DS vs. RYN?

I am curious to know why you would pick RYN over the DS surgery?   I have been reading about both lately and it seems you can have a more normal lifestyle with DS.   I am just wondering what I am missing.

This is going to sound snarky but it's really not. I don't want to have a normal lifestyle. A normal lifestyle landed me at 330 lbs. I wanted to completely sever my old relationship with food and HAVE to build it up again from the ground up.

For ME, that's what needed to be done. Because my brain doesn't do well with what I SHOULD do or SHOULD eat or how I SHOULD handle my emotions. Conversely, I do very well with what I CAN'T eat what I CAN'T do and how I NEED to behave.

I didn't know about the DS pre-op but I'm fairly sure as soon as they told me you don't dump as a result, I would have chosen RNY. I DO dump and I am grateful for that. For those of us who are in need of extreme behavior modification, negative reinforcement like that is essential.

Hope that helps.

@Nik ......I agree with you  sounds kooky but if I was a dumper I probably would be at goal now...130-140 not sitting at 172 for the last year...Granted I do have alot of excess skin that must come off my tummy which many plastic surgeons have said weighs a good 10+ pounds but still I am 30 pounds of my own away from what is normal for my height.  I am like you Nik...if there was pain when I dump I would stay away...slow weight loss is not enough for me to control my behaviors that got me to that surgery point...however on the other hand I am thankful that my body healed and GOD blessed me to where I have had no complications, I don't dump, vomit, pain, hernia, yada yada yada...so it is truly a two edged sword...and honestly in the wls seminar that I went to with one of the most known surgeons on this side of the country he never mentioned DS...I just called the office and asked if they do the surgery and they said they only do RNY, lapband, and the sleeve...but still I am not dissing DS just the person who was making comments about being able to keep parts of our God given anatomy, wls regain, and dumping.  and for the record whenever you get cut on, am I right Nik you have already changed your damn anatomy with a scar!  DUH???

I hate to burst your bubble...but I AM a dumper and my low weight was 172. My surgeon said studies show black women don't have the same losses as other cultures. I take this to mean that, yes, I really am supposed to have a booty. God mandates it, so I have it!

Well, from a finanacial aspect DS isn't as widely covered as RNY.  I know I didn't have a choice to have DS with my current insurance and I frankly don't have an extra $50,000 laying around.

That's just one reason...

I too am interested in this response.  When I sought out WLS to heal me of my ailments besides obesity...I was told that RNY was the best option because I had just been diagnosed with diabetes and RNY would bypass the duodenum thus "curing" my diabetes...That sold me right there cause I am black, diabetes ran on both sides of the family and always led to bad health problems including many amputations of toes and legs....so my surgeon told me that lap band would not allow me the sufficient weight loss I needed quickly to rid my myself of all the **** that was piling up on me.  I never heard of DS until I came to this board...From my understanding RNY and DS are both restrictive and malabsorptive procedures so I too need to research and find out why now DS seems to be the gold standard in WLS and everyone is dissing RNY...I was always told that whatever glitters is not always gold!

That's what I am curious about.   Did people not know it existed?   (I didn't until 3 weeks ago) or did insurance not cover it?   Or is there a specific reason.    I do see some RYN people over at the DS board that are getting revisions.    Personally,  whatever I choose.....I only want to do it once hopefully!!    So I am just gathering as much info as I can to make an informed decision.    I go tomorrow to the seminar for DS, so I will be able to ask more questions there also.

I think it's great that you are asking questions. There are very nice DSers on their board that will answer any and every question. I would caution you, however, to press for both the good AND the bad.

To hear a lot of DSers tell it, life is all sunshine and rainbows and glitter in the air. I'm quite sure they, too, have challenges. And I understand their representation of their surgeries (the people who do that, not the entire DS population). The surgery isn't widely advertised, it's not covered by many insurance plans and won't be until folks stand up and demand it. So I get it, but still...you need to know all sides of the story.

Go, ask questions, engage people in conversation who have had DS. I agree, you should aim to go under the knife only once. But also remember that the surgery does not do all the work. Plan to make some significant lifestyle changes and plan to seek help for your recovery from an unhealthy relationship with food, which is what got you to this point in the first place.

Good luck.

It also seems that not alot of surgeons perform the DS. I live in MA and would have had to travel to NY or NJ to find a surgeon on the website that does DS. I guess there is one at Lahey Clinic in Burlington who does it but the name is not on the find a surgeon list. My point is that if it was the best option, wouldn't it be more widely performed, especially in and around Boston where some of the best hospitals are? That just gives me room for doubt.

The most important thing is you find what you feel the most comfortable with.  You are doing the right thing by checking out all options.

Steve