Surgery Jan 27th with Dr. O'Malley at Highland

I am new to ObesityHelp.com and I will be having surgery on January 27th as long as nothing happens before then. I am having it at Highland Hospital in Rochester, New York with Dr. William O'Malley. I would love to be able to connect with people that had the same doctor to help ease the worry and nerves. Please add me as a friend or message me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Davida Clark

Hi Davida,

I'm trying to get in to see Dr. O'Malley for a revision to a BPD/DS from a VBG that I had in the 80's. Had my Endoscopy and am having my Upper GI on Friday. From everything I hear he is a great doctor but not much on the hand holding ... which I dont care about that, I have plenty of friend and the people hear are great. I was wonder why you picked the surgery that you did .... is it the RNY with a Band? I dont want to diswade you on your decision but did you check into the BPD/DS (Duoendal Switch), from everything I read, it seem that it has the highest cure rates of co-morbidities and very good longeviity plus it leaves you a fully functional stomach (just smaller ... 70% resected) and not a stoma (pouch).

If you want to check it out goto .... www.dsfacts.com , www.duoendalswitch.com or check out the DS message board here.

Anyway ... i'm glad you having Dr. O'Malley do it because i'll have someone to chat with about the experience.

Best of Luck
Scott

Thank you for the information. Anything is welcomed. I will look into it. I'm not getting the band. I'm having the intestine redirected and the stomach bypassed to form a small pouch.  I heard he wasn't much for the hand holding too, but like you said, I have plenty of friends and family who are going to be coming and staying in a hotel to be there for me, since I live in Corning, and they live in Corning and Sarey, PA.

How far are you into the process? Are you waiting for a referral or are you just waiting to get in? You can email me here if you would like. I would love to have people to chat with during the experience.

Thanks,
Davida

Just starting the process, since I am a revision he needed the surgical report from my first surgery and since the surgeon has since retired and destroyed records older than 7 yrs. (Mine) ... I needed to get a Endoscopy (12/11/09) and Upper GI (this friday 1/08/10) before I can get in to see him .... so hopefully it wont be long to see him now .... then comes the Insurance FUN (hopefully that wont be too bad because I have fairly decent insurance and have already downloaded the medical policies on Bariatric Surgery so there wont be any games).

Scott

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I'm hoping my medicaid will approve mine. I've gone through all the process so I don't see why they won't. But then again you never know. I did call them in the beginning and they said all they needed was the doctor's approval. We'll see. I have to call around the 11th to set up a date for pretesting.

Davida

I'm sure you'll do fine  ..... Keep me informed so I know what to look forward to and I'll keep you updated also.

Scott

Hi Scott - Please read my response to Davida as it really pertains to you.  Just want to be sure you have your ducks in a row when you go in.  He will do everything he can to talk you into an RNY - I've spoken with a few of his patients who have had the DS and they all have the same tale to tell.  If you know your stuff and stick to your guns, you'll be okay.  He won't outright refuse, just try to wear you down for about 45 mins.  I wish someone had warned me of this so I wouldn't have been blindsided.  I was sort of stunned speechless and had I known of this in advance I wouldn't have let him get out of the room until I had my questions answered.  Also, be forewarned that he has you lay down on the examining "couch" to show you where the incisions will be, etc. and as soon as he's done he says, "Follow me and my secretary will schedule you." and then he turns and runs out of the room.  I walk with a cane and by the time I got to my feet, grabbed my cane and my coat and got to the door he was out of sight!  Had to go on a search for him!  So if you see him heading for the door, I'd say something like "Wait - Just let me grab my coat!" before he can disappear.  Again, it was so unexpected and I had no idea that he would do such a thing!  Just a friendly warning. 

Yeah I kinda got that feelin' ..... he's already pissed off my PCP and I havent even seen the guy yet.

Scott

I'm a little confused about your surgery - you say you're not having a band, but the VBG does have a band incorporated into the surgery.  It's what the B stands for.  And there is NO change made to the intestine in VBG.  I didn't even think Dr. O'Malley DID the VBG... 

Do you possibly mean the VSG?  If so, I would really recommend that you just move forward with the DS.  The VSG is the "stomach portion" of the DS surgery and the OTHER half of the DS surgery involves changes to the intestines which accounts for the malabsorption and it's high success rate for weight loss and resolution of comorbidities.

What you're describing really sounds like just an RNY to me. 

Vivimolly,

Yeah you're right. I did get that wrong. I think I was in a hurry and just clicked whatever was first because I wasn't paying much attention. Thank you for pointing that out so I can change it.

I also know what you mean about him leaving quickly after showing where the incisions will be. He did the same to me. I've heard he doesn't have the best bedside manner, but he's a very good surgeon otherwise.

I hope things work out for you and hope you have a positive recovery. Keep in touch, please.