Dr. Alejandro Lopez for Duodenal Switch

Please believe me, I speak from experience.  I had my DS in 2002.  There were no such thing as vetted surgeons.  There were very few experienced DS surgeons then and I thought that any monkey with a scalpel could do a DS.  Actually, a monkey could have probably done mine better.  My surgeon is a great guy and a terrific surgeon.  He was the chief of surgery at the University hospital I went to.  There is no question about his adequacy as a surgeon.  BUT, the DS is a very complex surgeon done best by a very experienced, skilled surgeon.  This surgeon had just started doing them, I have no clue how he learned, maybe from a book but not probably not from another skilled surgeon.  Plus he hated the malabsorption part of it and really discouraged away from it.  Because of his distrust of malabsorption he seemed to have put his own spin on the way he did it, at least with mine I was left with a large sleeve and no noticeable restriction.  Add to that no pre op education and virtually no post op follow up and no post op dietary instructions I was a disaster waiting to happen.  I had no idea that eating white carbs would cause intense problems for me intestinally and because of the large volume I could eat I was using the bathroom dozens of times a day, with constant diarrhea and chronic intestinal bacterial overgrowth.  I was sent home from the hospital with instructions to take a multivitamin and 1000 mg of calcium a day and iron if still menstruating.  My yearly labs were very basic, not comprehensive as is needed with a malabsorptive procedure.

I suffered from life altering issues for 8 years capped by nearly 2 years of crippling fatigue that combined with my constant diarrhea had me virtually housebound for years.  Not only was I having constant diarrhea but terrible gas and bloating and horrendous smelling flatulence.  My quality of life was nonexistent to put it mildly.

I desperation I went back to my surgeon begging for a reversal.  I was informed that my surgery couldn't be reversed, only revised so I wouldn't malabsorb as much.  I was also advised to have my sleeve turned into a RNY pouch so I wouldn't continue to gain weight.  I had gained 100 lbs from my lowest weight because of my non stop eating because I was always very hungry.

It wasn't until after I had my revision that I learned that my surgeon had a very bad reputation with the DS with most of his patients having outcomes like mine.  Had I known then what I know now I would have chosen a surgeon with a good reputation, with happy patients how had long term weight loss and maintenance.  Experience does matter.  Had I known if it's importance at that time I would have looked for many happy long term post op patients of his, which of course I wouldn't have found.  I would guess that he probably hadn't done even a dozen or so DS's before me.  I have only heard of one patient in all these years who had surgery with him that has had any form of success with a DS he performed.  In fact, because of all the problems his patients, and the other patients at the hospital experienced they no longer do the DS at that hospital.  In fact there are no surgeons in Oregon that do the DS anymore.  When I had mine there were at least 5 or 6 that I knew of that did them.  They stopped because of liability issues stemming from their poor follow up and education.

All this is a long way of saying that if I had it all to do over again I wouldn't let a surgeon with less then 200 DS surgeries near me with a scalpel.  I suffered from years of discomfort and had a surgery basically for nothing.  Not to mention the Hell I went through with my open revision.  With the DS experience and skill matter.  Yes, it takes a long time to get experience but a surgeon who learns from the best and proctors with an experienced DS surgeon at the helm will get that experience and not at my expense, thank you.  I don't care if he gives you the DS for free.  You may get lucky and get a decent surgery out of him but are you willing to throw the dice at the expense of your health?  I love a bargain but when it comes to someone putting me  under and opening my body I am willing to pay the extra money.  And, I hate to say this, but if you can't afford the best surgeon then how are you going to afford the DS lifestyle of vitamins, supplements and protein?  The DS is not a cheap surgery and even the best bargain hunters will find it costs them a pretty penny to stay as healthy as you can with a DS.  Even with the reduced malabsorption I am supposed to have I have to get in over 150 grams of protein a day to keep my levels above the deficiency level.  Dry vitamins like A, D, E and K can be costly.  I go through 2 cans of protein powder or more a month and I use the least expensive I can find.  Thankfully I have good insurance because of the labs.  I also had to have 2 hernia surgeries because of the open revision that I needed. 

I am not trying to scare you, believe me.  I just don't want you to go through what I went through by not having a good DS surgeon do my surgery.   Don't make the same mistakes I did.

I hope you get all of the information you need so you can feel comfortable with your decision!! 

If I was going to trust anyone on OH with DS questions would be MajorMom.  She might not know this particular surgeon but she knows EVERYTHING you would need to know about the  DS.  She researches all of the time.

YES!!  MajorMom is awesome and I look to her for a lot of guidance. 

At first I didn't have a great experience with one of the coordinators but as I've worked with ALO they have been super nice and helpful in handling the situation. Thank you to the staff who has been emailing me since my last post. Everything has been resolved.