I didn't think we could do this...
Marcia-
I know at the time I had my VBG they were performing an early version of the bypass. I'm betting that's what you have. My surgery was sort of like a permanent lap band... it was restrictive only, with no re-arranging of my intestines at all. VBG stands for Vertical Banded Gastroplasty. I would be surprised to find out that your surgery and mine were similar.
Revisions are riskier than virgin-tummy surgeries. If your goal is to revise to a DS, the best piece of advice I can give you is to research, research, research your surgeon options. The DS forum board is a great resource, and they're a great bunch of people. There is a list of DS surgeons that do and don't perform revisions in the link I provided at the bottom of this post.
Why did I gain my weight back? I think it was a combination of factors. First, only about 13% of folks with my surgery retained their weight loss, long-term. Also, it was the lack of post-op support 23 years ago, combined with the tremendous amount of *grief* I felt at losing the ability to eat normally. Dr Greenbaum said the stoma (passageway) between my pouch and my normal stomach was unusually small, which would explain the fact that I couldn't get anything that even *bordered* on dense down. I grew so tired of vomiting, I resorted to eating slippery, soft stuff that I knew wold make it through without causing me to vomit. Most of that stuff wasn't exactly on the diet.
~laughing at the understatement~
But honestly ... on a long-term basis, a restrictive-only surgery isn't going to be as effective as a combination restrictive-malabsorptive surgery will be, because your body adjusts its metabolism to the smaller amounts of food. It's the same reason the lap band isn't effective, long-term.
Knowing what you're up against is a tricky thing to research, because there's no telling how much scar tissue you've developed over the years. Scar tissue which binds the liver to the stomach makes the revision a lot more difficult for the surgeon. According to the op report, Dr Greenbaum spent the first 45 minutes of my surgery just separating all the different organs from one another. Some revisions have so much scar tissue, the surgery runs excessively long, which is riskier yet. I've read posts from folks who went in to revise to a DS and the surgeon wasn't able to do the full DS because of excessive scar tissue.
So there is a lot to consider. I was scared to go into another surgery, too ... especially having to travel across the country to do so. But the idea of NOT doing something was scarier. I was probably five years away from a wheelchair (arthritis) and diabetes was coming at me like a double-decker bus. As it turns out, I also needed to be on (and am NOW on) high blood pressure meds. I expect the apnea, the high blood pressure and the diabetes to go away altogether, and the arthritis in my knees and back to improve once I've lost some of this weight. To me, that's worth a few weeks of feeling crappy.
Best of luck in your research, Marcia. Like I said, before... there is a LOT to consider.
-Kathy
I know at the time I had my VBG they were performing an early version of the bypass. I'm betting that's what you have. My surgery was sort of like a permanent lap band... it was restrictive only, with no re-arranging of my intestines at all. VBG stands for Vertical Banded Gastroplasty. I would be surprised to find out that your surgery and mine were similar.
Revisions are riskier than virgin-tummy surgeries. If your goal is to revise to a DS, the best piece of advice I can give you is to research, research, research your surgeon options. The DS forum board is a great resource, and they're a great bunch of people. There is a list of DS surgeons that do and don't perform revisions in the link I provided at the bottom of this post.
Why did I gain my weight back? I think it was a combination of factors. First, only about 13% of folks with my surgery retained their weight loss, long-term. Also, it was the lack of post-op support 23 years ago, combined with the tremendous amount of *grief* I felt at losing the ability to eat normally. Dr Greenbaum said the stoma (passageway) between my pouch and my normal stomach was unusually small, which would explain the fact that I couldn't get anything that even *bordered* on dense down. I grew so tired of vomiting, I resorted to eating slippery, soft stuff that I knew wold make it through without causing me to vomit. Most of that stuff wasn't exactly on the diet.
~laughing at the understatement~
But honestly ... on a long-term basis, a restrictive-only surgery isn't going to be as effective as a combination restrictive-malabsorptive surgery will be, because your body adjusts its metabolism to the smaller amounts of food. It's the same reason the lap band isn't effective, long-term.
Knowing what you're up against is a tricky thing to research, because there's no telling how much scar tissue you've developed over the years. Scar tissue which binds the liver to the stomach makes the revision a lot more difficult for the surgeon. According to the op report, Dr Greenbaum spent the first 45 minutes of my surgery just separating all the different organs from one another. Some revisions have so much scar tissue, the surgery runs excessively long, which is riskier yet. I've read posts from folks who went in to revise to a DS and the surgeon wasn't able to do the full DS because of excessive scar tissue.
So there is a lot to consider. I was scared to go into another surgery, too ... especially having to travel across the country to do so. But the idea of NOT doing something was scarier. I was probably five years away from a wheelchair (arthritis) and diabetes was coming at me like a double-decker bus. As it turns out, I also needed to be on (and am NOW on) high blood pressure meds. I expect the apnea, the high blood pressure and the diabetes to go away altogether, and the arthritis in my knees and back to improve once I've lost some of this weight. To me, that's worth a few weeks of feeling crappy.
Best of luck in your research, Marcia. Like I said, before... there is a LOT to consider.
-Kathy
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Have you considered the Duodenal Switch? Information is power.
Have you considered the Duodenal Switch? Information is power.
Kathy,
My goodness, you are right....there is so much to consider. The surgeon that I am looking at using locally....has done 35 revisions (Per OH chart)....not sure how accurate that is. He has done over 1000 open RNYs.....and I about 55 to 60 yrs old.....
Now I wonder if I should look further.
I know nothing about DS....will have to do some reading. I actually was only thinking about the Band of my RNY or a more distal revision of my present RNY......(Not knowing a darn thing about much of anything....lol)
My daugher is a nurse and had a fit when I told her about the Band.....her concern is the Port and infections....
Looks like I need to do some more reading and research.
I know what you mean about slider soft foods.....I did that for years and continue to prefer them to any solid meats. My fault completely. Never really thinking about what I was doing to myself. And you are definitely right about the lack of education and direction from surgeons back then.....we were told literally nothing....just go home and lose weight.....lol
Wishing you the very best....please keep me posted.....
Marcia
My goodness, you are right....there is so much to consider. The surgeon that I am looking at using locally....has done 35 revisions (Per OH chart)....not sure how accurate that is. He has done over 1000 open RNYs.....and I about 55 to 60 yrs old.....
Now I wonder if I should look further.
I know nothing about DS....will have to do some reading. I actually was only thinking about the Band of my RNY or a more distal revision of my present RNY......(Not knowing a darn thing about much of anything....lol)
My daugher is a nurse and had a fit when I told her about the Band.....her concern is the Port and infections....
Looks like I need to do some more reading and research.
I know what you mean about slider soft foods.....I did that for years and continue to prefer them to any solid meats. My fault completely. Never really thinking about what I was doing to myself. And you are definitely right about the lack of education and direction from surgeons back then.....we were told literally nothing....just go home and lose weight.....lol
Wishing you the very best....please keep me posted.....
Marcia
Kathy,
I was just curious how long you were in surgery?
On gal on the DS board, had a revision from RNY to DS, and she was only in surgery for 3 hours..... AMAZING!!!!
Thanks!!!!!!
-Jamie
I was just curious how long you were in surgery?
On gal on the DS board, had a revision from RNY to DS, and she was only in surgery for 3 hours..... AMAZING!!!!
Thanks!!!!!!
-Jamie
RNY 2/26/2002 DS 12/29/2011
HW 317 SW 263 BMI 45.1
SW 298 CW 192 BMI 32.9~60% EWL
LW 151 in 2003
TT 4/9/2003
Normal BMI 24.8 is my GOAL!!!
GBP (RNY) 2/26/02 298 lbs, TT 4/9/03 151 lbs, DS 12/29/11
HW 317 SW 263 BMI 45.1/CW 192 BMI 32.9/GW 145 ~ Normal BMI 24.8
**Revision Journey started 3/2009 Approved 12/12/11**
Hi, Jamie!
I was in surgry for about 4.5 hours. Before the surgery, Dr Greenbaum said to figure 4-6 hours. My revision (VBG to DS) is less complicated than an RNY to DS revision, so a 3-hour RNY to DS revision seems amazing to me, too.
Dr Greenbaum removed my gall bladder and appendix while he was in there, and also took the pre-cautionary steps of putting in a feeding tube and an omentum patch, so that would account for at least some of the time.
I was in surgry for about 4.5 hours. Before the surgery, Dr Greenbaum said to figure 4-6 hours. My revision (VBG to DS) is less complicated than an RNY to DS revision, so a 3-hour RNY to DS revision seems amazing to me, too.
Dr Greenbaum removed my gall bladder and appendix while he was in there, and also took the pre-cautionary steps of putting in a feeding tube and an omentum patch, so that would account for at least some of the time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you considered the Duodenal Switch? Information is power.
Have you considered the Duodenal Switch? Information is power.
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