ObesityHelp

I had stage 3 kidney disease due to diabetres pre DS. Over the last 2 and a half years my kidneys have greatly improved. What you have written is very frightening. Please post any additional information that you find about the DS related kiidney damage. I would very much appreciate it.

OH ate my first post so if this comes up as a duplicate post, you'll understand. :)

I second Sharon's post about having your doc consult with Dr K. I don't understand how reversing your DS would help your situation. Please keep us posted though. I hope they get you sorted out so that you have the best possible results.

--gina
 

 I am so sorry to hear you are having to go through this with your kidneys. I am pre-op for DS. I do not know anyone personally that has had this happen to them but I have read it in the research that it can happen for RYN & DS

Best wishes
Auburn

 I have thought about it a lot too. I just spent the last 4 years caring for my mom, and ended with the rest home experience. There are vitamin protein shakes, if I cant chew, or swallow pills. Atfter this point, there's not much time left any way. Live now is a great perspective. Thats why I had the D.S. in the first place !!!

Hello, so sorry to hear about your friend. I had a DSS 8 years ago and now face stage III kidney failure with a gloomy outlook of total failure in the near future. The kidney specialist want me to have a reversal. I am not willing to have a reversal for two reasons, I am older 68, and I know how dangerous a reversal is on the best day and I am unwilling regain 178 pounds. I was alreay near death at 345 lbs and how can I say this, I was desperate having dieted all my life from age 11 to 60 and having mixed results at best. I have always been athletic and considered myself fat and fit until I reached 300 lbs. There was nothing and no one including myself that could stop the malignant weight gain I had. I had ruined my metabolism by the years of dieting and regaining. My only hope was gastric bypass and I grabbed on to it. I lost the weight and took care of a plethera of symptoms I had; high blood pressure, water retention and edema, COPD requiring 2 liters of o2 each day, knee pain, etc. I am sorry about your friend, and there are dangers to this or any surgery. I hope your grief lessens over time.

You have solid arguments & many choose that route, it's always a process of weighing pros & cons and making a personal decision. 

On the other hand, I think you read a little much into my post.  My intent was simply to point out some of the pitfuls of not going through insurance.  I chose not to myself.  I did not mean to imply that losing weight wasn't important or that everyone should be able to do it on their own.

OK, I love my husband!!! I just called him and rambled about all of my fears and he really put my mind at ease. I am always such a worrier and he is always so calm...opposites really do attract :)

Thanks everybody....I am still nervous, but I am confident I can figure it out. Reading labs isn't all that difficult being that it states what your number is, and then it states the range that is considered "normal" so it doesn't take a genius.

So many things are going through my mind. In my heart I know this is the best surgery for my long term goals but this littl voice in my head keeps giving me all these concerns...like what happens if I lose my insurance down the road, how would I pay for labs and bone density scans?? And what happens when I become old and feeble minded and i cannot remember to take my pills so I am having to rely on other people? Even, now don't laugh, but what if some crazy major apocolyptic disaster happens and all the many, many vitamins that are required to stay alive become unavailable to me (I know I sound like a loon, trust me i do) but knowing I sound like a loon doesn't quiet the voice in my head feeding me these worries. I'm really not asking for anybody to tell me that these things are not of concern, I am really just venting and getting what is inside my head, out.Sometimes I think a VSG would be so much easier, less worries, but I also know I suck at dieting and I am looking for long term health and happiness. I don't want to have to count calories for the rest of my life....thanks for letting me vent. Only you guys understand where i am coming from.

I think Ungson's total cost (all professional's fees & hospital fee) is $15k for the DS.  He's the only one I would go to in Mexico.  It's a lot of money & if it is possible, I would wait & jump through insurance hoops.  One of the reasons is if you have any complications from an uncovered service, your ins company will likely fight with you to cover it.  Ditto for check up labs if its coded as surgical malabsorption.  If you fight for the DS & win, no probs on coverage.

I hope today is going better for you, Yorkie.