Getting Closer....But a ?? WHY?

O.K.  I am getting closer.  My Psych Eval is this Friday 10/16 - and my NUT eval and my first mtg with Dr. Houston is Nov 4th.  I already know my insurance will cover 90/10.  YEAH for me.

I am still waiting on my referral letter from my DR.  I had appt with him on 9/15 to ask him for referral ltr.  Some of you may remember, he was not keen on me doing this at all, for the simple fact that he doesn't believe in it.  My appt with him went well I thought and he said he would do it.  Now here I sit still waiting on the ltr.  I called his Nurse this past Thursday to ask her about it, she has yet to call me back.  SO, I will be calling her tomorrow.  Maybe it takes a month for the DR. to write the letter I don't know.

Anyway, I am still doing research and reading up on the DS, which is what I chose to have done.  SO that leads me to my WHY question.

Why did you choose the DS over the Lap Band or the Bypass?  this is just my curiosity asking.  I have a friend that had the lap band and I asked her the same questions, why lap band over the others, she said simply because insurance would only cover lap band. Another friend that had bypass said less risk than with DS.

So again, just curiosity if you would like to share.

Also, I want to Thank Ronda & John for all your help and answering my questions at our first meeting. 

And this is an awesome board, I am learning so much.  How great that everyone can come here and share their experiences  and learn from others.

So Thanks to all and I look forward to learning more.

Rhonda

Statisically Speaking - the DS has the best long term results.   There are many reason why I chose the DS - I wanted the ability to take NSAIDS if needed, I wanted my full stomach - not a pouch with a blind stomach that could not be scoped, I did not want dumping (this is a plus for RNY - just not for me).   I wanted to be able to enjoy full fat full flavor foods.   My BMI was high almost 62 and I have heard too many horror stories about both the lapband and RNY about people needing to have those revised to the DS.  I spent a lot of time on the revision board prior to surgery and did not see anyone who had the DS that needed it revised to a different surgery.  

Again - this was my reasoning that I made this decision for myself.   . 

Please feel free to PM me if you want to know anything else.  

Talk to you soon

John

OK, sounds like you have a couple of concerns...

1.  As a general rule, most doctors hate paperwork.  I got so tired of waiting for my letter that I just wrote my own.  Yes, I really did that.  My doc has a very good sense of humor and was not offended.  He happily signed it.  I just pretty much wrote out why I needed it complete with co-morbids that would be helped by surgery.  I also included a paragraph about what all I had done to prepare myself for surgery and what I planned to do to afterwards to ensure success.  PM me with an e-mail address and I'll send you either a copy or a duplication.  I have it scanned but can't find it in a saved Word format.

2.  As for the DS...  I researched all the surgeries.  For me, I knew the lapband just wasn't for me.  I thought my only other option was RNY.  However, I have very bad arthritis and need a knee replacement.  My ortho surgeon would not do it unless I lost weight. In the meantime, it still hurt.  No aspirin, Motrin, aleve, or NSAIDs of any kind with the RNY.  I didn't like the idea of altering my stomach shape and food getting caught.  I also was afraid of dumping from sugar.  Now I'm more of a salt girl and would choose chips over chocolate, but an occasional sweet is nice.  Yes, the RNY doesn't make everyone dump, but it sounds horrible from what I've read about it and I just know I would dump.  I'd have to take vitamins with a RNY, so I just take them with my DS.  The risk for ulcers is higher with RNY, I think although I could be wrong.  Anyway, it is very difficult to scope the RNY pouch.  No fluids  for a time before and after eating.  Tiny bites.  The DS seemed to offer as close to normal eating as I thought could be had with a WLS.  It just made sense to me to preserve as much normal stomach as possible.  So why not just the sleeve gastrectomy?  Well, my BMI was 52 and that is Super Morbid Obesity.  The DS is very good for that high of a BMI.  I was afraid of re-gain with just the sleeve. Sure then I could get the second DS part.  But 2 major GI surgeries?  No thanks.  In essence I did get two, but I got them at the same time to work together at the same time.  The only other major surgery I'm planning on is my knee replacement

This is a very personal decision.  Don't do anything until you're sure about what you really want and think you can live with.  We are very blessed here in TN to have all options available in Nashville with excellent doctors and hospitals.  Can you make another trip to Cookeville this Saturday?  We're having lunch again and you can talk to us some more.  Amy will be there with her lapband and she's just great about sharing her experience.  It's open to everybody so maybe we'll have some RNYers, too.  See "Upper Cumberland October Lunch" thread.

Not sure if you're interested in ALL the different surgery choices, but I can tell you why I chose the RNY instead of lap band or others.  I knew a woman who had the lap band and lost 50 pounds quickly.  One day she said she needed to go in for a fill but she was going to wait until after her trip to Vegas next week.  Right there I knew that she was playing around with the process.  That was last year and she has not lost another pound.  I am the type of person who would do the same thing.  If there's a way to play with the plan, I will.  So the lap band was out for me.

I was pretty sure I wanted the gastric sleeve, but in talking to the surgeon, I learned that there is no dumping with the GS.  I know most people don't want to dump - neither do I, but it is one more tool to keep me on the right path.  I won't eat things I shouldn't if I know I'm going to dump.  Also, the GS doesn't have the malabsorption issue, which I also thought of as one more tool to help me lose as much weight as possible.

I had my surgery a month ago and have lost 33 pounds, have had no dumping or food issues at all so far.

Good luck with your surgery process!

Thank you so much John, Carol and Linda for your responses.  It is interesting to see why people chose what they chose.

Good news for me, I finally got the letter and 5 years medical records from my Dr today.  As I am such a worry wart now my thoughts are that it won't be enough for the Insurance company. LOL

But, I'll not (try not) think those thoughts.  Looking forward to Psych Eval on Friday to get that done. 

Again, thanks for responses.

I'll keep you posted

Rhonda

p.s.

I am filling out the paperwork for Dr. Houston, included with it was more paperwork asking if I want to be part of research study.  Are any of you part of the study, if so what does it entail?

The reason I had the DS was a pretty simple one. I was addicted to food and I had to be stopped. The DS has the best long term success and I could eat a bigger variety of foods, without worry. I didn't want to dump, if I want a piece of chocolate I eat it and I don't crave and obeses about food anymore. I just don't eat whiteflour or pasta or more than one bite of chocolate. I also don't eat bread right now , because I'm not at goal. When I do get to goal , I will eat whole wheat or whole grain breads or pasta.

This is my reason and my story, I only wanted 1 surgery and that was that. I made the perfect choice for me.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.