Has anyone had Dr. Houston do DS surgery?
Hi. I am a current patient of Dr. Hugh Houston. I am pleased with him and his staff. In 2006, he performed lap band surgery on me. I have honestly struggled with the band and lost only 34 pounds at the best. I have actually gained 9 back.
I went to Centennial and got a fill today. I have no interest in food at the moment. What I have found with the band is that I don't think about eating until about 2 in the afternoon. I have to remind myself to have my protein drink, cheese, and turkey. However, I can suddenly become hungry and I will eat whatever is there. Cheetos are a real problem. For whatever reason, the band will open up and let me down a whole bag. It seems that I really have to focus and prepare. I had soup for lunch on Monday after my protein and cheese for breakfast. Before I knew it, I had eaten a whole bag of Cheetos. He says that a better choice would have been chicken breast.
When I first chose a surgery in 2006, he mentioned the gastric bypass to me. It seemed like overkill. My high was 224. My college weight was 105. (I am short.) I assumed that the band would be the best choice for me. I am somewhat hard headed! However, with days of doing great and other days of feeling like I was starving and not losing what I want, I have a consult with him in a couple of weeks about a possible revision.
For those who have had Dr. Houston perform a DS, what has been your experience pre-op and post-op?
Thank you for all of your feedback!
Mary
I went to Centennial and got a fill today. I have no interest in food at the moment. What I have found with the band is that I don't think about eating until about 2 in the afternoon. I have to remind myself to have my protein drink, cheese, and turkey. However, I can suddenly become hungry and I will eat whatever is there. Cheetos are a real problem. For whatever reason, the band will open up and let me down a whole bag. It seems that I really have to focus and prepare. I had soup for lunch on Monday after my protein and cheese for breakfast. Before I knew it, I had eaten a whole bag of Cheetos. He says that a better choice would have been chicken breast.
When I first chose a surgery in 2006, he mentioned the gastric bypass to me. It seemed like overkill. My high was 224. My college weight was 105. (I am short.) I assumed that the band would be the best choice for me. I am somewhat hard headed! However, with days of doing great and other days of feeling like I was starving and not losing what I want, I have a consult with him in a couple of weeks about a possible revision.
For those who have had Dr. Houston perform a DS, what has been your experience pre-op and post-op?
Thank you for all of your feedback!
Mary
k9ophile
on 7/8/09 4:06 pm
on 7/8/09 4:06 pm
Since you already know him, you know how much he cares about his patients. Holly & Elizabeth in his office are very good, too, in the way one is treated.
He did my DS. I had my 9 month follow up last week. I had some questions about my OP report and he was very thorough in answering them. During the switch part, he used a stapler which is very commonly done. However, there were problems. He thought it just wasn't good enough and re-did it with hand sewing. He told me that experience was enough to convince him that stapling is not something he wants to do and he has hand sewn every patient since then. It takes longer, but in his opinion, it it safer and more reliable in the long run.
He is not the most experienced. He is up to 12 DSes. However, I do have to say that I have even more respect for him than I did before. (And I've always had considerable respect for him...) He could have left the original staples and taken a wait and see attitude. He didn't. He wanted to do his best for me. I was on the table for at least 45 more minutes and he didn't get more money. I'd have to say that it was his experience in general as a surgeon to know that even though stapling may be the standard, he's willing to go above the standard and take that extra time. I find that it is becoming very hard for me to be objective about him. My respect for him just keeps on growing. I truly believe that there may be other surgeons who equal his skills, but there is no one who is better.
He did my DS. I had my 9 month follow up last week. I had some questions about my OP report and he was very thorough in answering them. During the switch part, he used a stapler which is very commonly done. However, there were problems. He thought it just wasn't good enough and re-did it with hand sewing. He told me that experience was enough to convince him that stapling is not something he wants to do and he has hand sewn every patient since then. It takes longer, but in his opinion, it it safer and more reliable in the long run.
He is not the most experienced. He is up to 12 DSes. However, I do have to say that I have even more respect for him than I did before. (And I've always had considerable respect for him...) He could have left the original staples and taken a wait and see attitude. He didn't. He wanted to do his best for me. I was on the table for at least 45 more minutes and he didn't get more money. I'd have to say that it was his experience in general as a surgeon to know that even though stapling may be the standard, he's willing to go above the standard and take that extra time. I find that it is becoming very hard for me to be objective about him. My respect for him just keeps on growing. I truly believe that there may be other surgeons who equal his skills, but there is no one who is better.
"Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us." Stephen Covey
Don't litter! Spay or neuter your pet
I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions... you stated that you don't think about eating until 2. Does that mean that you don't eat until 2, or that you have to force yourself to eat throughout the day because you are not hungry?
The reason I ask is because it sounds like your band is doing something for you... I am wondering if you could utilize some new habits that would jumpstart your weight loss again, making it possible for not needing a revision.
If you eat protein filled food all throughout your day, plan your day of eating and space it out correctly, as in six meals total (3 "meals" and 3 protein supplements), then you will not feel that urge to eat everything you get your hands on. Pushing your body to go without food all day long and also not filing up with protein are two things that are perhaps contributing factors to the overendulgence at one sitting....
You may want to switch your routine up a little. We have a few wonderful members here who have done great with the band and perhaps you could team up with them to compare eating techniques. A support system is a great resource for times such as this. I would hate to see someone spend a lot of money on surgery that perhaps they didn't need if his/her routine could perhaps be reviewed. Also, do you log the foods that you eat (food journal) and know exactly how many calories you take in per day? That too helps as an important tool.
The reason I ask is because it sounds like your band is doing something for you... I am wondering if you could utilize some new habits that would jumpstart your weight loss again, making it possible for not needing a revision.
If you eat protein filled food all throughout your day, plan your day of eating and space it out correctly, as in six meals total (3 "meals" and 3 protein supplements), then you will not feel that urge to eat everything you get your hands on. Pushing your body to go without food all day long and also not filing up with protein are two things that are perhaps contributing factors to the overendulgence at one sitting....
You may want to switch your routine up a little. We have a few wonderful members here who have done great with the band and perhaps you could team up with them to compare eating techniques. A support system is a great resource for times such as this. I would hate to see someone spend a lot of money on surgery that perhaps they didn't need if his/her routine could perhaps be reviewed. Also, do you log the foods that you eat (food journal) and know exactly how many calories you take in per day? That too helps as an important tool.
Thank you. I think you have made some valid points. By having a protein drink, cheese stick, and some sliced chicken or turkey, I am great until about 2 pm. It seems many times that I am unprepared with a healthy choice when I suddenly am starved about 2 or 3 pm. It is weird that I can have a really hard time keeping the healthy food down when I am not really hungry. Then when I am unprepared or the healthy food is just not taking care of the hunger, I can eat chips or cookies without them coming back up.
I got a fill yesterday, and I lost a pound and a half. I am very tight right now and the protein drinks are all I want. If only it would stay this way, I would weigh 100 pounds again.
When I had my first consult with him 3 years ago, he mentioned the gastric bypass. I was a positive minded person who thought that I would be so hard headed that I could easily do the band. In reality, I may have my moments of wanting to eat everything in sight, but I don't really eat that much. I am questioning whether my body might need a malabsorption procedure to get my metabolism where it should be.
I am 53 and I really don't want to be thinking in a year that I should have gone ahead and done a revision. I am going to do my best with this fill and when we have our consult, we may come to the conclusion that I need to just continue as I am.
However, I went to Dr. Houston's seminar a couple of weeks ago and really viewed the statistics on long term weight loss success by surgery and it was pretty clear that the malabsorption methods were much more aggressive. I think I was so sure of myself before that I was blind to that.
We will see. Thank you for all of your thoughts. The food journal and support system are very important.
Mary
I got a fill yesterday, and I lost a pound and a half. I am very tight right now and the protein drinks are all I want. If only it would stay this way, I would weigh 100 pounds again.
When I had my first consult with him 3 years ago, he mentioned the gastric bypass. I was a positive minded person who thought that I would be so hard headed that I could easily do the band. In reality, I may have my moments of wanting to eat everything in sight, but I don't really eat that much. I am questioning whether my body might need a malabsorption procedure to get my metabolism where it should be.
I am 53 and I really don't want to be thinking in a year that I should have gone ahead and done a revision. I am going to do my best with this fill and when we have our consult, we may come to the conclusion that I need to just continue as I am.
However, I went to Dr. Houston's seminar a couple of weeks ago and really viewed the statistics on long term weight loss success by surgery and it was pretty clear that the malabsorption methods were much more aggressive. I think I was so sure of myself before that I was blind to that.
We will see. Thank you for all of your thoughts. The food journal and support system are very important.
Mary
Mary,
I just wanted to say hello and see if I could offer any help. I am a lap-band patient as well. I had my surgery in July 2007. I have lost 115 pounds as of this morning. Now I have had my bumps in the road and know my fair share of plateus.
I do understand not being hungry during the morning. There are mornings where I have to make myself eat something even if I am not hungry.
Now as for the bad stuff going in no problem, I have the same problem! I can always get a cracker or chips down! I just don't keep them around because now I know that they are a trigger food.
I support you regardless of the decision you make about the revision, but if you would like to PM me with any questions I will try to answer them for you. I do log my food and I am exercising now too. That does help. It is not easy, but I am trying to make good choices and making sure that I have solid protein at every meal.
Please let me know if there is anything I can help with.
I just wanted to say hello and see if I could offer any help. I am a lap-band patient as well. I had my surgery in July 2007. I have lost 115 pounds as of this morning. Now I have had my bumps in the road and know my fair share of plateus.
I do understand not being hungry during the morning. There are mornings where I have to make myself eat something even if I am not hungry.
Now as for the bad stuff going in no problem, I have the same problem! I can always get a cracker or chips down! I just don't keep them around because now I know that they are a trigger food.
I support you regardless of the decision you make about the revision, but if you would like to PM me with any questions I will try to answer them for you. I do log my food and I am exercising now too. That does help. It is not easy, but I am trying to make good choices and making sure that I have solid protein at every meal.
Please let me know if there is anything I can help with.
~Jenn
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