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

Be very, very careful. There are no known DS surgeons in Pittsburgh. It is lap band heaven out there. If you get a surgeon that says, "Oh, that surgery is too risky, has too many complications, would not be right for you".....blah blah blah....RUN, do not walk, out the door. You need a REAL DS surgeon, and you might have to fight your insurance for the privilege or even pay cash. You can have the DS in Scranton for probably under $20K. Please give my surgeon, Dr. William Peters, a call. 570-969-2527. He will not be able to give you an exact self pay price in the first conversation because every patient's needs are different, but you WILL get an exact number before you sign a contract with him. Tell him I said hi :-). He and his wife are very dear to me.

Thanks but i cant afford that.  I just bought a big house and am in the middle of the adoption process.  

The DS is not listed as an option for bariatric surgical procedure on UPMC's Greenville nor St. Margaret's locations websites (but they have a location in Italy that performs it?).

I don't believe the surgeon you mentioned performs the DS. Beware of someone claiming to do the DS and then getting you in the office and telling you lots of bad things about it (like what is written on the UPMC website--they talk about and show illustration of the BPD, the old Scopinaro procedure that is no longer done due to all the long term problems) so you change your mind to get the RNY instead. If she really does do the DS, then please be sure to keep us posted so we know of another DS surgeon we can refer people to!

I will find out more in depth info at her seminar next month.  Ill keep the info posted. 

Then PLEASE don't believe the Pittsburgh surgeon when you get a song and dance about DS not being for you or similar crap. That happens so often from surgeons who are NOT real DS surgeons that we call it "bait and don't switch" sales tactics. You might have to fight your insurance to get approval for the DS from a real DS surgeon. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is.

I'm almost 12 weeks out.

1. I would like to know who has had complications of the surgeries and what were they?

Duodenal leak 2 weeks out, spent 2 weeks in the hospital for that and lived with a drain in my gut for over a month.  Now I'm having liver issues - elevated bilirubin - which they don't know the cause of, and recurrence of pre-existing reflux/hernia problems.


2. How long were you in the hospital?  Out of work?

I was in hospital 2 days for the DS, then 2 weeks for the leak.  I had planned 4 weeks off, but ended up having to take 6 weeks because of the complication.  I've also had to take additional days here and there due to the leak since then (totalling 13 days so far, and they've scheduled 3 more days of tests for the liver problems).  I only had 6 weeks to take so they're docking my pay now.  I won't get a paycheck for another month at least.   Thank dog for my Christmas bonus!

Having said all that, I don't regret it.  I love my DS!  Eating is so much easier now, my food issues are resolving magically because I'm so satisfied and all I keep track of is protein.  Assuming the liver issue is not big deal, I'll be able to say the DS is the best thing I've ever done for myself.

Every complication you list here is a potential complication of ANY abdominal surgery, not of the DS.

I had zero complications after surgery and continue to do great at just over two years postop. I have to be diligent about my protein and supplements, but it's not hard at all.

I was in the hospital three nights, out the fourth day, which was third postop day. I was disabled at the time, so can't give any off work info.

We don't dump with the DS :-).

I had an open procedure and a scarred up gut, so my incision was about twice the length of the usual open incision, about fifteen inches. It's healed up and nice and white and looks fine. I did get a huge hernia that I had repaired when I had reconstructive surgery ("tummy tuck," a term I hate) this past fall.

You have heard this before, but I will give you a run down on a point by point basis.

Leaks - Whenever you creat an anastamosis (a connection) there is the potential for leaks.   This is a potential complication for both RNY & DS.   Lap-bands don't do that but have their own unique potential problems.   Lap-bands always create scar tissue outside the stomach wall making future revisions complicated.   Also lap-bands can erode into a healthy stomach & create a hole  - more of a puncture than a leak.

Blood clots forming in legs - Whenever you operate, you bleed.   When the body bleeds, it wants it to stop and it does this by getting the blood to clot.  Some clotting is good - like around the incisions, too much is bad  - like in the legs.   This is a risk of ANY surgery, not just weight loss surgery.  It is why, irrespective of the surgery you have, you wear air pressure boots and they get you out of bed asap to walk around.

Pulmonary em bolus or blood clots traveling to the lungs - This can happen with any surgery and is a worst case scenario - a blood clot forms somewhere where you don't want clotting and then a piece breaks off and heads to the lungs.  -- BAD NEWS, but not unique to WLS.

Infection - can happen anytime you open up the body not just WLS
Abscess - internal infection - can happen anytime you open up the body, not just WLS

Bowel obstruction - while this can happen to totally healthy non-wls people, the chances increase when you start moving the intestines around.     There is a risk with both RNY & DS for this.  I do think the DS may present a greater risk here as more work is done with the intestines.  I do not have numbers to back this up and it may turn out there is no difference in risk.  - If someone else has data, feel free to chime in.

Pneumonia - can happen to anyone, but surgery of any kind increases this risk (Actually, it may simply be the fact you are in a hospital with all those sick people that increases this risk)

Problems with healing at incision sites - a risk of any surgery


Kidney failure - Renal failure has some other cause - like a blood clot hitting the kidneys.  It can happen with any surgery.

Injury to the spleen which requires removal during surgery - well duh, tell the surgeon to be careful.   All surgeries run the risk of damage to nearby organs.   It depends on the surgery and how it is being performed.

Bleeding - always a worry when you cut into someone. This is not Weight Loss specific.

Hope this helps.

Peace,

William