Question:
Are Doctors biased towards one surgery over another?

In exploring what type of surgery is best for me, I have spoken to and emailed several surgeons. I am getting the impression that some Drs. prefer the RNY because they think that it is good for us to have to deal with eating in a restricted manner and that doing the DS will allow us to eat what we want and still loose weight. Is there an underlying attitude here implies a reluctance to make wt loss as easy for us as possible or am I being paranoid? PS. I did pass my psych eval    — [Anonymous] (posted on July 28, 2001)

July 28, 2001
Yes, doctors are prejudiced. And I think this is very reasonable. They do the surgery they prefer. I don't think I would want my surgeon to do a procedure on me that he didn't have confidence in and didn't trust. My surgeon does the open rny. He's concerned about the malabsorption in the ds and the patients life long reliance upon supplements. Dumping for me is not a big problem. Yes, I dump with sweets and fats...however, after 40 years of denying myself sweets and fats with constant diets, I don't feel it is a problem to go without. I actually eat more sweets now then I did before the surgery. Just a bite to taste, which I would never allow myself before. I eat healthy, I feel great. Life is good.
   — Anne G.

July 28, 2001
No, you're not paranoid -- You've hit the nail on the head! This is precisely a carry over to the punitive "it's our fault, we have no self-control, deserve to suffer, should suffer, make it as hard as possible, the surgery didn't fail -- YOU failed the surgery" b** sh** that we have heard as long as we've been morbidly obese. These doctors, mostly NOT morbidly obese, like to spout the same lines as the rest of the diet industry. It's one of the reasons why I did not feel I would succeed (emotionally) at least with a RNY. I've been accused of wanting "an easy fix". Gee whiz, doc, we agree that I'm going to have major surgery as a last resort to correct my problem, but I don't want to lose the weight too easily, give me a surgery where I will have to restrict myself for the rest of my life or still be worried about regaining. If I do regain, you can still blame ME that I didn't exercise, diet, drink enough water, grazed, ate sugar, fat, didn't chew everything to a pulp. Yup, I want to lose all my weight and keep it off, but don't make it too easy for me doc. The BPD/DS surgery is a MUCH more surgically demanding procedure -- requiring talent, training and more effort on the part of the surgeon (kinda the reverse for the patient -- requiring less effort to lose and maintain) and there is little incentive for them to extend themselves, unless patients demand better from their surgeons (which they are doing and which accounts for the growing number of DS surgeons and long waiting lines for a surgery date). Think about it. If a surgeon can turn out 10 RNYs at one of the WLS Mills, what incentive does he have to be able to do one or two surgeries a day? If he has more than enough business from uninformed patients (and most people are not informed, not doing research, not on the internet), why should he go through the training to do a procedure that will bring in less money to his coffers? No, better to stay with the status quo and perpetuate the myths. Someone from this site wrote me yesterday saying that a RNY doc told her he doesn't do DS because of the rectal oil slicks. They perpetuate urban legends to justify their limited bag of tricks. The ONLY WLS surgeon qualified to address the differences is one who has taken the time, gained the expertise and done the research to be able to speak INTELLIGENTLY about the bona fide differences. If they only do RNY, they don't know -- they don't want to know!
   — Jill L.

July 28, 2001
RNY has not restricted me from eating sugar, fats, dairy or any other foods. My RNY WLS restricts only the AMOUNT of foods I can eat. I'm 3 1/2 months post-op Lap/rny and down 58 lbs with a BMI that went from 42 to 32. I do not feel deprived in any way. I enjoy eating almost anything I want. I'm finding it very easy now to make healthier eating choices and for once in my life I'm feeling good knowing when to stop eating (with the help of my new 'tool'). One other advantage I have found RNY to have over DS is that I now spend so much less money on food than I did before. My grocery bills and restaurant checks are now so small that I have a lot more money left over to spend on things like new clothes, etc. I never realized how much money I spent on food before my RNY surgery. It feels great to finally control food rather than it controlling me. After saying all this, I do know that everyone is different and what's right for me may not be right for you or someone else. I write this in hopes that my experiences will help even one person in making their decision and I wish you and all pre-ops the best of luck in choosing the right surgery for you. Good luck!
   — [Anonymous]