REPOST: Welcome Newbies! Make sure you learn about the DS before choosing which WLS...

Yes, I'm going to repost this from time to time, as newbies who arrive here to start their research of weight loss surgery need to see this.  If it bores you, or makes you feel badly about your surgery choice, move along.  Nothing for you to see here.

Also, please note that the DS option is UNIQUELY available to most CA residents, because the CA Dept. of Managed Health Care (for HMOs) and the CA Dept. of Insurance (for other plans) is STRONGLY in favor of the DS, and if you appeal a denial of the DS in CA, you are almost certain to win on appeal.  In particular, HMOs such as Kaiser and Health Net can be forced to PAY EVERYTHING for an out-of-network, REAL DS surgeon to do their DS.  NorCal Kaiser even has a contract in place with Dr. Rabkin, one of the best DS surgeons in the world, to do the DS for their insureds who appeal to the CA DMHC and nearly inevitably win.

It is that time of year, when people resolve to commit themselves to new beginnings.  For some, it is the time when they finally realize that Resolution #1, “To Lose Weight," is just not going to happen without help, and perhaps that is why you are reading this. 

There are several types of weight loss surgery available.  LapBand and RNY are the best known, but there are others.  The duodenal switch (or DS, or BPD/DS (biliopancreatic diversion/duodenal switch), or GR-DS (gastric reduction with duodenal switch), among other synonyms) is a less well-known surgery, with an over 20 year history, which is becoming increasingly acknowledged to have superior outcomes and easier lifestyles than the other surgeries.  In order to make a fully informed decision about which surgery to have (which is YOUR choice, not that of a particular surgeon!), you need to have complete and accurate information about this option as well. 

Because information about the DS is sometimes not easily available, and because MANY bariatric practices are not competent to perform the DS (it is a more difficult surgery for the surgeon to learn), there are far too many people who end up getting bariatric surgery who never learned accurate information – or any information at all – about the DS.  The Regrets Forum and Revision Forum are full of people with lamentations about this.  Please don’t let yourself be one of them. 

What if you learn about the DS and want to have it, only to find that your surgeon does not offer the DS?  There is an easy answer to this – CHANGE SURGEONS.  You may find that your insurance company SAYS they don’t cover the DS, or only cover it for people who are bigger than you – the answer is to APPEAL their denial.  More and more insurance companies now cover it, and most people win their appeals.  If you live in California, you are almost guaranteed to win such an appeal, EVEN IF YOU HAVE KAISER or another HMO, because the CA Dept. of Managed Health Care believes the DS is the best and will almost without exception overturn insurance denials of the DS.  

Please come over to the DS Forum Message Board and learn more about the DS (Message Board).  Compare and contrast how we feel about our surgeries, how many of us are YEARS out and easily maintaining the highest percentage of excess weight loss, and how we eat -- compared to LapBanders and RNYers.  And there are experienced people on there who can help you find a reputable DS surgeon and help you fight your insurance company if needed.  DO NOT trust the “DS surgeons" list here on ObesityHelp – it is NOT accurate, because many surgeons SAY they do it to get on the list, and then use the “bait-and-don’t-switch" tactic to talk prospective patients into the surgeries that they actually know how to perform. 

No, I make no money off of this posting – I am just Paying it Forward, in honor of those who helped me 6 years ago and led me to the DS when I despaired of ever having WLS, because I knew I could not live with the issues associated with LapBand or RNY.  This is how I express my gratitude. 

Whatever surgery you chose, make sure you are making a fully informed choice.  Do not be one of those *****gret not doing their own research before choosing which bariatric surgery to have.  And welcome to the beginning of the rest of your happier and healthier life!