Revision to REALIZE band?
Hey everybody. =) I had my surgeon's appointment today and I guess it went okay. Apparently the surgeon I went to(Dr.Nusbaum) has had 2 dozen patients revised from Dr. Capella's surgery. So he has experience with the way Dr. Capella operated, He said that Dr. Capella definetly has a special way of doing the VBG and that it is almost a 50% failure rate. So he said he has to see what the EGD Scope comes back as. But he said he'd like to be able to revise it into a RNY but doen't know if that's possible being the way Dr. Capella operated, He said the best option was the Realize Band. Has anyone ever had a revision to this? If so please let me know more about it. I have spent all my time researching the DS. Any as my surgeon said today I am not eligible for the DS. He said it would be a disaster, and it wasn't a good idea. Nutritonally speaking. I'm just kind of confused. If anybody could help me or shine some light on the BAND, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.
Yes, he does do the DS. But siad he strongly thinks that the DS is too extreme and drastic for me. He said chances are I would get sick and have to be given nutrition through an IV. He also said that I would be at risk for loosing too much weight, because my starting weight is not that high. I don't know, I might look into getting a second opinion.
I have floating around the boards for several years now and I do not recall ever seeing a DS patient of Dr. Nusbaum's. If you are interested in the DS -- please see a real DS surgeon before you committ to the band and this surgeon. You can find an accurate list of ds surgeons at dsfacts.com or duodenalswitch.com. The DS surgeon list on OH is highly inaccurate. Many have been revised from the VBG to DS and have done well. But you need to see a real DS surgeon.
Red
Red
Dawn, I would strongly recommend a second opinion.
First, I seriously doubt that Dr. Nusbaum does the DS at all, and definitely not on a frequent basis or as a revision from prior VBG. I've been on the DS forum for several years now and have never seen a post-op DS patient who had surgery with this doctor. Also, and this is really important, revision surgery is why more complex and higher risk that a primary DS. If you decide on revisin to the DS you need a surgeon not only experienced in the DS but experienced with revisions to the DS. The folks on the DS forum can direct you to the surgeons who do revisions.
Also, we have had lots of patients whose docs (generally surgeons who don't really do the DS) try to talk them out of the DS with scare tactics - exactly the kind of stuff this doc told you about losing too much weight, nutritional problems, etc. Again it's the docs who don't do the DS who say this. In reality, there are many "lightweights" who have the DS and they do great witih both weight loss and overall health. Yes, a few people have the DS and lose too much weight, but it's not predictable who those people will be based on starting weight, AND there are things that can be done about it, such as taking digestive enzymes, protein supplements, etc. A very, very few need further surgery to lengthen the common channel.
And about going from the VBG to a band - you would be going from one purely restrictive operation to another purely restrictive operation. Why would one be expected to work better than the other? Makes no sense.
My take on this is that this doc is offering you an operation he knows how to do and dissing an operation that would take you to someone else. You really, really need a second opinion from someone who does revisions to the DS. Come on over to the DS forum and we can help you out.
Larra
First, I seriously doubt that Dr. Nusbaum does the DS at all, and definitely not on a frequent basis or as a revision from prior VBG. I've been on the DS forum for several years now and have never seen a post-op DS patient who had surgery with this doctor. Also, and this is really important, revision surgery is why more complex and higher risk that a primary DS. If you decide on revisin to the DS you need a surgeon not only experienced in the DS but experienced with revisions to the DS. The folks on the DS forum can direct you to the surgeons who do revisions.
Also, we have had lots of patients whose docs (generally surgeons who don't really do the DS) try to talk them out of the DS with scare tactics - exactly the kind of stuff this doc told you about losing too much weight, nutritional problems, etc. Again it's the docs who don't do the DS who say this. In reality, there are many "lightweights" who have the DS and they do great witih both weight loss and overall health. Yes, a few people have the DS and lose too much weight, but it's not predictable who those people will be based on starting weight, AND there are things that can be done about it, such as taking digestive enzymes, protein supplements, etc. A very, very few need further surgery to lengthen the common channel.
And about going from the VBG to a band - you would be going from one purely restrictive operation to another purely restrictive operation. Why would one be expected to work better than the other? Makes no sense.
My take on this is that this doc is offering you an operation he knows how to do and dissing an operation that would take you to someone else. You really, really need a second opinion from someone who does revisions to the DS. Come on over to the DS forum and we can help you out.
Larra
According to his own website, they only do Band and RNY
http://www.obesitytreatmentcentersofnewjersey.com/procedures .html
http://www.obesitytreatmentcentersofnewjersey.com/procedures .html
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