Should I go for RNY??

Hi,

I am from Australia.
I am new to the forum and hope this will give me the courage to continue fighting the "pretty much" lost cause that is my weight.

I had a lapband put in in december 2005 and although I lost 38 kgs within 8 months ( with frequent visist to the hospital for dehydration and visit to my surgeon for refills and defills and lets not forget the continuous throwing up and acid reflux) now I am considering getting a bypass RNY as un fortunately my weight is now at an all time high... I am ashamed to say I weigh now close to 120 kgs even though i am only 1.65M...

Unfortunatly for me what went wrong was, i was living in kalgoorlie about 3 years ago and was trying to get pregnant but with the constant throwing up my doctor recommended for me to loosened the band so that I could eat properly get some strenght and get pregnant.
WELL although I got pregnant ( I dont regret it for the world) I started to put on weight faster then I had lost it and I mean fast!!!

So Once I had my beautifull little boy I was 112 kgs and so depressed but still thought I will go get my lapband tightened and everything will go back to normal, WELL IT DID NOT!!! after a couple of refills and defills it turned out my lapband had slipped and was of no use to me anymore as a pouch had already formed at the top of the Band!!!

I now am faced with the decesion do I go for a lapband again knowing how miserable it made me or do I go for a bypass Rny????

Can anyone give me some advice and some info on bypass as well as estimated cost...

Also Can someone please tell me if it is safe for me to keep my slipped lapband in??
I cannot afford to get it removed so its still in and I am starting to get worried coz my insurance wont allow me any op until october 2011!

I hope to hear from someone soon as I am freaking out!!! my weight is getting out of control and I am scared of all  the repercussion it entails!!!

Thank you...

There's another---and I believe BETTER---option out there, called the Duodenal Switch. You can learn more about it at www.dsfacts.com It's a kinder, gentler surgery than the RNY, and more successful, too.

I had the band for 8 years, I belong to an australina bandster group for 8 years also.  ok so first of all, you have to get your slippage fixed, first have your band completly deflated. Yes you will gain weight but it is better than permanent damage.  Some patients will self resolve but most wont.  I also had a slippage, which was addressed.  If you don't have any esophogeal injuries you can get the slippage fixed, but if you have esophogeal injuries, rebanding is contradictory.  If you want to stay with a restrictive procedure you have RNY and sleeve to pick from, a brisbane friend of mine revised to a sleeve and is doing very well, but she did very well with the band.

I am somewhat confused on the timetable, you were banded in 05, lost 38 kg in 8 months, had a baby but where are the other 3 years?  was it then that you developed the slip, and never had it addressed? 

I know it is scary to gain weight.....

Mila

Hello,

Thank you for your reply Mila...

I got he band done in december 2005 by the end of 2006 i had lost pretty much all my weight, then for about a year I plateaued and stayed around the 60 kgs give or take a couple more...

By mid 2007 my partenr and I really wanted to get pregnant but I was not keeping mjuch food in and was not really healthy...Iron defficiency and such, so a GP told me to get the lapband fully empty so that i could eat properly and get pregnant ...I got pregnant at the end of 2007 and put on weight like there was no tomorrow as the doc would not allow me to refill my band (small town GP)...

I gave birth to my son in june 2008 and after 9 months we moved back to Perth and I went to see Mercy bariatric...

I really thought Ill just get my band refilled bit by bit and just loose the weight but no such chance for me...

After quite a few visit for refills and defills coz it always was to tight, I was still putting on weight and after about a year they finally figured out my band had slipped and a pouch had formed at the top ...

So I was told to leave it empty untill I can take it out and do another procedure or the same...

So my band is still in coz I just got an insurance and it wont cover me untill next year...

It sucks I have been feeling sooo low for the last year which is not helping me coz I get depressed I eat!!! I eat I get fat I get more depressed and the vicious circle never end...

Emmanuelle

Emmanuelle,

I completly understand what you are going through, truly.  Weight gain is a very scary thing.  I know I gained 90 lbs back. I have a feeling you have developed a maladaptive eating disorder, which will bring on weight.  When you have your band deflated you will gain weight, I know no one who hasn't.  The worse thing to do is to be too tight, that will bring on a host of issues, including weight gain.  I would leave it empty especially with a slip.  I understand about the insurance.  In the time you are waiting to get surgery next year try as best to eat healthy, increasing your iron intake, eating good quality protein.  You have a wonderful baby there to take care of too.

I know it is very depressive.  Please PM me if I can be of further help.  The austalian bandster group I belonged to for 8 years is ozband@yahoogroups, they are wonderful, maybe they can help you, there is talk about revisions too.  Please dont give up help.

Mila

Have you consider the sleeve? VSG?
I had RNY and most of the time i am able to maintain- but 2.5 years post op it is a challenge.
But If i could do it again - I would got the Sleeve. Restrictive, but not malabsortion - that may casue so many other issues.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply, and yes i have considered the other solutions but I do believe I need the malabsorbtion as I tend to eat a lot of sweets and thta would probably force me not too...
I do realise that i will have to take supplements for the rest of my life but I rather that than be fat it is killing me physically and mentally...

Emmanuelle

Malabsorption is NOT a 'cure' for eating sweets. Less than 30% of people who get the RNY actually have 'dumping syndrome', but a much higher per centage of them develope reactive hypoglycemia, which I hear is a real *****

No matter what form of WLS you choose, you're still going to absorb 100% of the simple carbs you eat---they begin to be absorbed when they touch your lips. The RNY will give you temporary, minor malabsorption of complex carbs and proteins, and permanent malabsorption of vitamins, minerals, and about 30% of the fat you eat. The DS will give you permanent malabsorption of complex carbs, protein, and around 80% of the fat you eat, as well as vitamins and minerals---about the same about of malabsorption of THOSE as you'll get with the RNY, but a lot MORE malabsorption of CALORIES.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply I did not mean that i believe that malabsorntion is the cure to eating sweets but someone told me that if you get the dumping a couple of times it tends to discourage you in the long run...

I am now really confused and dont know what to go for... So IF I understand well there is no hope with any operation???

Regards,

Emmanuelle

I imagine dumping WOULD be rather discouraging---but only about 30% of people who get the RNY experience dumping, and for some, it's a ver erratic thing. Some dump on sugar, some on fats, some on who knows what. And a thing that makes them dump today may not make them dump tomorrow. It's just not something you can count on.

I wouldn't say that there's 'no hope with any operation', just that it's important to evaluate all your options and think long and hard about what you can do to change your behaviour, and what you can't. Even though no surgery will make you malabsorb simple carbs, the more malabsorption you have of other sources of calories, the more 'wiggle room' you'll have. And it seems that all three of the WLSs that cut the stomach tend to cause a change in taste. I know that my sweet tooth, if not actually pulled, surely had a root canal. (*grin*) Pre-op, candy didn't hang around in my house---but now, a box of chocolate-covered cherries can last a month. (Pre-op, they'd have been lucky to have lasted a day.) Also add in the fact that the Sleeve and the DS actually remove from the body most of the tissue that produces ghrelin, the 'hunger hormone', and things look even more positive.