RNY or DS??? Please give me your opinion

Hello all!

I have not had surgery yet but have started the process of an RNY.  I have since been researching the DS.  I am a self pay so I only have ONE shot at getting the right surgery for me.  I have been overweight my entire life and am sick and tired of being sick and tired (I am sure some of you can relate)  I need to know from you all  about your experiences.  I am super excited and ready to have surgery but like I said I only have enough money to have ONE and make it work for me!  The DS is appealing of course because of the long term weight loss as compared to the RNY.

Oooooooooooo I dont know ......... I cant make up my mind.  Can you guys please help me out with my struggle????

Depends on how much weight you have to lose. And what you are willing to put up with. Every surgery has its pluses and minuses. I say this being a successful RNYer 5 mos post op. With that said...if you are self pay and its appropriate for your health, I would opt for the DS. It was not an option available to me at the time of surgery, but I'm happy with what I've got as it has worked well. My surgeon does the DS (NOW!) and calls it the *NUCLEAR* WLS. Ha ha ha

I had the rny and now a revision to erny.  I lost weight ok with rny.. but not to goal and started a re-gain early imo.  I can now with the erny eat a little better than with the rny because it is a more malasorbtive procedure.

IF I had it to do all over again... I for me would choose the DS hands down!

Keep researching go over to the ds board and read and read!  Ask questions ... read their profiles...

In the end YOU have to be happy with your decision!

Good Luck in what ever you decide!

I had an RNY in 2002, and was not aware that the DS even exsisted.... now I am looking into revision from RNY to DS.

Just a financial FYI:
If you can leave the United Staes (Self-Pay purposes) The surgery is under 20,000.00 Can be between 10,000 and 15,000

Research, research, research...... and POST QUESTIONS!!!!!

-Jamie

Of course I can only give you what mattered to me, and we all have different needs, so make sure you read studies and medical data, in addition to the opinions and personal feelings of posters like me.

I also was a self pay, and wanted to do WHAT EVER I COULD do to avoid a second surgery. I did not feel the statistics were good enough with the band or RNY for total weight loss, maintenance of that loss, and complications (meaning everything from dumping, stuck foods, to being unable to find the "sweet spot" with fill / unfills).

I have horrible pms, and some back problems, so needed to be able to take aspirin and other NSAIDs. I wanted to eat fairly normally since we often dine with others, with no emergencies making me rush to bathrooms.

I suffered too long from obesity, and knew I couldn't take it if I failed with WLS. The DS had the best odds.

So, how are you feeling about your decision?

I have been going the RNY route and have my appointment with the surgeon June 10, but am freaking out about if I should make a quick decision and go with the DS.

I live near you in Yelm, WA and work in Lacey. I am going through Madigan and for the most part their Doctors do the RNY. So, as I went through the pathways this is the route I felt would be best and was also thinking about the VSG. The DS was not mentioned as I went through the pathway, until I saw my coordinator a week ago and she said there was Dr. that was now doing the DS, but the coordinator sort of talked against it saying that it had even more malabsorption then the RNY. So, she referred my to the Dr. that does the RNY and VSG.

I do think I will see if I can get in with the Dr. that does the DS so that I can weigh my option, but would like input from people that are living it.

Thank for any advice,
Michele

It is correct that the DS has "even more" malabsorbation then the RNY, but that is the beauty of the DS. Most RNY patients don`t realize (and their docs don`t tell them) that calorie malabsorbation is not big with the RNY. A normal person has 600 cm of small intestines, and with a normal RNY, 100--150 cm of that are bypassed. That is not that much! The consequence is that 2+ years after surgery, the body will have adapted and most people won`t malabsorb any calories at all!! That means malabsorbation with the RNY is gone when it`s most needed, to help with maintainance when the pouch has strechted (it`s normal, that after 2+ yeras after the RNY surgery patients are able to eat a lot more then in the first months). Unfortunately, while calorie malabsorbation stops after 2+ years out, vitamin malabsorbation stays for life. Bad deal.

If you want (or need) permanent malabsorbation to help with maintainance, youll need to go for the DS or the ERNY. But the ERNY has the worst of the DS (heavy malabsorbation, requiring heavy vitamin supplementation) and the worst of the RNY = a pouch and stoma (instead of a normal shaped, but smaller stomach) with all its problems - food can get stuck, food intolerances (many RNY people have lots of problems with meat, while high-carb stuff goes through easily),  the stoma can stretch, and dumping. I can not see a single reason why having the RNY pouch is an advantage.

Hello fellow Washingtonian! While I live in Oly, I used to work in Yelm - we should have traded houses and we wouldn't have to commute.

I think it's awesome that Madigan now has a Dr that does DS, I was wondering when they were gonna catch up. I couldn't be happier with my surgery, as I've lost around 145 pounds, and lost every co-morbidity with it. If you have much weight to lose, you should definitely take a look at it. It has the best weight loss, and weight maintenance of any of the surgeries, and I just couldn't deal with losing the weight if it was gonna start piling back on in a few years.

The Mal-absorption is what helps the weight stay off. You do have to take vitamin supplements and eat protein first (and you do with RNY as well) but you take slightly different supplements than with RNY. RNY needs supplementation of extra B vitamins and iron, and the DS needs more of the fat soluble vites (A,D,E,K). I don't know what your BMI is, but the requirements are the same as RNY and DS. Also, some of what you mal-absorb is fat, so that makes your eating choices better, since it's easier to eat high protein foods if you aren't trying to go low fat, and it makes DSers cholesterol and blood fats amazing (my latest labs show my blood fat at what is was when I was 17!!!!)

If the doctor or program you are in doesn't offer the DS, they won't have anything good to say about it, so you will get better information from a doctor that offers all of the surgeries. I just couldn't be happier with my DS, as feel like I get to avoid some of the downfalls of the band or RNY, and I get the best shot at losing all the weight I need to, long term. Feel free to ask me anything else if you are wondering, cuz I'm so happy with the surgery I love to talk about it, lol.

Ya, we should have traded. I am nervously waiting for the housing market to spike back up as we bought our house at the height of the market. We need it to go back-up in value as we need to refinance. We moved here from Spokane 3 yrs ago this coming July where I had lived all my life. I was not sure about the move, but am loving it here where the sun does actually shine.

Thinks for the insight. I am hoping that I heard the WLS coordinator right about Madigan having a Dr. that does DS. Now that I have been reading about it over the last few days I am really feeling that it would be the best option. I will found out on Monday if they do indeed do the DS. All thought the pathway is was never mentioned.

My BMI is 47, ideally I think that losing around 140lbs would be best for me. I guess I should take the time and add info to my personal profile.

I do agree with you about if the Dr, doesn't do the surgery he/she will not have anything good to say about it. I have found this to be true with each type of surgery. If a Dr. specialized in one or two then they do tend to down the others. I think that this is really unfortunate as each person should be getting the surgery that really is best suited for him or her.
I know with Madigan they ask right from the start which kind of surgery you want. When I started the process it was either RNY, VSG, or they would do lap-band if someone really insisted. They definitely leaned toward the RNY. However, during my various classes and appointments I told them I was not going to make a final decision until I spoke withe the surgeon, which is unfortunately the last step. I have my appointment on June 10, but will also seek out the Dr. that does the DS if I am correct about this being an option now.

Anyway, I really do appreciate the information that you have shared with me and other out there that just wanna know.

Michele

 

I came here from Spokane too, but when I was 12, and have been here since.

Your house will rebound just fine. We are in a great place for real estate, since we never have it quite as bad as the rest of the country when real estate is bad, and I've been told it's because we have all the state workers and fort Lewis nearby, that keeps a constant employment base. Now if we could just make it rebound more quickly for your refinance!

My BMI was as high as 48-49, and I wanted to lose at least 150 lbs, so I'm almost there. I think I could have lost it with the RNY, but the DS just sounded better to me. I'll keep my fingers crossed about you having the DS available.