RNY to DS apointment with Surgeon

Hi all,
I am really nervous about this appointment. I never lost all of my weight and over the last 8 years have gained back 60 of the 100 pounds I lost originally. My BMI is 38 and I have heel spurs, sever Acid reflux and I know I have osteoarthritis but it is not diagnosed. 

I am not sure if this is enough to really qualify for a second surgery.  I had Etna 10 years ago and now have Anthem Plus. They do not stipulate BMI or co-morbidity requirements. Does it really need to be a revision if it's a different carrier?

Any advise on what to say to the Dr.? I want and will have this surgery bit I do not feel as confident as I did the first time...


Best
Whit

What surgeon are you seeing? There are fewer than 5 in the world qualified to do this surgery. Be very careful.

I hope you at least CONSIDER Rankin and Keshishian who are EXPERIENCED RNY to DS surgeons but since you know so much I'll just wish you well as we do where i am from by saying God bless.

Hi,

I wanted to say I had Dr. Rabkin do my RNY to DS conversion. I had two previous RNY in 2006 and 2009 and like you had never lost all the weight. Conversion surgeries are complex. I had my surgery in March and I am still home on disability because of complications. Just be careful and be prepared for complications because they are much more common in revisions.

Best of luck. Terri

Hi Terri,
If you do not mind me asking what kind of complications did you have? What was your BMI and was your surgery open? My RNY was Lap and I am hoping this will be too. Also do you think the previous sergeries componded your problems? Lastly was the Dr honest with you so you were prepared for what happened.

I hope you are doing better...I should have put that first
Best,
Whit

Whit,

I am much heavier than you. Not sure about my BMI but in 2006 for the first RNY I was 425 and around 375 for the second in 2009. I was 375 (I am 5'8) for the conversion surgery. The revision surgery cannot be done lap and has to be open. I have not read of anyone having a revision from RNY to DS that was not open. LAP to DS I am not sure about. I suspect if you went to Dr. Rabkin it would be open. If you search on this forum there are a lot of pluses actually for the open because of the amount of reworking which needs to be done.

Dr. Rabkin was very upfront about the risks and complication. I just assumed they would not happen to me. I developed a leak which is due to a hole in the stomach. The hole is most likely due to the integrity of the tissue since the previous RNYs. The drains I had moved so the leakage was not draining and that caused all sorts of problems which honestly I do not remember. One minute I was in the ER (I had been discharged that day) and then several weeks later I woke up in ICU. It is very strange to lose several weeks. Because of that backup of guck that was not draining I had kidney problems. I know I had 6 blood transfusions. I say this not to scare you to not do it but to realize that revisions are more complicated and need a surgeon who does them often.

Comparing our experiences is really apples to oranges. Many people have the revision and run into no problems. Find a surgeon you trust and work with them. All the information from Dr. Rabkin's office is set up expecting that people travel to work with him. I just happen to live near San Francisco. People traveling for a revision is very common.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Terri

 Thank you for being so honest Terri I have alot to think about.

how did you find them?

 He is on the DS Website and highly recomended. I meet him tomorrow. If I do not connect with him I will see if I can get in with Dr. Rabkin.