needing some clarification re MGB PLEASE READ , THANKS :)

The CLOS.net website has been updated and we are almost ready to make a new website available to the public which is maintained by post-ops which will have a multitude of info including OHIP advice and a forms link.  I hope you get a chance to visit it.  When we are ready to open the new site, we will post a notice on the Yahoo board.

1. the effectiveness of the MGB is not high and has high failure rate - I have never read this anywhere. In fact I have read that it is as good as or better then the RNY.
2. There a hardly any Canadian post or information re MGB - I see a lot of canadian posts on the MGB yahoo group.
3. That OHIP would not cover me due to the fact that my BMI is 37 and that I have no immediate health risks. I do have a lot of Co- Morbidities though and I am 5’1 and weigh 200 pounds. This cannot be healthy for my body physically to be carrying around all the time. - It seems to me that more canadians then americans are covered for the surgery according to what I see on the yahoo site. I think you have to write a bunch of letters though to get them to cover it.
4. from what they have heard and read to stay away from the MGB because it is dangerous - I have read that the MGB is less dangerous (look at the CLOS site) than the RNY.
5. That a dr. in Las Vegas removes a large part of intestine which is not good. This Dr also removes the omentium and that he does not have medical insurance. I totally disagree with this above comment - This is crazy, nothing is removed and he would not be able to practice without insurance.
6. OHIP does not approve the MGB - Seen many on the MGB yahoo site that have had it approved.
7. That I should have the Duodenal Switch. I have researched this and the whole procedure makes me uncomfortable. Also that the sleeve stretches back and you gain back all the weight. - RNY pouch can stretch. The MGB does not have a pouch. I am sure some have failed but I don't think it is due to stretching.

Katie, No, no, no!  I was not at all offended by your post!  Like I said, you have every right to question a life-changing experience such as bariatric surgery.  What I meant  was some of the information out there that is flat-out rumor!  I was all prepared to answer each statement in the report you found, but Slug W has done an excellent job of doing just that!  Go to the CLOS. net website.  Contact any of the folks who work there.  Call one of the doctors--they actually answer your calls.  Check out the Yahoo MGB board.  I am going to ask on there if anyone from Canada would be willing to have me give you their email address so you can talk to someone who knows first-hand about the OHIP process. Good luck, and feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance. Sandy

I sure hope you got a positive reply on the Yahoo group site.  I do not know where these people are getting their information but they are greatly misinformed.  The effectiveness is very high with very low to no failure rates, OHIP does cover the MGB with your BMI and co-morbidities, there are many Canadians who post regularly, the MGB is no more dangerous than any other major surgery and far less dangerous than the RNY, the intestine is left intact but a portion is bypassed and the smaller stomach pouch is attached past the bypassed portion, OHIP does cover the MGB, hogwash on the Duodenal Switch.

Ahhhh, this is where you MGBers and other soothsayers hang out! Grizz

Hey, Grizz, and welcome aboard.  It's good to see you on here.  I sent you my contact letter, so you already know my success with the MGB.  You will notice that there are folks on here who had their surgery with docs other than those at CLOS.  Some are former CLOS docs as my surgeon Dr. Walsh is, but some are doctors I have never heard of.  Also, you will notice that the ones posting about problems or weight regain seem to fall in the latter category. I hope you can provide insight to the lady who posted that she had heard that the health system in Canada will not pay for the MGB.  I'm sure you will be an asset to this board. Sandy (GA)

Hey Sandy and thanks! I've been accused of being Dr You Tube on another thread; I have stardust in my eyes.  Someone was even ignorant enough to correct my spelling of rhetoric, which was nice! Unfortunately, when a message board has individuals who generalise, assume and spread urban myths as well as make personal snipes at you, you're going to get a lot of confusion, misinformation and antagonism. We can stick up for our own weight loss experiences, but I guess we do so at our own risk of being shot down!  Anyhow, it is a breath of fresh air to be greeted by someone as Friendly as you are. I would love to contribute but fear that I would have to run the gauntlet and 'duck and dive' all the inuendo, stupid comments and snipes from others. I'm not sure it's worth all the aggravation, but I'll persevere. For the Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass Operation that you have had and that I am planning to have, the Ontario Health Insurance Plan WILL cover treatment costs, subject of course that your medical conditions and weight are taking you down the road to further bad health and potentially death. Grizz

That with a BMI under 40 I need a Duodenal Switch as I need a nuclear bomb to kill a mouse.  I just wanted to say that I think you are WAY off base by being offended by this statement. The statement was made for YOUR health and best interests. The DS is an expensive, complicated, risky surgery. The post operative life of the DS poses life long complication risks.  The heavier we are, the more sick we are, the more desperate we are, the more RISKS we are willing to take. I one who was at deaths door pre op I wasnt worried about complications like death or malnutrition. I needed weight loss immediately regardless of the out come. Most people with a BMI under 40 are not in immenent danger of obesity (and certainly not all my mother is a life long chubby person who is dying young from it.) Today a person's life could be uncomfortable, unhappy, painfull BUT liveable as a lightweight BUT 5 years from now they could be dying from surgery complications. Its a possibility, and not a far fetched one either.  Everyone who is unhealthy from their weight needs to get it OFF regardless of their BMI (which as a rule means nothing) There are no weight loss methods that do not require some type of life change, commitment or risk. How much you are willing to change, commit or risk determines HOW you will lose weight. That's a very personal decision. I do notice that the people who have long term regret over getting RNY were mostly pre op SSMO or lightweight. Just a personal observation and not a stat of anykind. Good luck at whatever you choose :) PK

my mom had the MGB over 6 years ago, i had the MGB 3 years ago on 8-31, both by dr. r.  because of extensive previous abdominal surgery, my sister was not a candidate for the MGB and therefore had an open RNY over 4 years ago.  i can only speak from our family's experiences, but my mom and i have had nothing but smooth sailing from the jump, whereas my sister has had a lot of trouble with weight regain.  she gets very depressed when she eats with my mom and i, comments on how careful she has to be about her diet, whereas my mom and i eat like "normal" people. i went from a high of 312 down to a low of about 120, which was too low, me being 5'8", but my body quickly caught on to the fact, and i maintained a weight of 145-155 (about a size 8) for over a year before getting pregnant.  i am 36 weeks pregnant tomorrow and have had an amazingly easy pregnancy, weight gain about 30 pounds, which i am fine with.  i know that had i gotten pregnant before the surgery, it would have been a whole different animal.  hope this gives you a little more about the good side of MGB.

Just putting my 2 cents in (where the hell is the "cents" key anyway?). There is so much misinformation out there. Every surgeon wants to protect the integrity of "their" surgery, so when a new one comes along, they're quick to spred the propoganda. The fact that the MGB is BASED on a previous surgery--it is not the same. The bile reflux was occurring when the intestine was brought up to the level of the esophogus (imagine a RNY stomach with the intestine attached to the side)-- so of course it caused bile reflux. The MGB has it at the bottom of a cylindrically shaped stomach so gravity keeps it down. There is still the risk of some reflux, but very minimal, and easily managed. This is the only risk that is higher in the MBG than the RNY, and in all the other possible risks (including death) the MGB is LOWER! Also the MGB stomach shape and location is superior to the RNY. The part of the stomach that is the stretchiest is exactly where the RNY pouch is. The other side is thicker and harder to stretch-- just like in the Gastric Sleeve. So it is not accurate to conclude the MGB/Sleeve stomach stretches anywhere as much as the RNY. It's actually made a little bigger in the first place because it has the tendency to NOT stretch. Although some will claim the RNY is revearsable, there has been barely any successsful surgeries that can revearse it. From the RNY docs I've spoken to, it is a long, difficult, and highly risky surgery and patients are told that they can--at best-- expect a revision of some sort, because docs don't have much success or actually revearsing it. It has been done, don;t get me wrong, but I was told to not count on it at all! Canada covers the MGB, IMHO, because it isn't bogged down by all the mud-slinging, political siding that goes on here. It just looks at the data. There is so much $$ to be made in the other surgeries, that the surgeons are scared that a better and cheaper surgery might replace them. They may not want to have to join CLOS to perform it, so they will bad-mouth it to keep this negative propaganda going and preserve their big paychecks. They lobby with the insurance companies in the US and are very influential in what gets approved. Then, throw in the fact that Dr. Rutledge has rubbed some influential people the wrong way, and perhaps even over-hypes his own procedure. But that's what happens, every doc wants the credit of having the best surgery. Somewhere in between is the truth, and I think talking with MGB post ops is a great way. In fact it is manditory to talk to 10 before the doc will approve you for surgery. How often do you hear about that as a preop for other surgeries? The report on the "30 revisions" most likely was from people who had the surgery in the beginning, as Dr. R was determining the best amount of intestines to bypass. Some may have had too little, others too much. Or some may have had insatisfactory amounts of bile reflux which we know to be a higher risk than in other WLS. But 30 out of 3000? That's nothing (no disrespect to those who had to go through it-- it's not "nothing" to them). But even if another 100 were found, it is still a much smaller complication rate requiring surgery than the RNY. Just my humble opinion.