Lil' Scared of DS..... Please help!!!!

The JP drain and J tube are different animals.  Here is the link to the JP drain.  Not all surgeons place JP drains in their patients.

I had one drain and it was a real nuisance.  The nurses had to check the bulb several times a day and drain the body fluids from the bulb into a very small measuring cup and then chart the resulting output.  The output was then discarded down the toilet.  When the bulb got full, it resembled a grenade with a pin attached to it.

My drain was removed by the in-patient bariatric NP a few hours before my discharge from the hospital at 5 days post-op.

I have read on this board about kids pulling on JP drains and trying to pull them out.  Man, does that smart!!!

Hope this helps!

Thanks for all your information.  I have been researching this for the past 4 hours and I see that most DSers are happy with there decision.  Thanks for the stats and links to other great informative sites.

I even watched a couple DS surgeries on YouTube....I must say that didnt help me get more comfortable with the DS surgery.   I want to lose about 130 pounds but I also see that this surgery is hard to get insurance to pay for it.  So for now I will leave it as an option to talk to the Doctor (and wife...damn) about. 

Also..admit it , you guys had to be scared ****le$$???  There is alot that can go wrong, cutting, dissecting, connecting, stapling, stitches, etc:

Well I dont have to make a decision anytime soon, but it is definatley the most desireable WLS.  Ijust dont know if I can take that risk fior those rewards.  I also watched Lap Band and it is so much less evasive and pretty simple.  But with Lap Band you cant enjoy life as much.  Im confused, I need those seminarrs and classes.  I am going to check with my insurance to narrow my options....DS might not even be covered, who knows.

Once again you guys have been great...nobody understand fat people better than fat people.  Or ex-fat people in most of your cases. 

Best of Luck to you and yours in all your endevours. 

      

 The lapband may be "less invasive" but if the band erodes into your stomach the only way to get it out is to cut you open and remove it (check out the revision board). Your band can slip thus not work at all or you can get a leak in the connection between your band and port. The lapband requires fills and unfills and from what I've seen on here from my 5 + years of research is it is pretty hard to "get the sweet spot" and people have to continually go back to fill and unfill their band. If you should lose insurance coverage fills can cost anywhere from 300- 500 per fill. I remembering seeing on here where someone posted that the manufacturer of the lapband acknowledge that the band should be replaced every 7-10 years so you'll have to have another surgery down the road to replace your band. Hopefully someone will come along with the link to that post.

Your choice of surgery is totally individual and up to you but don't let insurance coverage discourage you. If your insurance will cover the lapband and RNY they should cover the DS. As long as you meet NIH criteria for WLS you should be able to get whichever surgery you want. Don't let your insurance dictate which surgery you can get. Do your research and choose for yourself.

I have been fighting for insurance approval for almost 6 years. I was finally approved for the RNY in July but am currently waiting on an IMR (independent medical review) decision from the CA DMHC (Dept of  Managed Health Care) to see whether or not they will overturn my insurance's denial of my DS. 

Make sure you go to a surgeon who performs the DS. Some say they do the DS but when you go in for a consult they try to dissuade you from getting it (bait and "don't switch" surgeons) because they don't actually do it. Attend seminars and speak to actual patients who have had the DS, RNY, lapband and see what their complaints and food issues are. Best of luck to you and good for you for researching all your options.

Keep doing your research and decide how you want to live the rest of your life.   It's a big decision but one I found pretty easy after doing research and meeting loads of people here and in real life that had the DS and was living it up! Loving life and loving the DS.

2 other points I wanted to make to you were DON'T let your insurance tell you what is best for you.  If WLS in general is covered on your insurance then you can fight for the DS!  There are appeal processes to use.   There are loads of peer review studies to use as documentation to fight for the DS as the best WLS option for you long term.  

2nd point is you realize your going to have to travel a bit to get the DS right?   There are no doctors in your immediate area that do it.   You have a few options in Ohio and a few in PA, NJ. NY.

There are a few docs in Dayton OH ... and my surgeon is outside Philadelphia in Abington.  Both of these locations are 5 hrs or so from you.   Not bad in my book when you see some people travel across the country or out of the country for surgery.  

You will need to help manage your after care via email and a PCP or another bariatric surgeon.


Finally, since you mentioned YouTube earlier.  Here are a few of us DS patients that vlog on your surgery and post op life with the DS:

Me - http://www.youtube.com/user/winelover215
Brok - http://www.youtube.com/user/BigLozer08
Britlee - http://www.youtube.com/user/bratlee2u


Cheers!
Tom

Yes it can be quite scary, and now that we are on the other side it may not seem like we were, but I know I was scared big time.  You will be fine, good luck with convincing your Wife!!

Of course I was scared ****less. But I was dying one way or the other. That was my bottom line. So I put my affairs in order, wrote my funeral, etc. and moved forward looking toward life, knowing I was prepared to die if that was how it came.

Listen, please, PLEASE don't fall for that "less invasive" hogwash. If you get a Lap Band, you're getting your abdomen opened up under general anesthesia and getting a foreign object implanted. That is MAJOR SURGERY. You can get ALL the same complications that you could get from any other abdominal surgery.

If you get a lap band, you get some help, MAYBE, in feeling some restriction, and that MIGHT help you stick to the same kinds of diets you've been on in the past. That is ALL you're gonna get from it. Statistics say the average excess weight loss maintained at five years out with the lap band is 50%. With the DS it's 85%.

Here's how that would look for me. I had 240 pounds to lose, weighed 400 pounds to start. Lap band stats would have left me at 280 pounds and on a fricking DIET for the rest of my life. Not good enough, boys and girls. Would NOT have saved my life. 85% with the DS (which I have currently exceeded, but there can be bounceback) would leave me at 196. Not to mention the 98% CURE rate for type II diabetes, which was one of the things that was killing me.

You know what you'll get with a lap band? A diet with a scar. That's all. Can you lose weight on a diet and KEEP IT OFF? No? Me neither. That's why I got the DS.

You forgot to mention that once the LapBand erodes into one's stomach or it slips and they have to get emergency surgery to remove it, the whole term of Less Invasive is thrown out the window.  You can't get much more invasive than your stomach growing around an artificial device and having to hack away at your stomach to get it removed.

Nah, I didn't forget, I just thought I'd cut my choke chain rant short :-p. That damned thing needs to be taken off the market YESTERDAY.

You are doing your research! Good for you! You are taking the steps needed to make an informed decision on what is best for you. You've gotten all the technical answers so I'll tell you about what I went through.

My DS was open. It was a huge success. I have had no complications. I was in the hospital for 6 days. I do not dump. DS'ers as a rule do not dump. I was back to work week 5 it was a desk job.
All WLS procedures carry a risk for complications. Heck, all surgical procedures carry a risk.

For me it was worth the risk. I was 360#'s and miserable. My family was against it as they were afraid of lossing me, but they still supported my choice. Now they are so proud of me for taking the major step I needed to take to make my life healthier.

I have not had my surgery yet, but I am getting the DS. A few things you mentioned that I want to touch upon:

No, I'm not scared ****less. My surgeon has done hundreds of DS procedures and has never lost a patient. He performs all surgeries laparoscopically, and his rate of having to convert to open during surgery due to any sort of complication is less than 1%.

Yes, there are risks. There are also risks with just staying obese and not doing anything about it. There are also risks with driving a car. But you do it because you have to. Instead of getting freaked out by a list of risks, you should find out your chosen surgeon's rate for each of the risks that concern you. A good surgeon will be able to put your mind at ease based on his/her record.

You mentioned keeping the DS an option to discuss with your doctor (and wife, which is also very important!). Just be careful about the doctor thing--many doctors do not know what the DS is, what it entails, nor what the post-surgery care should be. Heck, my doctor actually used to work FOR a bariatric surgeon, and even she didn't know what the DS was! She is very open to learning, though, so every time I go to see her, I share some information, including illustrations of the procedure. Do not let your doctor (or even a surgeon) tell you what procedure to have because they almost all have either incorrect information (particularly in regards to the DS) or an agenda ($$).