What Ronda & Pam said. Dr. Houston is a truly excellent surgeon. He is also very concerned about his patients post-op, their progress - or lack thereof - and their compliance. Once you have whatever surgery you choose, if you choose to have WLS, Dr. Houston and his staff provide fabulous support. It's up to you to follow your post op guidelines.

All that said, lost and confused is not a place from which to make a decision that will affect the rest of your life. Step back, take a breath or ten and start educating yourself. Dr. H can't - won't - make the decision about what kind of WLS you have. He will inform you of the risks and benefits and tell you what you need to do post op to be successful.

You might try this approach - gather as much info as possible, look at your eating habits, look at the different requirements for all the surgeries available and then write up a pro/con list for each one. That should give you a place to start making a decision on whether you want WLS at all, then if you do, it will help you later to decide which WLS.

As for info gathering, read posts on the forums on OH - all the different surgery forums including the Revision board (People who have a 2nd surgery to revise from one type to another like Band to RNY or DS, VSG to DS, etc.). Also read some other websites - I had the DS so can only offer dsfacts.com & duodenalswitch.com. Some of y'all who had other procedures chime in here with legit and informative sites about your procedures. There are also Yahoo groups on WLS.

Dr. H responds best to people who have already educated themselves about their surgical options. He's not a hand-holdy kinda guy (I secretly think he is under the surface but hates anyone to know it LOL). Get your ducks in a row, then go see him again. Anything I can do to help, let me know. Don't forget to breathe!!

Your insurance will not cover a sleeve - not as a one time procedure and not as the first part of a staged duodenal switch. I was 95% sure of this before Dr. Houston asked us to check again, we verified it on the policy. That is why he was so quick to tell you they wouldn't cover it. If we send a request for a procedure they do not cover, it delays the process tremendously as they deny it. If you have any specific questions about the insurance portion, please call our office at 615-342-1231 and ask to speak to the financial counselor. Have you attended a support group yet? If not, go to a few and ask why they chose the procedure they did and if they had it to do over, would they make the same choice?

Good luck and hope to see you soon!

Dr. Houston is a surgeon and a very good one. The eating and all the insurance things are left mostly up to you and his staff. You need to see what your insurance will approve , and then you need to decide what kind or if you want to have surgery. When I went to see him , I had researched every surgery and I knew exactly what kind of surgery I wanted, and exactly how big I wanted my stomach and common channel. No doubt, this is a HUGE decision. and it ii is YOUR decision. Read and read and then read some more. 

I know you feel lost and confused right now, but to me I feel like you were expecting all quick, easy and ready to go answers. The Dr was just trying to inform you of every surgery, procedure and what the risks are, thats part of his job, even if you do think you know all about it. Honestly I dont feel like you do know enough right now. As far as you thinking the Dr is trying to scare you out of a procedure, no he just wants you to understand and be prepared. Its not simple at all none of it! As far as him to get the insurance to approve you its not his job, he can sign some papers stating that you meet the requirements needed to be a candidate for the surgery, but you also have to make sure that you meet all of the other guidelines through your insurance before they will approve, which may mean a  6 month Dr supervised program or a 3 month program. You need to call your insurance and see whats required from you to get approved for any WLS, and then you need to see what your insurance covers of the surgeries. Once you have this information go from there.

You said he kept going over complications blah blah blah.  The "blah blah blah" part makes it sound as if you don't care about anything other than just having someone hand it to you on a platter and make it easy.  People say surgery is the easy way out...  but nope.  It's a hard way in, its a hard way through...  and the thing is, there is no end.  It's for a lifetime.  This is serious business.

The information he gave you is enough for you to think and ponder on.  Then, you have to come to a conclusion based on what the differences are in the surgeries.  For example, if you don't want to be re-routed, cut on, etc., you may opt for the lapband since there is no cutting of the stomach.  Also,  it can be removed, unlike the other procedures.  If you want dumping and the ability to only eat a little, you might want the RNY.  I can't speak for the benefits or disadvantages of the other surgeries (DS or Sleeve) because I dont know enough about them.  John and Tammy can help in those 2 areas... but, what are you willing to live with?  What do you need to be successful?

As for the doc not asking about your eating...  He isn't concerned about that because at this point, you should understand that eating as you know it right now...  will be changed dramatically after wls!  Are you ready for those changes?