Post by kat44 on Feb 19, 2012 15:38:31 GMT -5
Hi. I am new to this site. I was directed here from the OTHER site.
I was banded in April 2008. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. I had struggled my entire life with weight issues. Was made fun of all through elementary school, suffered from low self -esteem as a teen and young adult. I would gain and lose, you know the whole yo-yo dieting thing but I could never keep the weight off. I never had the type of health insurance that would cover bariatric surgery so I saved up enough money and flew to Mexico and got my band. I had a great experience. I have no regrets about choosing Mexico. The regret I have is choosing the lap band! The first year I did fairly well with weight loss. I got my fills and I lost about 75lbs. I maintained between 190-195 for 2 years. It wasn't my goal weight but it was better than being 270! My band was always "fickle". I would get tight then loose without a medical adjustment. One day I could barely keep down liquids and a few days later I could eat a 3 course meal. At one point, I got very inflamed and irritated where I was throwing up everything. I was in so much pain I ended up in the ER. I got so fed up with being in pain and trying to figure this device out that I went and got almost all the fluid taken out of my band. In a matter a just 4 months, I put back on all the weight I had lost plus 10 more lbs!
So now that you've heard my story, I want to know what everyone thinks about me getting a revision to the DS? I've already started consulting with surgeons but one of the biggest questions they are asking me is "Why the DS and not the sleeve?" I know the DS is the most extreme of all the options but from the research I've seen, the DS has been the most successful long-term. I do not want to be a WLS failure again. I need all the odds on my side. When I look at my history of being over-weight even as a small child it seems like I am a good canidate. Genetics are not in my favor. At 5'3", the lowest weight I can remember being at EVER, was 178! The smallest pants size was a 14 and believe me, that only lasted 5 minutes. I've never been a healthy weight. This just seems to me, I need not only restriction, but malabsorbtion as well to be healthy long-term. I know the DS means a lot of commitment to taking vitamins etc but I'm willing to do that for a best quality of life. I just can't accept myself as being a "fat girl" the rest of my life.
I hope this comes accross the way I hoped. Give me all your thoughts...I'm open!
I was banded in April 2008. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. I had struggled my entire life with weight issues. Was made fun of all through elementary school, suffered from low self -esteem as a teen and young adult. I would gain and lose, you know the whole yo-yo dieting thing but I could never keep the weight off. I never had the type of health insurance that would cover bariatric surgery so I saved up enough money and flew to Mexico and got my band. I had a great experience. I have no regrets about choosing Mexico. The regret I have is choosing the lap band! The first year I did fairly well with weight loss. I got my fills and I lost about 75lbs. I maintained between 190-195 for 2 years. It wasn't my goal weight but it was better than being 270! My band was always "fickle". I would get tight then loose without a medical adjustment. One day I could barely keep down liquids and a few days later I could eat a 3 course meal. At one point, I got very inflamed and irritated where I was throwing up everything. I was in so much pain I ended up in the ER. I got so fed up with being in pain and trying to figure this device out that I went and got almost all the fluid taken out of my band. In a matter a just 4 months, I put back on all the weight I had lost plus 10 more lbs!
So now that you've heard my story, I want to know what everyone thinks about me getting a revision to the DS? I've already started consulting with surgeons but one of the biggest questions they are asking me is "Why the DS and not the sleeve?" I know the DS is the most extreme of all the options but from the research I've seen, the DS has been the most successful long-term. I do not want to be a WLS failure again. I need all the odds on my side. When I look at my history of being over-weight even as a small child it seems like I am a good canidate. Genetics are not in my favor. At 5'3", the lowest weight I can remember being at EVER, was 178! The smallest pants size was a 14 and believe me, that only lasted 5 minutes. I've never been a healthy weight. This just seems to me, I need not only restriction, but malabsorbtion as well to be healthy long-term. I know the DS means a lot of commitment to taking vitamins etc but I'm willing to do that for a best quality of life. I just can't accept myself as being a "fat girl" the rest of my life.
I hope this comes accross the way I hoped. Give me all your thoughts...I'm open!
I think for all the reasons you stated so clearly are exactly why the DS is the road to go. It's not just about a high BMI; it's about chronic obesity, metabolic issues. I just revised from the RNY to the DS with Dr. Keshishian in December. The heartache you experienced is something I many others share. The reason the bariatric/surgical community at large calls the DS 'radical' and should only be performed on severely morbidly obese is largely because of the complexity of the duodenum tissue. It's the most sensitive, difficult tissue in the human body. Factor in revising from another surgery, and there's more involved. I actually know even more about my RNY now that I've had the DS revision.
