Hey, old timer here with some questions.....

I was to have the DS in August of 2006 (same week as Julie R....Hi Julie!!!!  I remember Diana Cox too....hi girlies!!!!)  But I digress..... My dr just performed the VSG with the intention of doing the switch after a few months; said it was too risky to perform the surgery due to scar tissue and a hernia.  Long story short, as I was losing great with just the VSG and decided to not have the switch. 

 Well fast forward 5 years and I still have the restriction, but I still want to eat; I'm still living on a diet....and I'm dealing with trying to lose 30 of the 150 lbs I lost.  Gain was a combo of Lyrica and emotional eating rearing it's ugly head.

 Not sure any surgeon would want to touch me as I developed blod clots in my lungs during hernia repain and TT, but has any one heard of doing the second part of the switch 5 yrs later?  I originally chose the DS as I thought it would allow me to eat without rules and regulations.  Is this truly so.  Or are carbs the enemy???   I also realize a committment to taking vitamins and supplements and having labs drawn is part of the commitment.

I'm a bit babbly...not very focused....sorry...haven't posted here in many years.  But, has anyone heard of someone being switched after 5 years of the sleeve and what is the expected outcome.

 Many thanks...and good to see some familiar faces!

 

No reason why not!  It shouldn't matter how long you've waited your bowels are unmolested as it were so there won't be any issues with taking down loads of scar tissues and trying to make a go of a missing pylorus.  I suppose it comes down to if your insurance will come to the party.

Carbs (well white flours ones for me) make me **** through the eye of a needle but first I'll gas the place like a Japanese subway attack.  It is vile for anyone in the vicinity.....so I do it in private when I'm feeling dastardly.  Carbs also help you stop weight loss.  If you want to lose cut them down to say 50grams a day.  I however am a ******g hypocrite and eat tons of them every day so its a case of do as I say not as I do.

I.5 years out and I eat what ever I want and maintain a weight of 73-74kgs.  I would like to drop down to 68-70kgs but I'm a bint and I'm trying to put on muscle as well so that isn't going to happen.

As for vites, they are a constant source of concern.  Not only will you have to watch them like a hawk and not miss doses but you'll have to be very proficient at reading your lab values and titrating your doses to meet your bodies demands.  Even after doing this you may need regular infusions as some of us just cannot utilise our supplemented iron.  It is a turkey shoot some times. 

I'm not trying to discourage you simply wanting you to know that adding malabsorbtion frees you to eat like anyone else without dieting but it comes at a steep price.  I'm happy to pay it but it bares mentioning.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the info.....I truly appreciate your candid reply.  You have a wonderful way with words and love your accent!!!   ;o)

 Hi Linda!!

Good to see you hanging out here again.   You've done amazingly well with the tool you have, but what you are seeing happen now (late regain is the term, I think) is exactly why the VSG is demonstrating some weaknesses  as a long-term solution to morbid obesity.     I do not know much about the ins and out of qualifying for the second part of the DS, but the best person to start with is Gagner, and my advice would be to be assertive about what you need.     If he doesn't give you the answers or support you want, then turn to another vetted DS surgeon.

Our Kirmy has, as usual, wonderfully stated the good, bad and ugly of the switch portion of our surgery.    Like her, I get away with murder in regard to the crap I eat, and sometimes pay the price for it.    If I do notice a few pounds on the scale, I cut back on the carbs a bit and it goes back down.

Good luck, and do keep in touch!

Hey Julie!!!

You look wonderful and your stats are awesome!   It's so nice to come bye and see familiar faces!  I believe I received an email sometime ago from Gagner that he was relocating to Canada.  He was always approachable, so think I'll look for the addi and drop him a line and get some feedback from him.

All the best!

I did the 2nd part of the DS six years after having just the VSG (personal choice, btw). I still have great restriction. One of the things that is necessary to understand is how slow the weight loss could be compared with a virgin DS or RnY revision to DS. Mine has been slow and steady and lost 60 lbs in a year. I'm compliant with vits (yay vitalady's plan + mods), but still ended up getting iron infusions. My multiple infusions probably have more to do with the 3cm fibroid than with the DS lack of absorption. I'm working on that problem now.

Because I still met the criteria for WLS, my insurance paid for the 2nd part. Just had to do all the hoops again (psych, blood tests, ekg, 2 year diet diary, etc).

Best of luck on this part of the journey and hope to hear from you again!

Hugs,
Ratkity

Thanks Ratkity...I wasn't sure if the switch was performed that much after the initial sleeve.  And thanks for reminding me that compliance is of utmost importance.  It's one of the reasons I reconsidered having the second stage of the DS.  Not sure why, but even now, I find it a huge tasks to take a multi and calcium every day...

I truly appreciate your input here!  Best wishes!

I can't tell from the specifics of your post, but Linda, are you currently obese?  If not, I think you will have a hard sell on your hands with a surgeon and your insurance company getting part 2.

Based on the fact that you mentioned 30 pounds and have already had a TT, I'd guess you're perhaps overweight?  Do you think you can maintain your current state or is your weight just going up?

Currently I'm considered obese.  At my goal weight I was considered overweight.  I was comfortable at that weight (165) and it was the goal weight my surgeon and I set for me.  Over time 30 lbs came back...about 10 from Lyrica, the rest my big mouth.

I'm presently trying to wean off the Lyrica to see if the PHN pain continues.  I want to see if the Lyrica is hindering my weightloss. I'm feeling very frustrated.  I seem to lose 6 lbs of water and then stall.  That frustration has brought me to rethink the surgery choice.  I don't even know if I would be a candidate...during hernia and TT surgery I developed clots in my lungs...spent a week in ICU, needed blood transfusions. 

So....that's where I am at.

 

Hey Linda,
From what we've read here, the time delay changes the speed in which you lose....  but is still effective at assisting you in maintaining a loss.  Glad to see you back....  Gagner just presented at a conference last week, and I think he's in Canada....but you might want to check his opinion and have him refer you to someone local...    Mary C