Where are you ancient and successful WLS recipients ?

Oh do I have some B- ing to do!!!!  Yay!!  

Your wish has been granted!

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/4643335/By-request-SU MMERTIME-B-TCHfest/

The first DSer is alive and doing well last I heard, and he should be about 90 years old now. Many BPDs were revised or reversed, but every once in a while there is a rare BPD or JIB around. The problems with the bpd are why the DS evolved. By the way, Those with DS and RNY can get into real trouble with malabsorption in very few years, if that, if they don't pay attention to supplements, they don't need to be long term. The very long term DSers I have met are very on top of things, and seem to be doing great. 

I know of DSers who are over 10+ years out, but they don't post here any more, maybe only one or two, and you may have to post on the DS board. If you want to find a whole community of them, they exist on other boards.

Could you please cross post this thread there ?It would be WONDERFUL to hear from  even more longterm bariatric surgery patients ... 

I can't do it myself .. for some inexplicable reason they don't like me there 

I had my surgery almost 12 yrs ago. My doctor had been doing it for 25 yrs. then. (he's now retired). I know one woman personally that had it in the mid 70's. she and her twin sister had RNY (we had the same surgeons and he did then what the routine rny is now) and her sister gained all her weight back and died of a heart attack and this woman has kept her weight off (or most of it). She is now in her 70's and has put back on 25-30 pounds from being less active. She still gets food stuck, follows the program - although she told me they were sent home and told to eat small portions then - no after care. Her labs are good. She has an occasional fun size milky way she keeps in her freezer and is active and healthy. She has 8 kids and 35 grand kids. they keep her busy and she still says it's the best thing she ever did. There are many who are farther out than the rest of us - but I think they get on with their lives and don't post here anymore. Many had the surgery before online support groups and wls patient forums so they aren't as visable. Iknow many post ops who are 10-20 years out or more. Most are doing well. the ones that never dealt with the food/compulsion issues are struggling or have gained their weight back, but most are doing well. It's still the best decision I've ever made and I love life as a post op. Although I have forgotten I'm a postie since a couple years out, it still is phenomenal and I'd do it over again in a heartbeat.

Jen 11+ yrs post op RNY

Thanks Jen ! You're an inspiration !  

Your FIL's sister did NOT have a BPD 50 years ago---the very first one was performed in 1979, or 34 years ago. It's pretty likely she had a JIB, a jejeunol-ilieal bypass.

Most of the truly 'old-time' DSers no longer post here. They're on Facebook or other WLS-centered message boards. I know a few that are in the 15-year post-op range.

Thanks Ms. Batt - you may well be right .

 I ate at quite at quite a few buffets with her in Vegas when my husband and I got married and she still eats exactly the way I do post RNY - small plates , protein choices first , thoroughly chews and enjoys every bite .  She also enjoys walking and swimming laps in her backyard pool , though not in any organized or daily way- she just says she enjoys being ABLE to move freely every day .  I don't think she's  in  any pain or has  lllnesses or takes any medication and she wears about a size twelve jean /medium top and looks many years younger than her age of eighty something .  .    

Why did they change that surgery and how is it different from say the DS and the RNY ?  Her daughter who struggled with the same familial tendency to put on massive amounts of weight ( my husband was well over 500 lbs when he had his distal RNY thirteen years ago as is his 30 year old son now )  had an RNY approx  twelve years ago and regained a little more than her mother did...

I did ask what surgery she had had and she couldn't remember the name - there was very little surgical follow up in those days ( thank God for OA  because it helped people gradually ratchet down the food addiction if they were willing) ...

A picture is worth a thousand words, so let's start with some:

See how nothing's done to the stomach, but nearly all of the small intestine is bypassed? Worked pretty good for weight loss, but often led to horrid diarrhea and vitamin/mineral deficiencies. Also a lot of folks had terrible trouble with bacterial overgrowth in that 'blind loop' of intestine. See how the duodenum and jejunum are still directly connected to the stomach, as well as the common bile duct? Since food mixed with bile throughout the alimentary limb, fat was still absorbed at better than 90%, so---no bacon orgies. (*grin*) And no significant reduction in cholesterol levels or resolution of diabetes.

.So---the next step in the evolution, the Bilio-pancreatic Diversion. The idea here was to completely remove from the body the lower half of the stomach, providing restriction, but losing the pylorus. Then, the bile was diverted to greatly reduce fat absorbtion, and finally, bypassing a different section of the small intestine. Better than the JIB---no blind loop, improved management of high cholesterol and diabetes, but still some bowel issues and some malabsorption issues.

Lastly, the DS as we know it today---a subtotal gastrectomy that still preserves the pylorus and all the wonderful things it does. Improved absorption of certain vitamins and minerals due to keeping part of the duodenum in the alimentary limb. Good eating, good management of cholesterol and diabetes, fewer bowel issues, improved quality of life.

I didn't really mean to post a picture of the Sleeve, but I can't figure out how to remove it. (*grin*)

If you really have a Scopinaro BPD, you have a very large pouch, distal RNY. It looks like this:



A true DS (sometimes called a BPD with DS/duodenal switch) looks like this:



 

Wow thanks Ms . Battt!  Cool stuff 

I kind of have this theory that if you use common sense in taking your vites , trying to move and choosing to eat what is normally considered " healthy " post op  that U'll eventually end up  ok no matter what WLS you had .   The body seems to accomodate to almost any insult eventually ... 

for  instance my  Great- Aunt in Law  had no smells or  ever complained about bad digestion or  " paint peeling gas " lol ... 

despite being an RNY er  I had some of those issues in the very beginning ( one time on a closed plane on a transatlantic and another cross country flight HOW utterly embarassing .. now five years post op it NEVER happens anymore ... thank God