Vertical Sleeve to DS conversion

Hello all! It's been about 9 years since I was on this site. I've been racking my brain for the name of this place and it finally came to me. Here is an update.

In 2013 I had gastric sleeve surgery. At the time I did really well and lost over 100 lbs. I got involved in running, and ended up getting into triathlons. I even completed Ironman North Carolina in 2016 and Ironman Chattanooga in 2017. I got a new position at work and ended up going to school for 2 years. A lot of sitting on my butt and studying followed. I got older, my metabolism went down and the weight went up. I haven't gained back all my weight, but I gained enough to know that I needed to do something. At 58 I just wasn't able to be as active as I was a few years ago. Diets and fads still don't work.

After a lot of thoughtful consideration, I went to see Dr. Stephen Boyce in Knoxville, TN. He was able to convince the insurance company that additional surgery was necessary and we settled on the duedenal switch procedure. Surgery was performed on 12/12/22. My belly is sore, i'm having nothing but liquids and the weight is already going down pretty fast. I'm excited about the journey ahead and hope to hear from a bunch of you. Maybe next year I'll be able to do a 1/2 Ironman. I don't think I'm up for a full Ironman but who knows.

Mike

Hi Mike, congrats on the wls. The one thing I disagree with you on is the comment about not being able to be as active at 58. I had wls 8 years ago at 54, and now at 62, I'm more active than ever. Let me know when you're up for the Ironman and maybe I'll join you, or at last the first half of it. :)

I didn't mean physically but just really didn't have the time while I was getting my Nuclear Operator's license. That was 2 years of being force fed with a fire hose and barely having a spare minute. I'm able to workout more now. I get what you're saying. I plan on doing a 1/2 iron next year if all goes well, probably Augusta, Ga. Keep in touch.

Welcome back Mike! Glad to hear that it sounds like you're recovering well from surgery, and that you're headed where you want to be! You'll be competing in an Ironman in no time!

I'm newish here (SADI/loop DS in July) but the forums seem a lot slower than they probably were the last time you were here. There's an active daily menu thread on the RNY board with everyone welcome if you're interested! Cheers.

Hello, I too had my sleeve surgery around the same day you had yours. I too did really well for about 5 years and then for me it was my son getting really ill. I had to quit my job to take care of him 24/7. At that time I was depressed and not very motivated and throw in a hysterectomy to throw off my hormones and voila. Weight gain. I am however back up to my original weight and finally got the guts to talk to my surgeon. It's strange but I felt like I was disappointing him in a way. He however was very sweet about it and told me that he is finding that for many people the sleeve is not a long-term solution. He also recommended I have the duodenal switch. So I'll be having mine in a few weeks and it looks like once again we'll be on this journey together. I am so looking forward to it because this time around I have a bad knee, a bad back and recently adopted three young kiddos who need me to be able to get around. It's strange but I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop like something's going to go wrong and I'm not going to be able to have the surgery. At this point I'm just waiting for the date. Congratulations on all you've accomplished it was great to hear.

Tanya