How come you chose RNY?

Hi Kristen,

My surgeon recommended either Loop DS or RNY. The other possibilities seemed less effective. Loop DS is basically "sleeve" with reattaching far down the small intestine in order to avoid absorption of calories (as I understand it).  I chose Loop DS because it's the "new" (about 5 years), highly talked about procedure.  My surgeon was one of the few in the area that did the procedure.  As part of the process, I had an endoscope that showed that I had reflux.

My surgeon explained that Loop DS makes reflux worse while RNY makes it better, so that he'd like to switch me to RNY.

One of the funny things I read in favor of Loop DS was no "dumping."  Then, one of the things I read in favor of RNY was "dumping."  The logic was "Pavlov's Dog" in that if breaking the rules makes you sick, you probably won't break the rules. It's true for me now that I've had RNY!

RNY also has a 40-50 year history.  Lots of data.

Now that I am 3.5 months into RNY and have lost over 75% of my desired weight loss, I'm thrilled.  I have been blessed with minimal issues and a whole new life! NO more sleep apnea, No more Cholesterol Meds, No more blood pressure meds, No more chronic joint pain! It has changed my life!

That's why :)

My story is a little different.  Both of my parents had RNY and I saw what they went through.  Constant throwing up, running to the bathroom, which I would learn later was dumping.  I knew I wanted the sleeve.  No way did I want to go through what they went through.  Due to a kink in my sleeve, a complication I never expected, I had to have a RNY the next day.  It was devastating to me.  I wish I knew then that it would be the best thing that could have happened.  

It really is up to the patient to make their surgery successful, whichever they choose.  I think having seen two people fail their surgeries has helped me realize what NOT to do.  

Wow, thanks for sharing your story.  I never heard of anyone having a kink in their sleeve but I am so glad it worked out for you.  I talked to my surgeon the other day and he said I can change my mind right up until the morning of the surgery but I think I am making the right choice with the RNY.  I hope I have success like all of the stories I've heard here.

Hi Kristen:

I had very similar situations with my classes/orientations, etc. I was one of few doing RNY, with the majority being sleeve. I chose RNY for several reasons, first is similar to you - I had gestational diabetes with my second (and last) pregnancy. This puts you at greater risk for diabetes later in life so my docs have been watching my A1c and it's been creeping up, up, up over the last two years. The pre-op blood work showed my A1c at it's highest level yet of 6.4. I looked at those results and felt it was the universe telling me that surgery was what I needed! 

Secondly, I have a major sweet tooth, and RNY was the best fit for that. I joked with the surgeon that of my 30 some odd teeth probably 26 of them are sweet teeth. 

And lastly, I really like that RNY has the most medical evidence and history behind it. I don't like jumping on the bandwagon of the new thing, because then I'll end up being one of those people that sees the commercial from the lawyer groups in the middle of the night about something that was done during my surgery LOL