REALLY TRYING TO STAY HOPEFUL

i HAVE BEEN THROUGH WHAT SEEMS LIKE SO MUCH THIS MONTH.....OK A LITTLE HISTORY AGAIN....ON 2-6-04 HAD RNY SURGERY(WELL ATTEMPTED) I HAD SCARS ON MY STOMACH WHERE MY SURGEON NEEDED TO STAPLE.......I HAVE LOOKED AND LOOKED AND THEN LOOKED SOME MORE AND I CAN FIND NOTHING ABOUT SCARRING ON THE TUMMY AND THE RNY. I AHVE TO SEE A GASTROENTERLOGIST AND THEN MY NEW DOC WILL SEE ME. I AM VERY SCARED BECAUSE I REALLY FEEL LIKE I AM BATTING IN THE DARK......THE SURGEON THAT PERFORMED THE RNY.....THOUGHT I MAY BE A CANDIATE FOR THE DS. (PRAYING). I HAVE BEEN TOLD MY BMI IS 42.9 AND NORMALLY THE DS IS PERFORMED ON PPL WITH A HIGHER BMI IS THIS TRUE? PLEASE IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFO TO SHARE I WOULD REALLY BE GRATEFUL.........

All I can tell you is that if you go to the duodenalswitch.com website, the profiles of many patients list a pre-op bmi of less than 50; a lot of the doctors who consider RNY to be the "gold standard" tend to make it their criteria. So, answer is: I think it depends more on the doctor than on hardcore criteria; there are doctors scattered throughout the states and in some other countries (like Dr Baltasar in Spain) who ONLY perform the DS because they believe it to be the most effective surgery. Good luck and fingers crossed for you.

Monica and Joanne, Move over....I'm there with you in the bad day. I'm glad it is almost over!! One of those days where it was like my old pre-op heavy days when I would attempt to go to a Jazzercise class.....everyone in the entire class was going to the right and I was going to my left bumping into everyone!!! The great thing is that I didn't eat over the little difficulties and annoyances that I previously would have. I didn't even get on the Board which is VERY rare for me because I didn't feel that I had much to give. Then, I get on the Board and see Monica's post and Joanne's response and I felt instantly better because this is exactly where I need to be!!! Thanks for sharing the real deal of your days today. Tomorrow's a new day!! Cathy

Cathy, To top off my day yesterday, a car hits a pole near my house and we lost electric for 3 hours. I must tell you I had a much better day today and I am back to my normal self. Leaders have bad days too. We are all human. Please let us know when we can help. It helped me to just type out my feelings with people who truely understand. We are all here together thru thick and thin of it all. Hope your day was better too. See you lighter. Joanne

Thanks Donna, I appreciate the support! They have done tests to check for hidden bleeding but I haven't heard about them. Take care, Grins, Kaye

From what I've read, most surgeons who do the DS say it's the most effective form of WLS, especially for patients with a BMI over 50---but that it's suitable for any patient who qualifies for WLS. There's even someone on the duodenalswitch.com forum who had a BMI of about 30 who had the DS---more to control her diabetes than for weight loss. I don't think your size should keep you from having the DS.

My surgeon is going to do a DS on me and my BMI is 56. (I'm 5'4" in my stocking feet, 330 lbs.) He did say that if I gained any more weight he might have to do it in two steps. (First make stomach smaller, then after weight loss do the intestinal part). I think a 42.9 is just fine for a DS.

Sheryl, my surgeon told me that, too---about ten minutes before surgery! Fortunately he didn't have any trouble once he opened me up. (They tell me the first words out of my mouth when I woke up were "Did he do the whole thing?" LOL!) I am 5'1", weighed 383 that day, and had a BMI of 74. Hopefully everything will go smoothly with you, too!

Hi Bonnie- I'll be having my DS next month with Dr. Gregg Jossart in San Francisco (My BMI is 47). I had abdominal surgery 3 years ago to remove a couple of benign cysts so I have a long scar. This will prevent my DS from being done lap, but shouldn't be a problem with open. He'll also be repairing an incisional hernia caused from the last surgery. If you're turned down just because of a prior surgical scar, you might want to get a second opinion. Good Luck!