DS surgery. Every website I have been on is like that even though I ask for DS surgeons. There is one 2.5 hours from me, but with my health problems, I cannot travel much. I have been to him several times over the last 4 years, and he has not been able to help me. He has only done 2 lengthening of CC, and that concerns me. His bedside manner is pretty scary too. I need to find a more experienced doctor if I ever get to where I can travel better. Thanks!

So sorry you are having all these issues. I personally have not been where you are, but I do know that my surgeon, Dr. Hazem Elariny, did revise one patient. It was a man who had the DS (as an original surgery). If I remember correctly he simply could not stop losing weight and his labs were awful. This is probably 10-12 years ago but it might be worth a phone call to his office in Vienna, VA (either by you but maybe your surgeon would consult with other surgeons). Good luck - I hope you find some relief.

That sounds bad. I'm sorry you are going through that. I haven't done this but have seen several posts over the years so this is all second hand.

A couple questions. Do you know the current length of your CC? I understand there are several drugs like Pancrease did your Doc try anything else?

The people I've see that got their CC lengthened seemed to do very well with the absorption. I don't remember any of them having quite your symptoms but deficiencies and being underweight can cause a host of ancillary problems.

I think they may do TPN in the hospital to make sure you are getting the nutrition to be as healthy as possible for the surgery. It doesn't sound like there is anything they can do food wise to make up for that.

I would be hoping that once you don't have to force yourself to eat all the time some of these issues may resolve themselves.

I'm a little unsure that this may actually be your problem but I assume that once you are under the Docs care they will check that there aren't any kind of obstruction or other issues.

Good luck - get well. That's the important part.

Pete

I am sorry to just now be getting back to you. I have had other health problems, some making this so much worse. I appreciate your help. My CC is 90 cm. My original doctor is in CA. I am in West KY. There is one DS doctor 2.5 hours from me, but with my health problems, I cannot travel much. I have been to him several times over the last 4 years, and he has not been able to help me. He has only done 2 lengthening of CC, and that concerns me. His bedside manner is pretty scary too. I need to find a more experienced doctor if I ever get to where I can travel better. I have tried a lot of websites looking for a more experienced DS doctor. But they give so many doctors that do not do the DS surgery I get lost. I just posted a more updated question. But I can't find a good experienced doctor list. Thanks!