Cruzin the DS Forum.....

 I have often thought of how expensive it would be to eat like a DS'er.  I know that the quality of food that I am eater is better than pre wls and more expensive.  For me, its no problem as I can't eat a lot, but for them, probably eating double what I eat must cost a lot, plus all the vitamins!  I guess I'm a cheapy, but I love getting an expensive meal in  a restaurant and bringing home 3/4 of it and having a total of 3 or 4 meals out of one.  I have to admit, that I am envious sometimes of how much they can eat, then I think about getting to goal in 10 months easily and maintaining fairly easily without the worries of malabsorption long term.  Just got back some perfect labs yesterday :)

I think the DS can vary a lot by doctor and by patient since they have more variables to work with--like the common channel. I know Dr. Jossart told me that he makes his DS sleeve pretty much the same as ours but does a longer common channel in order to reduce some of the, ahem, gastro intestinal issues. Dr. Rabkin, who's the big DS guy is SF, makes the stomach quite large (or he used to anyway) with a shorter common channel. I think they can kind of tailor it to the patient's needs...I seriously considered it for a while. I know 2 people who've had it, both have been hugely successful, one has no or minimal gas problems, while the other, omg, can clear a room with the MOST foul smelling gas imaginable....I lurk over there too, sometimes, and the thing that always makes me glad I stuck with the VSG are the threads on all the labs and vites they need to take. I hate taking supplements and struggle to get all mine in as it is...But if I'd started heavier or had full fledged diabetes (as opposed to being pre-diabetic), I might have gone that route...

L.

Glad you brought this up Frisco.

This post freaked me out the other day :

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/4308199/Eating-with-a -DS-PART-2-Another-Day-in-the-Life-pics/

I could not believe the amount of food they could consume, with Diet Cokes, or whatever on top of that!

They seemed so happy that they just it all out and the next food party begins... and then they just add more bacon grease or fat if they aren't enough!


I was sort of jealous, but sort of worried too.  I dunno, it was all very interesting...

Looking forward to what others say.

There's a post in the main forum right now, something like a day in the life of a DS'er with pictures and all.  It's a **** ton of food.  I don't think I ate that volume pre op!

Laura

Oh and somewhere in that post she states that her food bill is $175 per week...just for her alone!

Laura

She actually said that the bill was for her and two other non wls adults...

They do consume a lot of calories.......but they are not absorbing a large percentage of those.(mostly from fat at 9 cals per gram double that of carbs or prot)  I think they only absorb 20% of the fat cals?  so if they consume 1000 cal from fat they are only absorbing 200, pretty cool!  I think they malabsorb prot too.....so I think many of the DS sleeves are bigger to allow them to eat enough prot and fat, or they might end up looking like starvin' Marvins!  I think they absorb 100% of carb cals.  They can eat more than us......but they are eating calorie "dense" foods  so in reality it is no more than regular people eat.   

I am just amazed by this!!!

By the way...

You are doing AWESOME!!!!   

Many of the DS folks like to "brag" about how much they can eat and like to say how "bad/sad/unfortunate etc" VSG folks are not to malabsorb and not to be able to eat like that do.
I have a hard time wrapping my brain around why I would want to eat more, to malabsorb less to get enough nutrients to be healthy and how that is a good idea on any planet. But Hey that is just me.
I am silly that way. I think that being fully satisfied on normal sized portions of the foods I like to eat is a good thing. I think not having to take several doses of different vitamins/supplements throughout the day is a good thing. I think not worrying which foods I eat which result in atmoic farts  or loose stools or other unwanted side effects is a good thing, but then again that is just me.
I think being able to get to goal in 10 mos and easily maintain that goal without having to eat low fat or low carb or low calorie without having malabsorbtion is a win win for me, but then again that is just me.
Call me silly but I prefer my "inferior" VSG to their "superior" DS any day.

I, too, don't understand the mechanics of being able to eat the volume what was pictured.  I don’t fault those who choose the DS – I completely understand the fear of  gaining the weight back and wanting to do whatever can give you the greatest assurance of no regain.  For me, though, weight loss wasn’t the only thing I was after.   

I have been working on healing my relationship with food  for much of my life.  I have used food to calm my anger and soothe my hurt, which has, in turn, denied me access to the fullest measure and range of my emotions.  One of my goals in having surgery was to give myself more life, not rearrange my intestines so I could continue to drug myself without consequences.

Not being physically able to binge has been an invaluable tool in self healing.  I have been forced to deal with the feelings that come up and find other ways of coping.  This has led me down a path of healing that has been incredibly fulfilling, nurturing and healing.  I would never have sat my butt on a meditation cushion had I not been overwhelmed with feelings that I couldn’t eat away.  Because of this surgery, I am on a path of more compassion, more gratitude and more awareness than I ever dreamed possible. 

I am also hopeful that it is a healthier way to go.  I know research shows that lab animals tend to live longer and healthier on extremely low calorie diets.  We humans may as well, who knows.   I have been very lucky in that my diabetes has been in remission since the day of surgery.  Maybe it will come back, but at least today, my blood sugar is stable.  The only thing I have to take now is a beta blocker for heart arrhythmia and I am taking a third of my former dose. 

 Will I gain weight down the road?  Dunno.  If I continue on this path of recovery and stay aware of my feelings and live life on life’s terms without the need to anesthetize myself, then I am hopeful.