New Here

[nath]

I have ;Dreceived some great help on OH. I have heard that a lot of you have come to this board so here it I am
and I am now at the end of the road to do a revision from VSG to DS. Waiting on the result from the Peer to Peer and hoping for good news. My Surgeon (Dr Sudan at Duke, NC) has scheduled my surgery for the end of Frebruary and preop in two weeks. I would love to hear from VSG to DS and their stories. I know that my sleeve has stretched so I am thinking that the best thing to do would be to re-sleeve it. Can anyone give me some info or point me to the right direction for research for VSG to DS??? Of course I will be talking to Surgeon about all that but trying to be as prepared as I can.

Thanks, Nath

[So Blessed]

Welcome, Nath!
You're in the best possible place to get good advice from the vets. Best wishes.

[keliblue]

welcome aboard, you've come to the right place

[nath]

Thanks you!!!!

[terilynne]

Welcome to the Board

[Band to DS]

Hello!

I'm glad that you came here and I hope that your peer-to-peer review goes well. I'm pre-op for a lap band to DS revision, so I can't really help with your specific questions. Hopefully someone will have info for you.

Shelli

[Gail R]

Good to meet you and welcome. If you haven't yet discovered it, read DSfacts.com and come back to ask any questions you have.

[annaleigh]

Welcome and take Gail's advice. Get thee to dsfacts.com

[zix]

Welcome Nath!

[Girlrocker]

Welcome! I'm an RNY revision to a DS. It's possible you could be re-sleeved in addition to the bowel switch, but that will depend on many variables personal to you. Right, would be a good to have more knowledge, info before you speak to your surgeon next. Definitely go to DSfacts.com, and you can check here, page back for VSG to DS posts. Wishing you well!

[reynolds4]

Welcome!

[teetster]

Hi Nath! I tried to reply to your post previously, but for some reason my message has not shown up, so I will try again. I am also a VSG to DS patient of Dr. Sudan. I had my DS done in August 2011.

Long story short, I developed horrendous complications following my DS, not the fault of Dr. Sudan. I knew going into the surgery that I had terrible scar tissue from previous open incision abodiminal surgeries. What we didn't know was that my pancreas was adhered to my stomach/intestines and had to be separated in order for the DS surgery to proceed. Dr. Sudan knew how much I wanted/needed the DS and proceeded with surgery even after he saw what a mess I was.

I ended up in the hospital for months as I developed infectious necrotizing pancreatits. I required additional surgery to clear infection. I suffered severe abcesses, drain tubes, wound vac,TPN, etc.

I say all this not to scare you or anyone else considering VSG surgery, but to let it be known that it is not always as easy as "just adding the second half of the surgery later down the road" if the VSG doesn't work out (a common misconception). I thought that the DS would be an easier surgery for me as I already had half of it done. I was WRONG.

I should have had the whole DS to begin with. The VSG just wasn't enough for me. Anyone who is on the fence considering which surgery to have, VSG or DS, should really think about it before they choose to have just the VSG. Especially if they were like me, insulin resistant, PCOS, etc...

Even with all that I have been through, I am still very happy to have my DS. I don't think my complication is very common, but just want folks to know that these things can happen with revisions, even VSG to DS revisions.

I have just recenty been able to return to work part time and feel that my body is finally starting to settle down. FYI, Dr. Sudan would not resleeve me. He stated that my sleeve was still smaller than he would make his DS patients sleeves (even 4 years after my VSG my stomach was still smaller than he cuts his). He will check you out once you are under in surgery to see how big your sleeve really is. I am now glad he didn't resleeve me as I have difficulty getting enough protein in. If he had made my sleeve smaller I can't even imagine how difficult it would be.

Dr. Sudan is awesome, and I owe my life to him. I have no doubt that had I been anywhere else but in Durham with him, I may not have survived the complications I developed after my DS surgery.

I wish you the best of luck, you are in excellent hands. I have just recently been able to say thank you to Dr. Sudan. I was so sick for so long, that I couldn't say thank you. I had extreme buyers remorse, and honestly thought I was going to die. I was scared to death. I can tell you now that it was all worth it. For the first time in a long time, I have hope. The DS has given me hope when I thought all hope was lost.

[sherbearmama]

Welcome!

[nath]

Thank you so.much teester. I am glad to hear you are finally getting better. I wish I would have gone straight to D's myself instead of having to have 2nd surgery.Dr Sudan told me that my sleeve has stretched but I don't know if he would consider reslerving now.are you able to loose weight?

[teetster]

Hi again Nath! Yes I have definitely lost wieght since my DS. I have now lost 91 pounds. Pre DS weight was 270, now I'm at 179. I was worried if I would be able to lose very much since I had the VSG four years ago, but it is working! My pre VSG weight was 325. I seem to still be losing too. It goes in spurts-for three weeks I won't lose anything, then all of a sudden I will drop 6 pounds. I have stuck to high protein, low carb. I'm basically following the same diet I did with the VSG, just bumping up my protein even higher. The difference is that now it's working! Dr. Sudan has been very pleased as he was not sure how much I would be able to lose as a two stage DS'r. When I was researching/deciding to have the DS I could not find many people in my situation, with the VSG and DS being spaced so far apart. I didn't know if It would work or not; I really was going on a hope and prayer that it would. I am now 5 months out and so far it is working well.

[Sandra C.]

Best wishes for a safe surgery!!!