Info for those looking into a revision...(long but if it helps 1 person it's worth it)
I started this as a response to a question on another thread but as I typed I realized I wished someone had shared this info with me when I was initially looking into a revision so maybe it will help SOMEONE out there!
I am 34 now I had my original RNY 9 years ago and lost 200 lbs. from 360 to 160. I got married and had 3 kids and gained 90 lbs. I never really got to the normal weight category as far as BMI goes with the RNY but I looked and felt so much better after I lost the weight that it didn't matter. In January I was featured on the TV show "The View" and it wasn't until then that I found out that when your pregnant your body actually releases a hormone that tells your body to do whatever is necessary to sustain the pregnancy. In my case it was stretching out my pouch and stoma! I felt like a failure for a long time, thinking I out ate my pouch and this was all my fault!!! When I started considering a revision I met with 3 or 4 different bariatric surgeons and all of them tried to talk me out of a true revision. They said it was too risky and had too many complications. The truth of the matter is, they wanted me to have whatever procedure they could offer or either they didn't have the expertise to do anything for me. I looked into the Stomaphyx but the odds were I wouldn't lose all the weight I really wanted and from everything I read, people were not having good results at getting the weight off period. After getting a ton of info from people on the DS board I contacted Dr. Husted and he agreed the best surgery for me would have been the DS to begin with. He agreed that a revision to DS would be risky but then so would gaining all my weight back and eating my self to a certain death by one comorbidity or another. We talked at length about life after the DS and he assured me that there are many untrue myths floating around out there... such as a person having diarrhea for the rest of their lives, in truth if your are having diarrhea after 8 weeks post op he should be consulted and you would more than likely be put on antibiotics for a bacterial infection in the bowel which anyone can get at any time. The truth of the matter is the DS is a lot like the RNY when it comes to bowels, some foods will slide right through because that is what both surgeries are supposed to do, help you malabsorb so you lose weight. Personally, I am 3.5 weeks out and I go once in the morning and most days it's lose but not diarrhea. The other big concern I had was malabsorbtion of vitamins and nutrients and becoming sick due to that. Yes, a DS'er has to take a strict regimen of supplements for the rest of their life but like everything else it becomes a habit. If someone is not willing to stick to this supplement regimen then I would say the DS is not for them. Sorry this got so long but as I was typing I was thinking, I wish someone had shared this info about the DS on the revision board when I was initially looking... so I figured I would copy and paste it to another thread. If anyone out there wants info on a revision to a DS please feel free to PM me and I'll answer anything I can or hop over to the DS board where there are RNY to DS revisions that are already at goal and beyond...they are the ones that are my true inspiration and I'm sure you would find inspiration from them too!
Susan
I am 34 now I had my original RNY 9 years ago and lost 200 lbs. from 360 to 160. I got married and had 3 kids and gained 90 lbs. I never really got to the normal weight category as far as BMI goes with the RNY but I looked and felt so much better after I lost the weight that it didn't matter. In January I was featured on the TV show "The View" and it wasn't until then that I found out that when your pregnant your body actually releases a hormone that tells your body to do whatever is necessary to sustain the pregnancy. In my case it was stretching out my pouch and stoma! I felt like a failure for a long time, thinking I out ate my pouch and this was all my fault!!! When I started considering a revision I met with 3 or 4 different bariatric surgeons and all of them tried to talk me out of a true revision. They said it was too risky and had too many complications. The truth of the matter is, they wanted me to have whatever procedure they could offer or either they didn't have the expertise to do anything for me. I looked into the Stomaphyx but the odds were I wouldn't lose all the weight I really wanted and from everything I read, people were not having good results at getting the weight off period. After getting a ton of info from people on the DS board I contacted Dr. Husted and he agreed the best surgery for me would have been the DS to begin with. He agreed that a revision to DS would be risky but then so would gaining all my weight back and eating my self to a certain death by one comorbidity or another. We talked at length about life after the DS and he assured me that there are many untrue myths floating around out there... such as a person having diarrhea for the rest of their lives, in truth if your are having diarrhea after 8 weeks post op he should be consulted and you would more than likely be put on antibiotics for a bacterial infection in the bowel which anyone can get at any time. The truth of the matter is the DS is a lot like the RNY when it comes to bowels, some foods will slide right through because that is what both surgeries are supposed to do, help you malabsorb so you lose weight. Personally, I am 3.5 weeks out and I go once in the morning and most days it's lose but not diarrhea. The other big concern I had was malabsorbtion of vitamins and nutrients and becoming sick due to that. Yes, a DS'er has to take a strict regimen of supplements for the rest of their life but like everything else it becomes a habit. If someone is not willing to stick to this supplement regimen then I would say the DS is not for them. Sorry this got so long but as I was typing I was thinking, I wish someone had shared this info about the DS on the revision board when I was initially looking... so I figured I would copy and paste it to another thread. If anyone out there wants info on a revision to a DS please feel free to PM me and I'll answer anything I can or hop over to the DS board where there are RNY to DS revisions that are already at goal and beyond...they are the ones that are my true inspiration and I'm sure you would find inspiration from them too!
Susan
Hi Susan,
Great post.
I have a question in regards to insurance covering a revision.. Do you know anything about Medicaid and if it will cover it?
I have called the 800 # and all they will tell me is they cover it if its medically necessary. And of course they told me they cover bariatric surgery (but I obviously already know since they paid for it)..
I should've had DS to begin with. I only had two options though: RNY and LapBand.
Katrina
Great post.
I have a question in regards to insurance covering a revision.. Do you know anything about Medicaid and if it will cover it?
I have called the 800 # and all they will tell me is they cover it if its medically necessary. And of course they told me they cover bariatric surgery (but I obviously already know since they paid for it)..
I should've had DS to begin with. I only had two options though: RNY and LapBand.
Katrina
Hi Bonnie,
Yes, they are a little different and it really varies by surgeon but mine requires 2 multi's a day , ADEK's, calcium citrate 4X's a day , and an Iron. If you go over to the DS forum some of the people have posted their vitamin regimen in their profile or if you post a question about the vitamin regimen for DS'ers they will PM you with a detailed list that vitalady has created!
Susan
Yes, they are a little different and it really varies by surgeon but mine requires 2 multi's a day , ADEK's, calcium citrate 4X's a day , and an Iron. If you go over to the DS forum some of the people have posted their vitamin regimen in their profile or if you post a question about the vitamin regimen for DS'ers they will PM you with a detailed list that vitalady has created!
Susan
If you are a Proximal Rny and being revised to a Distal, ERny or DS'er, you can expect to need to add:
A, D, E, K (you can get a combo tab from vitalady.com of the ADEK) D needs to be the D3 or it's basically not useful.
Zinc
Copper more protein supplements (pushing well over 100 grams per day) You should already be taking: Iron with Vitamin C to help with absorption (Iron must be taken alone, no dairy, caffeine, eggs or whole grains or any other vitamins. Alone together for at least an hour ) Sublingual B12 and/or B12 shots. Multi vite Stress B capsule and/or Complex B capsule Calcium citrate (NOT carbonate) Mag citrate (helps with calcium absorption as well as with legs cramps and loosens stools as a side benefit)
Hope that helps! You can get more detailed info off of Michelle's site (aka www.vitalady.com)
Joyce Rny 2/11/03-> ERny 12/26/07-> Duodenal Switch 5/12/2010
www.dsfacts.com , www.dssurgery.com , & www.duodenalswitch.com
Hey Brenda,
I did so much research about the DS that I knew going into it if it was at all possible I wanted my RNY pouch taken down my old stomach reattached and then the greater curvature transected to the true DS. I knew I needed to get the restriction back to help me get weight off and the malabsorption to help me keep it off. I talked to a couple of surgeons that would take me to a distal RNY but neither of them could do anything about my pouch being stretched...they said they might could trim it but that within a few months it would stretch again, so I didn't see the point. If I was going to undergo major surgey again I wanted to have the surgery that would give me the greatest chance of taking the weight back off AND the greatest chance of keeping it off! doudenalswitch.com has a list of surgeons the do the doudenal switch and I know the DS forum has posts listing the surgeons that do the DS and revisions to DS so you might want to hop over there and check it out if you haven't already!
Susan
I did so much research about the DS that I knew going into it if it was at all possible I wanted my RNY pouch taken down my old stomach reattached and then the greater curvature transected to the true DS. I knew I needed to get the restriction back to help me get weight off and the malabsorption to help me keep it off. I talked to a couple of surgeons that would take me to a distal RNY but neither of them could do anything about my pouch being stretched...they said they might could trim it but that within a few months it would stretch again, so I didn't see the point. If I was going to undergo major surgey again I wanted to have the surgery that would give me the greatest chance of taking the weight back off AND the greatest chance of keeping it off! doudenalswitch.com has a list of surgeons the do the doudenal switch and I know the DS forum has posts listing the surgeons that do the DS and revisions to DS so you might want to hop over there and check it out if you haven't already!
Susan
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