I can't decide!

I had my initial consult and was told I am a good candidate for surgery, here is a book with the 3 most popular kind of surgeries, however you can have any kind of surgery you want.

So I have to choose? I am not a doctor. I do not know what works the best and what is too risky. How is it that they want me to decide something that will impact my health and future? What if I choose wrong? 

I have done all the testing. Passed psycological elval, did the labs, tests, sleep study. All that is waiting is me to decide. I want do do this, I just can't decide something this big. einy meany miny mo?

gah.

I have pcos, so I want that gone. Not that I want to have any more babies (I was able to carry 3 to term), but I would like the irregularities, extra hair, acne, and all the other mess of it to go away. Which any of the  surgeries should get me that. So I am happy about that.

I want the insuline resistance to go away, so that means I need a malabsorption type surgery. So no sleeve or band. 

so down to rny, DS, sadi, or sips. 

The thought of the rny dumping scares me. Yes it is a good tool to be punished if you eat something bad for you, but if super models can eat cake at a party, so should I after I lose my weight. I do not want a lifetime of not being able to eat something. And I need to work, and can't get sick and live in the bathroom if I overlook an ingredient. 

DS scares me because of the severe degree of deficiency every talks of. I do not want to trade one disease for many more. Teeth falling out, osteoporosis, and the sort. Also the bathroom thing again. And the gas. Remember, I need my job. 

Sadi/sips scares me because they are new, and I like knowing about something completely before I buy into it. There isn't even a section for it one this help site.

Anyone care to help me decide? 

No matter which form of WLS you choose, you will need to take vitamins and minerals for the rest of your life, and get regular lab work done in order to make sure you're taking what and how much YOUR body needs. I know RNYers who take more vitamins and supplements than some DSers. With any WLS you can develop deficiencies if you fail to take care of yourself.

Bathroom issues can occur after any sort of WLS, too, especially malabsorptive surgeries. Go to the RNY board and do a search on 'bad gas' if you don't believe me. (*grin*)

I'm 11+ years out from my DS. I take pills four times a day, but it's no big deal. It's a habit, just like brushing my teeth before bed. I have adjusted what and how much I take over the years, but  my labs are all good, and I am FAR healthier than I was pre-op. My gas depends entirely on what foods I choose to eat, and yes, sometimes I eat fartogenic foods knowing full well I shouldn't be out in public 4-6 hours later. I poop twice every morning, within the first hour or so after I get up, and I'm finished for the day.

I can eat cake, but prefer bacon, given the choice. (*grin*)

Oh, and something else you may want to think about---NSAIDs. Google them---you'll be surprised what all they're in. I knew that I would forever need NSAIDs, because I have extensive arthritis and I just can't function without them. Since they're pretty much forbidden after the RNY, that right there ruled the RNY out for me.

There is a VERY low percentage of people who dump after RNY. I was actually hoping to be a dumper to keep me off ice cream later down the road. Of course you'll be abled to eat a SMALL piece of cake at a party, but that should certainly not be your determining factor in deciding your surgery. To be planning to eat poorly again "later" is surely a recipe for disaster, regardless of the surgery you choose. 

Yes, supposedly only 30% dump, and even if you do dump it doesn't mean you will dump on one or two bites necessarily just if you go too far. Do you have any other problems like reflux or anything else that may effect your decision. I would still ask the doctor if there is any reason he would recommend one over the other for you. You also can post on the RNY and DS forums and ask questions there.

I had been teetering between the sleeve and DS.  I flat out asked my doc which one he felt I'd be more successful with based on how much I need to lose and my medical history.  I guess it depends on how much you need to lose, and what your gut is telling you.  (no pun intended)  My gut was telling me the DS, but my husband really wanted me to stick with the sleeve.  For long term, I went with the DS and that's the one my doc felt was better for me.  I had my DS on New Year's Eve - new year, new me!  You can also do research on the internet and you-tube videos. 

Best of luck to you!

No one can decide for you, including the doctor. They don't live with this surgery for the rest of your life - you do.

That said, I made a list is of things I did, and didn't want, and selected a surgery that best addressed my issues. I'll tell you the main deciding factors for me, but you will want to make a list and see what matches your own issues.

I had PCOS and many related metabolic issues including insulin resistance, and data showed the DS best addressed that. 

I did NOT want to risk dumping, or reactive hypoglycemia, so a couple checks against RNY.

I wanted to retain use of my own pyloric valve, so that limited me to sleeve and DS. 

The clincher was reading the studies on all of the weight loss surgeries and the DS had all the high points for me - it was the most successful at getting the excess weight off, best at maintaining the loss, and best at resolving co-morbidities, especially high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

Drawback to DS (and RNY, if it were still in the running) is the need to take supplements, and likely a lot of vitamins.  Considering I was on so many prescription drugs, some of which I had concerns about long term liver damage, I was happy to trade scripts for the PCOS, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and the awful CPAP machine for breathing at night (by the way, I'm off EVERY ONE of those now!). I take a variety of supplements three times a day, and am thrilled with the trade off.

If it's not possible to commit to the supplements, AND get regular labs, and learn to understand them, then RNY and DS should be out. 

Contrary to what some believe we are not all obese for the same reasons, and wls is not one-size-fits-all.  You need to look at your weight history, how you lose (or not) and look to your heart of hearts what you really think your problem is.  This is not something a doc and do in a 15 min consult.  That's why they left it up to you.

Next, research the hell out all the procedures.  Your doc may not do all of them (few do), but another may.  Compare what you learn about all of the procedures to what you know about yourself, and decide which will give you the best chances for success in YOUR body.  Forget hype, scare tactics and what that girl at church did. 

Look at what got you fat?  Are you a sweets lover and carb addict or do you just love to eat and eat and eat all the time.  For me it was sweets, I could care less about real food, so the only real option to get me away from my obsession with ice cream was rny.  It's worked.  I have been at goal for almost 10 years now.  I do dump and have RH, thankfully, without it I doubt I would be so successful.  I might choose the sleeve if it had been available but I doubt I would be as successful as I am.  I think maintaining your original anatomy is a good idea, I go back and forth about the sleeve because I recently had to undergo a surgery only because I had had rny and there was no way to get to my bile duct except through my excluded stomach. 

Good Luck with your choice.