Recent Posts
Hey everyone, i haven't been on here in a long time but need some input. For the past few weeks, I've had acid reflux really bad. It gives me an odd feeling in my stomach and then feels like fluttering in my chest. I can feel it burning in the back of my throat, along with a lump that I can't seem to swallow down and in my stomach. It causes me anxiety. I've been for a scope and xrays and they said they can't find anything. I'm down to just liquids because anything I eat causes these feelings everytime. I'm also on Dexilant and was on Pantrozole (spelling) but it doesn't seem to be working. Anyone else go through this? If so, what did you do to fix it?
Lorie (Arpeggia) is my Angel - Thank you! RNY - Nov. 16/09
Panni - Sept 20/12
Awesome. If you ever can (when we are up and running), come to a windsor meeting sometime of our support group. We also have a fb group.
17+ years post op RNY. first year blog here or My LongTimer blog. Tummy Tuck Dr. Matic 2014 -Ohip funded panni
Windsor WLS support group.message me anytime!
HW:290 LW:139 RW: 167 CW: 139
Thanks so much for the replies ladies! So I went exactly two weeks ago. I printed off the 17 page instruction booklet Ontario provides doctors on how to do the referral. I also wrote out two pages with dates and details of my weight loss struggles. On the top of both those pages I noted my current weight, current BMI, my health card information including date of birth and anything else he would need for the referral.
He agreed to refer me right away. He kept the paperwork and said he would be done in a couple of days and he had done a bariatric referral once before. Couple of days pass and he asks for an additional week. I gave him a week and called yesterday. No call back. Will have to call again today to see what's up.
I really dislike waiting. Once I decide on something I like to go get it done, check it off my to do list. But I know I will have a lot of waiting to do in this process and it is good for me. I am just so anxious to reach my goals and change my life. If anyone has any advice for me I am very interested in reading it!!
Congrats on pushing thru your anxiety. It is hard, I know. Remember this is just an information session. You are not locked into anything. When did your doctor send the referral for a March orientation date?
I know of patients who had a rny converted to DS without having to have a takedown of their rny (which I had to have a reversal of rny, long story and while rny reversal patients do get converted to VSGs, that's more in part to prevent getting Gastroparesis vs. concern about regain, in most cases but my surgeon who did both rny and reversal here in the states would've never considered doing anything but a takedown/reversal).
I don't know much about Canadian healthcare.
I also don't know if you converted from vertical banded gastroplasty to rny and while you don't have to explain, once you hopefully can find a surgeon *****vises to DS from RNY, others can chime in how that went, just know you aren't the only.
Also check out the revision and DS boards both on here and as much as I love OH, it might help for support for yourself, to check out the other bariatric websites that provide patient support on the internet and maybe checking social media, like Facebook.
One other thing to keep in mind, I had a parent revise from rny to DS and in his case, it didn't work but in his case he never got help for emotional eating issues and unfortunately when his adhesions were removed, when that happened, during his revision, it actually made it easier to eat.
At the time of my rny in 12/2001, rnys being done lap was fairly new, DS were not done lap, then.
As much as RNY IS considered to be the "gold standard" a lot of patients I know who had DS were thrilled and had long term success, with that being the only bariatric surgery they ever had.
Your limited mobility you can't fault or blame yourself for, hopefully you'll find both support and a surgeon who will determine that it's the right process for you and I wish you the best of luck and am sorry for the frustration and health issues you've been experiencing.
peace, lisa
I have a 15 year old gastric bypass. I'm gaining weight again and my diabetes and sleep apnea are back. I also had a gastric band which did nothing except cause trouble with reflux and food regurgitation. That was removed on Dec 31/19. The surgeon *****moved my band told me I need a Duodenal Switch and referred me to the Ontario Bariatric Network, since my family doctor was refusing to do so for 2 years.
I just got a letter from Toronto Western Hospital, where I was referred based on my postal code. I have to go in for a seminar next week. I checked their website and they only do the gastric bypass and the sleeve. I don't want a sleeve! I'm getting older (mid fifties) and I don't want to have to fight for years again in my sixties to get a DS after the sleeve fails. I've done a lot of research and everything I've read says the DS is far and away the best option for a RNY revision. I called this hospital but they wouldn't give me any straight answers and just said "come to the seminar anyway".
How do I avoid getting railroaded into getting a surgery I don't want at a hospital I don't want? This hospital is also in a bad location for me because transit there isn't accessible (I use a walker), I have to walk 20-30 min from the nearest accessible transit to get there and it's two hours' trek by transit each way. I don't want to waste years going back and forth for lectures, tests, consultations etc. at the wrong hospital only to end up being sent to a second hospital, jumping through the same set of hoops a second time, and waiting more years for a surgery. I could die of old age first.
Has anyone else had the experience of being sent by OBN to a hospital that doesn't offer the kind of surgery you need? I know they do it by postal code, which IMO is asinine, in fact there's another OBN hospital that's a lot closer to my home. What happens? Is there any way I can get sent to the correct hospital now? Or does the first hospital send all of your results to the second one where the procedure is done? Is St Joe's in Hamilton the ONLY Ontario hospital doing the Duodenal Switch?
You're probably not going to be happy to read what I have to say, but here goes.
First off you have had 2 WLS and it appears both of them did not work. What you need to figure out before you have another WLS is why did the first two not work? Was there a mechanical issue with them or was it that you stopped following the plan?
Any WLS is just a tool and if we do not learn how to properly use the tool then we will gain the weight back.
If you are dead set on getting a revision from bypass to DS then it would be in your best interest to look at the very few doctors in the US that perform those surgeries. Going from bypass to DS is a very complicated and serious surgery. If you put your faith in the wrong doctor you could very well end up dead on the table.
Dr. Sanchez Lapband 9/12/2003
hw305/revision w280/cw197/gw150
Revision from Lap Band to Bypass on 2/4/2015 by Dr. Pohl
Revision to DS or VSG from RNY is very complex, as you said. You can probably count on one hand the number of surgeons who have done enough of them to be worth talking to.
To revise an RNY requires dismantling the bypass and putting everything back together the way it began. THEN they do a sleeve, then the switch part.
I wouldn't be too worried about having a sleeve forced on you. Taking down an RNY and doing a sleeve is incredibly complex and risky, both for you AND the surgeon. Adding on the switch is not much extra work or risk if all of that is done.
Be really careful who you go to for this kind of revision. It is very risky.
6'3" tall, male.
Highest weight was 475. RNY on 08/21/12. Current weight: 198.
M1 -24; M2 -21; M3 -19; M4 -21; M5 -13; M6 -21; M7 -10; M8 -16; M9 -10; M10 -8; M11 -6; M12 -5.
Thanks for your response Diminishing Dawn...kind of what I was expecting.
I have seen some received home calls that surgeries are suspended at st mikes. I expect more to follow suit soon
17+ years post op RNY. first year blog here or My LongTimer blog. Tummy Tuck Dr. Matic 2014 -Ohip funded panni Windsor WLS support group.message me anytime!
HW:290 LW:139 RW: 167 CW: 139
Thanks for the info! I didn't reply because I wasn't sure what would happen with Toronto Western Hospital. They had booked me for a consult with their surgeon which I had today.
Dr Hong is the surgeon I had heard of who does the DS surgery. I wasn't aware that it's done in two stages. My research indicated that when they do a RNY to DS they convert the stomach pouch into a sleeve during the same operation in which they "rearrange" the intestines. I guess different doctors do it differently. I wouldn't object to doing it in 2 stages if that's what the doctor does.
As long as I can get to the appointment by public transit, that's all I need. Predictably, the Toronto Western surgeon I spoke with today told me they can't do anything for me, and then spent half an hour trying to talk me out of a DS and talk me out of any kind of bariatric surgery. I refused to accept that and told him to go ahead and refer me to Dr Hong and I'll make the final decision with the doctor who knows what he's talking about when it comes to DS.
Freewheeler · 0 replies · 296 views
