hey andrea, im meghan. im 16 yeras old an weight 364lbs. im going to have a duodenal switch on april 28th. if you dont mind. id like to encourage you to go with the duodenal switch. its the one surgery where you lose the most excess amount of weight adn then its the one surgery wehre you also get to eat the most amount of food. heres the statistics. rny you lose 50-70% of your excess weight. duodenal switch you lose 70-90% of your excess weight. eating with the rny you eat 1-30oz of food for life. at first with the duodenal switch, you eat 3-8oz of food. your stomach is cut into one of those amounts for you to eat. and then it stretches over time and yet, in the end you get to eat a whole meal and be full. and still manage to lose 90% of your excess weight and this is the one surgery where u get to be more like the people around you and eat more and yet lose more, then with any other surgery,its really the best choice out there. and plus, it has no dumping syndrome!!!isnt that awesome,who in the hell wants to dump anyways?and 2 days after surgery, you get to eat popsicles. so thats quick eating. instead of the 6weeks 6-month trial soft solid food stages.thers nothing like that witht he ds. its easier working witht he food, you lose more, and you eat more. and its also the surgery wehre you most likely NOT I MEAN NOT going to gain the weight back. as with the rny, most people have gained half if not all back by 5 years after surgery. adn with the ds that rarely happens.it also has the longest lasting effects. i suggest you look up the procedure on www.duodenalswitch.com and look it up on www.freewebs.com/duodenalswitch/ . hey, you should also join my teen weight loss surgery groups. you can meet teens your age who have had the surgery. were really active and freidnly. you would like it. please email me at [email protected] or i.m. me at aol/aim sn blitzbabe0053. lots of luv, meghan pre-op dr.henry buchwald duodenal switch surgery date:april 28th 2005 364lbs goal weight 140lbs

Hi, my name is Andrea Mae Markham and I am a 19 year old female (but will be 20 on Jan 3). I live in Huntington, WV and attend Marshall University where I am a Sophomore. I am in the process of having the surgery. (I have been researching this surgery since I was 17 years old, and have finally decided this is the right thing for me to do.) I know I will be approved because my dad's insurance is through the hospital in which the surgery is performed there. I will be having my surgery at St. Mary's hospital, the surgeon who will be performing the surgery is Dr. Tim Robarts. So far all I have accomplished is the packet turned into St. Mary's where I was then told I was a canidate for the surgery and so I was getting appts scheduled. So as of right now I have a psychologist evaluation on Jan 11, 2005 at 3:00p.m. But something that is funny about that is I work at a Real Estate office and this Psychologist's office is 3 buildings down! I told my boss after all he has put me through with having the responsiblity of 4 people (plus baby sit for him) I am going to need to keep this guy on schedule lol! j/p but anyways... So then I have a sleep apnea test on January 19, 2005 at 7:30p.m. which should be fun.. NOT I dont sleep at night... like I go to bed around 2-4am and get up around 6-8:30am! It sucks but with working full time and going to school full time you dont get much sleep. Oh well this should be interesting! But anyways I forgot a few things, I am planning on having Lap RNY. I am not for sure when I should have it because of school and what not, but I am thinking maybe over my spring break. I am sure this is something I will figure out in due time.. well once I ahve a consultation with Dr. Robarts! Thanks a Bunchies Andrea

most likely if your young and say maybe 100lbs over weight you probably wont need it is what i heard. but if your like me adn 16 weighing 364 lbs and got 224lbs to lose, your gonna definaltely need a tummy tuck!!!well you should join my teen weight loss surgery group. its really nice to talk to kids and teens just like us going through teen weight loss surgery. well email me at [email protected] if your interested in joining and you can i.m. me at blitzbabe0053 on aol/aim instant messenger service.ttyl! love meghan

good luck with that. I had to sleep with one during a sleep study and about suffocated. They told me I needed to sleep with one all the time, but I just kinda forgot to call them back before I left for school...whoops! heh. Let us know how it goes.

hey guuuuyyss ... im baaacckkk!!!.... everything went great !!!... just the gas pains which let me warn u are absolutly harrible buuuttt the whole surgery in general is not as bad as i thought it was gonna be, believe it or not! ...im now 4 days post op and have been back home since the 23rd and i feel awesome now, i had OPEN rny by the way, and..ill be posting everything that happened once i feel a little better cuz its too much to type but,.... just for a little tip,..my mom gave me some green tea which helped sooooo much with the gasses...... and aside from that my x-mas was awesome and everything is great !!! i hope evryones holidays are going well and i wish u all the best luck win everything!!! Smooches Jenn