I am pre-op and read something I hope is not true..

Diana gave you fact-based information to counter the bone breakdown thing. My surgeon had a baseline Dexa scan as one of my preop requirements, and he removes the gallbladder routinely. I had no idea mine was problemati****il I woke up and noticed something felt better in that area, literally in the recovery area. *shrug* Anyhow, I'm happy the damned thing is gone. Haven't gotten any stones in the bile duct, which can happen even after the gallbladder is removed.

My surgeon also removed the gallbladder routinely -and mine came out with the DS.  Very glad it did - I passed a gallstone prior to the DS,  which resulted in a very very painful pancreatitis.  Good riddance to that gall bladder.

I had a baseline Dexa scan,  and I have repeated it every 3 years since (I am 11+ years post-op).  The concern is calcium malabsorption which can lead to osteoporosis.  It is IMPERATIVE that you maintain your calcium levels by adequate intake of calcium OF THE CORRECT TYPE and also get your labs done routinely for the rest of your life to check your PTH (along with everything else).

My surgeon did a DEXA (bone scan of the hip iirc)  prior to surgery so I'd have a baseline for down the road. I had gallstones prior to the DS so mine was removed 6 months before surgery. However, he would have removed it during surgery as a precaution otherwise. 

Before you freak out, remove fingers from panic button.

You've got studies below.

My own experience. Gall bladders can die from ANY wt loss or from being obese. At the time I forfeited mine, I was 23, it was 1973. The formula was any 5 of the 6 "F's":
fair
fat
female
flatulent
fertile
forty

I'd just had a baby, so I had all but age 40. Glad it's gone.

Bone loss ALSO occurs with any wt loss. Google bone loss in astronauts. Mine was diagnosed at age 50, 6 years post-op, but I have nothing to compare it to before that. I was already into osteoporosis. My endo dinked around with it for a few years and finally sent me to the (bow and curtsy) the Big Deal Endo at our Univ of WA. She walked into the room and said, "You lose your bones with your 150 lbs, surgery or not." But BEFORE that I'd lost substantially 5 times. Each time wt comes off, I lost bone mass, and of course, not knowing anything, I was doing nothing to prevent the loss except following the American formula of "lotsa dairy". No way to rebuild bone when I was 15, 18, 23, 27, 35 - my major wt losses via starvation.

So, before you hang those stats on ANY WLS, check the stats on the obese population, the morbidly obese, any wt loss at all, rapid being a bit more aggravating.

The main difference between RNY and DS is............ MAINTENANCE. You take the same vites with each, but the doses are higher with DS. DSers are more likely to remain vigilant than RNY because many know what was done. They could, in theory, have far less damage than an RNY who was not guided correctly or got on boards that told them not to worry, RNY is not malabsorptive.

I live with a foot in both worlds.

Choose your surgery, if any, after you do your own rooting around outside our special world. We're all a bit biased.

Not that you'd ever NOTICE, of course.

I am so glad that you all have good info.  I can't wait to read every bit of it.  I don't remember the name, but I think the quote was from a NUT here somewhere.  I read that and had never seen that in the hours and HOURS of research I have been doing and being close to DS surgery, just had to ask!  I am not worried about the Gall Bladder because I am getting rid of that thing with surgery anyway!! Thanks, now of to read the all of the info you just posted.  I also did not see anyone argue with that quote on the post that I saw it on. It is not fun to read something like that after feeling so confident about this surgery being right for me. I hope I did not scare anyone by posting what I read...I just had to find out whay you Vets knew!  Thanks again!

If that NUT was Dana, please don't pay any attention to what she says - I hope she is gone now, after having her ass handed to her both here and on her FB group.  She is astonishingly misinformed, and utterly certain of the rightness of her misinformation.  A dangerous combo.

You can disregard that bit of information from that NUT. She's been throwing "studies" around that do not necessarily say anything useful, and frequently without the slightest regard to DS-appropriate context. She may one day be a good bariatric NUT, but she is brand spanking new to the field and especially to the DS. Let's see how she does several years from now. You will get much better information from the vets here.

Thank you!!  Now anyone have a reply to my mother...  She is worried about my surgery (she is usually negative and it is hard to deal with!) She was bugging me about it last night so I told her this surgery was going to make me healthier.  Her reply was maybe, if it did not kill me first.  I have been in such a funk today over her words.

What is she worried about? Is she the type of person who actually reads and learns from real information? Is she a talking-head, soundbite addict? Can she discern between pseudonews and tabloid bull****

Is this just more of the same old negativity? Might it be a waste of time to try to calm her down?

What is most important IMNSHO is that YOU get very clear about what you are doing, get super duper educated, find a path that insulates you from her negativity so that you don't get sucked into stupidity about WLS. You probably can't do anything to reduce or negate habitual obnoxiousness, but you can find ways to make the surgery-specific stuff clearer and easier to navigate, if you know what I mean.