Question:
please remind me again why i,m having the ds

My daughter had the ds today. she was in so much pain .i felt so sorry for her . i,m having it on the 15th of jan .i thought i was pretty tuff until i saw her after surgery.she also is a pretty strong person ,but i,m starting to get really scared now. i,m having the ds ,she had the rny.    — linda_1060 (posted on December 28, 2009)

December 28, 2009
I suspect you're having it for many of the same reasons I did, which included giving myself the best chance of losing the most weight while being able to have the most normal eating style afforded by any of the weight-loss surgeries. But DS post-ops are scarce on this q&a board. You'll find more support in the Duodenal Switch forum (above under Surgical Forums), at duodenalswitch.com, and at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/duodenalswitch/ Good luck.
   — Virginia N.

December 28, 2009
It's perfectly normal to be scared right now. You are in a lot of pain right after surgery, but they have great pain meds. You just have to take the meds before your pain gets too severe. Don't try to be a hero. Just stay the course. You need this surgery because you, like me, haven't had success with weight loss any other way. Good luck and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
   — Elizabeth_Ann

December 28, 2009
I had my BPD/DS 6/08... I was at a BMI of 54, I'm now at 24... I had a 58" waist, I now wear size 10 jeans... a year ago, I got back to the gym and was able to walk almost 1/2 mile, last night I ran for 3.5 miles... I have 2 children, 22 and 19, and I intend to be there as they continue to grow into their adulthood... *THAT'S* why *I* had my DS. It is major surgery. You don't go out dancing the next day. I had mine done laproscopically, but it still was a major event. A lot of people have been through what your daughter is going through and what you are planning on going through. You can do it! Talk to the nurses if you're in pain - they have drugs for that ;-) Do your breathing exercises, get up (gingerly) and walk (shuffle) around... *do* stuff as you're able and this, too, shall pass... Think of all the people before you who repeat "my only regret is that I waited so long to do this"...
   — RachelA

December 28, 2009
You know, not everyone has pain. I had RNY done LAP 3 years ago and experienced no pain. Even the nurse acknowledged that I was pumping very little pain medicine. A year later I had a hernia repair done LAP by the same surgeon and was in terrible pain. I don't know why the difference but that's what happened to me. It's like when you had your daughter - the pain was intense but the end result - your daughter - was worth it.
   — Muggs

December 29, 2009
Some people have a very low pain level tolerance, and mine is zero. I actually thought it wasn't too bad. For me, when I had my RNY almost 4 yrs ago, the pain was like I had done about 5,000 situps. If you take your pain meds like you should, it will take the edge off, but of course, it won't make it all go away. just enough to be able to handle it. My sister in law had it done Dec 14, and she was in a lot of pain, but I bet if I were to ask her now, she wouldn't remember the pain. It is kinda like having a baby. That is painful, yet women still do it. I had asked my husband when i got home from the hospital why I had the surgery done again. He replied, "Cuz your fat, and you need it to get healthy". As blunt as it may sound, it was true. The pain is only something you will have suffer through for a short time, being obese is something we would have to suffer for the rest of our lives. If we weren't given this opportunity to fix it. Hope this helps.
   — Kristy

December 29, 2009
I also had quite a bit of post-op pain after my DS in May. I was on some really strong narcotics for a couple of weeks but I'd go through it all again without question.
   — Mike A.