Just had Surgery Done..mixed feelings..please help

walterswife
on 12/5/09 6:24 am
California mom,

Everything happens for a reason.  There was a reason for this.  You can lose 120 lbs. plus with RNY.  Just look at all of the persons who post who have done that and much more.

Imagine if the doctor realized that he couldn't do the DS and just closed you up and decided that he wouldn't do the other procedure.  You would have been truly devastated.

You have been given a tremendous opportunity.  You can and will do well.  Cheer up and look on the bright side of things.  This period is never easy. 

We are all here to support you.  I'll be right behind you in two weeks and a few days.

HW 240/ SW 229/ GW 146/CW 125; OH Support Group Leader   

Starting size:  18W-20;  Present size: 0 or 2; 5'5-1/2" tall. 
Current BMI 20.4 as of 2/13/2013 (normal for the first time in my life).
Goal weight reached on 8/12/2010; As of 1/13/2013, 21 pounds below goal

Ms. Cal Culator
on 12/5/09 3:06 pm - Tuvalu
On December 5, 2009 at 2:24 PM Pacific Time, walterswife wrote:
California mom,

Everything happens for a reason.  There was a reason for this.  You can lose 120 lbs. plus with RNY.  Just look at all of the persons who post who have done that and much more.

Imagine if the doctor realized that he couldn't do the DS and just closed you up and decided that he wouldn't do the other procedure.  You would have been truly devastated.

You have been given a tremendous opportunity.  You can and will do well.  Cheer up and look on the bright side of things.  This period is never easy. 

We are all here to support you.  I'll be right behind you in two weeks and a few days.
 No, wqlter's wife, this is just wrong on several levels.

If I had gone in for an RnY and the doctor had some good medical reason he couldn't do it, I would NOT want to wake up with a LapBand.  A few years ago, many of us were outraged when  woman went to Mexico for the band and woke up with a gastric balloon in her stomach.  If he can't do the procedure, he can just close and explain it all to me in recovery.  

Unless, of course, you mean that you'll be just as happy waking up with a Lap Band or gastric sleeve.  That would be okay with you?  Most people would want INPUT on what elective major alterations are done to their bodies.  Maybe you feel differently.

I get that people who wanted the RnY and are doing well with the RnY would encourage this poor lady to do well with what she's got...and right now, she doesn't have a lot of other good choices.  But if had HAD closed her up and let her make the decision, her situation would be the result of HER choice, not someone else's.

And the "reason" that this happened was not some divine intervention, but something more akin to arrogance.  Anyone who advertises himself as "specializing" in doing a procedure he's only done 12 of...not an up front guy.
LeaAnn
on 12/6/09 1:41 am - Huntsville, AL

Walter'swife needs to get in the damn kitchen and make Walter a damn sandwich!!

http://buckingthewave.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/wife-beer.jpg

(deactivated member)
on 12/5/09 6:25 pm - Canandaigua, NY
NoNoNo!  I would sue the hell out of a surgeon who gave me anything other than what I had consented to.  There are very specific reasons why I've chosen to have the DS, and my second surgery of choice is NO SURGERY!  I cannot even begin to say how quick I'd be on the phone to a malpractice attorney if that happened to me.  Maybe the "reason for this" is that she'll win a huge settlement against this guy and be set for life. At a minimum, she should get a revision from an experienced DS revisionist surgeon paid for by this guy. 

There are plenty of DSers who go into surgery with lots of adhesions from prior surgeries (I myself have had six prior open abdominal surgeries plus endometriosis). My surgeon has made it very clear that the only reason to change plans once I'm on the table MAY be to go from lap to open.  If her INEXPERIENCED DS surgeon thought he couldn't do one on her because of her scaring and adhesions, he should have closed her up until they TOGETHER developed a plan B.
LeaAnn
on 12/6/09 1:44 am - Huntsville, AL
(R)Amen, Laura!!  What Laura said!!
(deactivated member)
on 12/6/09 3:09 am - Sevierville, TN
YES YES YES. I would be furious if I went into surgery and came out with a procedure I didn't ask for. I would be suing in a New York minute. First of all, if he couldn't do the DS he should have closed you back up and sent you to someone who could do it. He rearranged your insides in a different way without even seeking your approval. Sue his ass. I would be livid and screaming lawsuit from the recovery room if I woke up like that. RNY can work for you. I've already lost more than you need to lose with mine but that doesnt change the fact that you went in expecting a DS and wasnt informed that you would end up with a completely different surgery. In your place I would be calling a lawyer.

Good luck.
Karen
(deactivated member)
on 12/6/09 6:36 am - San Diego, CA
Well stated Laura!!!!!  I agree 150%.  My DH  and I are attorneys and I just told him about this scenario.  He agreed with me that this is a no-brainer malpractice case due to the lack of consent for the alternate surgery. 

I seriously can't believe this really happened.  "Sorry Lisa, we couldn't do the face lift so we gave you a nose job instead."  Yeah...that would NOT fly with me.

5100kiki
on 12/5/09 8:41 am
I am so sorry - psychologically I know it has to be a big adjustment to go in for one surgery and to end up with another.  It may be a difficult adjustment but it is better that the doctor cared enough about your health to give you the procedure that was best for your body/scar tissue.  Losing 14 lbs in less than 1 week is terrific!  The weight will come off.  Hang in there!
          
Lady Lithia
on 12/5/09 9:40 am
The Duodenal switch is a great surgery, and I certainly would have been horrendously disappointed to wake up expecting it, and not getting it! I'm sorry to hear about your disappointment.

The good news is that you DO have a great surgery that can help you to do what you want... a little different, but it's what you have, so it's time to focus on what it WILL do for you, rather than on what you DON'T have. (easy enough for me to say!) 

A lot of folks leave the hospital weighing more, so if you are already down 14 pounds, that is GREAT! When was the last time you have lost 14 pounds in a WEEK??? In truth, you probably wouldn't have lost an ounce more or less with the DS... at this point.

Remember that your body is going through a massive change. The normal plumbing is no longer functional. Your calorie intake and usage don't mesh. Your body is panicking. It will stop losing for days or even weeks at a time, and then BLAM you'l lose a bunch of weight in a two or three or four day window. That's how it was for me.

I never weighed but in the morning (you gain weight throughout the day) and I always expected ups and downs. If you drink 64 oz of water, or other liquids, that weighs 4 pounds!!! Don't forget, also, you're a woman, and your body will continue to do womanly retention of water and fluids... and purging too. At this point, now that I've reached goal (on Thanksgiving day!), I treat 5 pounds as my panic point. my body will gain or lose 5 pounds... but if gains more than 5 pounds, that will be the point where I up my exercise, or watch my calories more. If you never allow a big regain, you'll never "gain it all back"

There's a lot of support to be had here. You can be perfectly successful, and I'm thinking you will be! Just take it a day at a time.... and dream of that day... like I just recently had... where I got to see my goal number on the scale! Woohoo!

~Lady Lithia~ 200 lbs lost! 
March 9, 2011 - Coccygectomy!
I chased my dreams, and my dreams, they caught me!
giraffesmiley.gif picture by hardyharhar_bucket

(deactivated member)
on 12/5/09 9:58 am
 Hello,

You must be in shock. I can't imagine going in for one surgery and waking up with something else. Did your surgeon ever discuss with you that he might not be able to do the DS, and did you consent to getting the RNY instead if that happened? 

There is a lot of good support on this board, and I hope you can find the information you need to succeed with what you have. 

Take care,

Jenna





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