Question for anyone who has had their DS done
I am four and a half years out, and while life certainly isn't perfect, it's a darn sight better than it was before.
From my high weight, I've lost about 120lbs. I'm in a size 10 (or 8 or 12 or 6 or 14 depending on manufacturer & cut). My high cholesterol is gone. My insulin resistance is gone. I have developed hypoglycemia which means I have to make sure I eat regularly, and I carry food with me everywhere. About 2 years ago, my ferritin tanked, and I had to have iron infusions. I had one series, and haven't needed them since.
I work out 2-3x a week, do yoga, rock climb, ride a motorcycle. I do have bouts of gas now and then, but the only time it really can be uncomfortable is when I fly. The depressurization crossed with my incisional hernia means that I bloat on long flights, and end up going to the lavatory to "let it all out". And yes, there are times the odor of my BM's is related to a toxic waste dump. Not all the time. mind you, but it does happen. So - I keep Febreeze on hand or Zero Odor, and carry on.
I was living in Pensacola, Florida when I had my DS. Like several others, I could have had the RNY paid for by insurance 2 miles from my house, but I was fortunate to have the time & means to make a different choice. I chose to fly to Brazil, self-pay with Dr Marchesini, and get a DS. I even flew around a hurricane to get there.
There are small prices to pay along the way - vitamins & supplements can be expensive. I spend about $100/month on them. I likely would not have needed the iron infusions if I hadn't had the DS, nor do I think I would have developed the hypoglycemia. I'm a blood-work nazi, calling my doctor "do you have my resuls" "I don't see PTH on the lab reports" "Isn't it time for me to check (some lab) again?" I have a ton of excess skin. Some days I feel like you could reupholster a couch with my panni.
But you know what? I don't care. Yes, some people have complications. Yes, you could be one of them. Yes, you could even die from this. But the odds that your health will continue to deteriorate because of morbid obesity are MUCH higher than the odds that you'll have complications.
For me, it was a calculated risk, and if I had turned out to be one of the ones who had issues, I would have at least been glad that I tried. The prospect of the life I have today was worth every bit of money and every bit of risk I encountered.
--BT
From my high weight, I've lost about 120lbs. I'm in a size 10 (or 8 or 12 or 6 or 14 depending on manufacturer & cut). My high cholesterol is gone. My insulin resistance is gone. I have developed hypoglycemia which means I have to make sure I eat regularly, and I carry food with me everywhere. About 2 years ago, my ferritin tanked, and I had to have iron infusions. I had one series, and haven't needed them since.
I work out 2-3x a week, do yoga, rock climb, ride a motorcycle. I do have bouts of gas now and then, but the only time it really can be uncomfortable is when I fly. The depressurization crossed with my incisional hernia means that I bloat on long flights, and end up going to the lavatory to "let it all out". And yes, there are times the odor of my BM's is related to a toxic waste dump. Not all the time. mind you, but it does happen. So - I keep Febreeze on hand or Zero Odor, and carry on.
I was living in Pensacola, Florida when I had my DS. Like several others, I could have had the RNY paid for by insurance 2 miles from my house, but I was fortunate to have the time & means to make a different choice. I chose to fly to Brazil, self-pay with Dr Marchesini, and get a DS. I even flew around a hurricane to get there.
There are small prices to pay along the way - vitamins & supplements can be expensive. I spend about $100/month on them. I likely would not have needed the iron infusions if I hadn't had the DS, nor do I think I would have developed the hypoglycemia. I'm a blood-work nazi, calling my doctor "do you have my resuls" "I don't see PTH on the lab reports" "Isn't it time for me to check (some lab) again?" I have a ton of excess skin. Some days I feel like you could reupholster a couch with my panni.
But you know what? I don't care. Yes, some people have complications. Yes, you could be one of them. Yes, you could even die from this. But the odds that your health will continue to deteriorate because of morbid obesity are MUCH higher than the odds that you'll have complications.
For me, it was a calculated risk, and if I had turned out to be one of the ones who had issues, I would have at least been glad that I tried. The prospect of the life I have today was worth every bit of money and every bit of risk I encountered.
--BT
Six years postop. All co-morbidities are resolved. Lost 101lbs in 1st year. High wt: 277 Surgery wt: 260.7 Currently: 143lbs. I'm Blackthorne99 on MyFitnessPal.Click here to read my blog: Unicorns & Stranger Things
Steph,
this is the best wls --- If you have to pay this is the one to put your money on! I'm 10 months out and it is the easiest way I have ever lost weight. (without killing myself excercising and dieting!). I'm not deprived at all. I do get gas/bloating if I eat simple carbs and some complex carbs.
I started my DS journey 10 months ago at 316.5 and now weight 178 pounds. You have to commit to eating or drinking protein 100-150grams a day and you NEED to take suplements and it could be as little as 25 or as high as 60+ pills a day. You have to budget for that too. Most of the stuff I buy in the states (vitalady.com) Up front it costs but it adds up to peanuts to the amount of food I'd spend in a month (might be 100-150 a month). Still worth it.
Make sure you are not deficient in vitamins BEFORE having surgery . Then you will be a happy DSer post op. I was defiecient pre-op and it caused 10 months of hell for me(not the norm!) But I'm on track and all I need to work on is my iron so I'm very confident the DS is the best thing.
Can you live low carb and high protein?
I take 3 protein shakes a day untill I can eat 4 oz 4xday.(champian whey chocholate stacks). I am comitted to the protein and the suplements YOU HAVE TO BE or you could DIE!
DS all the way!!!
this is the best wls --- If you have to pay this is the one to put your money on! I'm 10 months out and it is the easiest way I have ever lost weight. (without killing myself excercising and dieting!). I'm not deprived at all. I do get gas/bloating if I eat simple carbs and some complex carbs.
I started my DS journey 10 months ago at 316.5 and now weight 178 pounds. You have to commit to eating or drinking protein 100-150grams a day and you NEED to take suplements and it could be as little as 25 or as high as 60+ pills a day. You have to budget for that too. Most of the stuff I buy in the states (vitalady.com) Up front it costs but it adds up to peanuts to the amount of food I'd spend in a month (might be 100-150 a month). Still worth it.
Make sure you are not deficient in vitamins BEFORE having surgery . Then you will be a happy DSer post op. I was defiecient pre-op and it caused 10 months of hell for me(not the norm!) But I'm on track and all I need to work on is my iron so I'm very confident the DS is the best thing.
Can you live low carb and high protein?
I take 3 protein shakes a day untill I can eat 4 oz 4xday.(champian whey chocholate stacks). I am comitted to the protein and the suplements YOU HAVE TO BE or you could DIE!
DS all the way!!!
Just adding my 2 cents here. I was self pay for my DS. My insurance company would have paid a portion of an RNY or LapBand procedure, but that wasn't what I felt would be in my own best interest. So, I dug into my savings, big time and paid for my own DS. I suppose I could have waited to see if my insurance company would change thier ways of thinking, but I felt that I had already wasted so much of my life waiting for the great miracle drug or whatever that would get me to lose..and keep off...the weight. It sucked handing over that money, no way around that, but so far I'd have to say it's the best money I've spent!
Good luck on whichever path you take.
Good luck on whichever path you take.
Duodenal Switch 4/29/09
Loving my DS!!
Loving my DS!!
My DS 
Paying for the DS was the wisest choice in spending money I ever made. It's that simple.
I was a self-pay, due to a weight loss surgery exclusion in the contract my insurer had with my wife's employer, whose insurance we used. That insurance company will pay for a DS, but not if an individual contract has such an exclusion. (Insurance did pay for all the pre-op testing and my post-op follow-ups and continuing labs, etc.)
I spent 30 thousand dollars of our money to go to the best surgeon at the best hospital. I had a textbook surgery, rapid recovery, and not a single side-effect. All my excess weight came off, exceeding even my stated goal at which I would have been staisfied, and my co-morbidities either went away or, in one case, became a minor issue.
Life, post-DS, has been wondereful and, I hate to say this as I know some folks have had complications, it has been EASY. Honestly, I feel like somebody just waved a magic wand over my head and ordered 150 lbs to go away.
I eat what I want, once I get my protein in, and my labs are close to perfect. People point out that vitamins and other supplements are expensive. That's true. But I spend less on food now, so I probably still am ahead, on that score.
There are lots of things we could have spent that DS money on. We have been hurt financially by the Great Recession and that DS money could have made an easy mortgage payment or two in months when things were tight. But I have my life back now and see the world in an entirely new and positive way. You can't put a price tag on that. Money comes and goes. We only get one shot at living, and the DS is, I truly believe, the best way of helping morbidly obese people make it their best shot.
Spend the money. Get a life in return.
Michael
I was a self-pay, due to a weight loss surgery exclusion in the contract my insurer had with my wife's employer, whose insurance we used. That insurance company will pay for a DS, but not if an individual contract has such an exclusion. (Insurance did pay for all the pre-op testing and my post-op follow-ups and continuing labs, etc.)
I spent 30 thousand dollars of our money to go to the best surgeon at the best hospital. I had a textbook surgery, rapid recovery, and not a single side-effect. All my excess weight came off, exceeding even my stated goal at which I would have been staisfied, and my co-morbidities either went away or, in one case, became a minor issue.
Life, post-DS, has been wondereful and, I hate to say this as I know some folks have had complications, it has been EASY. Honestly, I feel like somebody just waved a magic wand over my head and ordered 150 lbs to go away.
I eat what I want, once I get my protein in, and my labs are close to perfect. People point out that vitamins and other supplements are expensive. That's true. But I spend less on food now, so I probably still am ahead, on that score.
There are lots of things we could have spent that DS money on. We have been hurt financially by the Great Recession and that DS money could have made an easy mortgage payment or two in months when things were tight. But I have my life back now and see the world in an entirely new and positive way. You can't put a price tag on that. Money comes and goes. We only get one shot at living, and the DS is, I truly believe, the best way of helping morbidly obese people make it their best shot.
Spend the money. Get a life in return.
Michael
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