DS surgery scheduled for 1/16

I am a newbie.  First time to post.

My current weight is 250 pounds. starting weight was 263.  My actual starting weight was 240. I stayed between 230 and 240 for the last 5 years. But I had to gain some weight to qualify for the surgery.

I choose the DS because my diabetes is so bad. Any support, help, guidance is appreciated.

I am 45, 5'7", married, a 23 yr old son, and an 11 year old daughter. Daughter has brittle bone disease. depends on me for much care. I need to get healthy....

Welcome to the board! I needed to lose for myself and my husband who is in a wheelchair although he does pretty good most of the time, there are times he needs me to really help like when he had surgery. You should feel so much better and you're still young (I'm nearing 60) so I think you'll be much surprised. Several on the board have had DS and are very helpful for newbies.

Welcome!!  This is a great board, no games, just helpful caring advise.  Someone with a DS will chime in to help you.  I just wanted to say HI  

Welcome aboard! Keep asking questions and we'll chime in all we can. We love questions.  : )

--gina

Hi Michelle, all the best for your surgery.  I'm sorry to hear about your daughter - I don't know much about brittle bone disease, but I hope her condition can be well managed.  I fear fractures (had quite a few following a car crash nearly 20 years ago) so I do my best taking calcium and vites in general.  I'll find out how well I'm doing following my dexa scan in a few weeks.

A good starting point for vitamins is Vitalady https://vitalady.com/vitanews/pre-packaged-regimens/

She does pre-packaged vitamins which I liked early out although you may want the mostly chewables which aren't pre-packaged (I had my stomach done ~18 months before I got switched so didn't need chewables).

Welcome the the lightweight board.

I will address the diabetes part. I am a type 2 diabetic, now controlled by just diet and exercise (when I think about that one).

Pre-op, my a1c was 8.2 and I was an insulin pump dependent diabetic also on 2000 mgs of metformin. And while 8.2 is not horrid, was worse than it had been since my diagnosis in 1997. And RISING regardless of how tightly I tried to control it.

My current a1c is 5.4 and like I said, NO meds, no pump, nothing but the food I eat. Thanks to being on insulin, I was very use to the DS way of eating...limiting carbs.

I had my surgery on the 24th of Jan 2011. The nurse at my surgeon's office told me to leave my insulin pump at home, that I would not need it afterward. NOT TRUE and I am glad I did not listen to her. I DID do what my endo had told me about dealing with surgeries and not eating much...to lower my basel rate to half of what it normally was and watch it like a hawk.

I stayed on the half rate til I started chasing lows (into the 50's) at night. After two days of chasing that train the WRONG way, I decided to take off my pump on Feb 1st, 2011 and just use the insulin shots if I needed to. I always had syringes handy if my pump ever died. By Feb 11th, I took my last insulin shot. I still test, esp in the mornings and at other odd times. I also lowered my metformin from 2000 mgs to 500 mgs at that time. By April 2011, I was also off the metformin.

Make sure you have your endo on board for your surgery. (or whoever handles your diabetes) and listen to THAT person about how to handle surgery. My baratric surgeon's nurse was just going by TYPICAL reactions to the surgery and not all of us are TYPICAL!

I just barely qualified for bariatric surgery at all, my starting BMI was a whopping 35.2 and 35 is the minimum for lightweights.

And ask anything you need to ask. We may not have answers but we are glad to listen.

Liz

Liz, I thought the DS only helped type 2 diabetes and once you were insulin dependent you were too far gone.  I'd like to learn more, hence my asking.  TIA.

I AM a type 2...but was using insulin. You do not have to be "far gone" to go on insulin. I decided to go on insulin cause I hated the side effects of all the oral meds I was on...and knew enough to handle the insulin. I have been a member of a diabetes yahoo group (it was a Lehigh listserv group LONG before yahoo) that an endo owns for diabetes. Has well over 1000 members. Several well known ones in the diabetes world (a couple are published authors).

But it was thanks to that group that I learned that I could go on insulin long before most doctors consider it for diabetics. It ALSO saved my pancreas from completely wearing out which it was well on the way to doing.

Many of us who have had the DS were on insulin...it's not necessarily a LIFE sentence.

Liz

Yes, you are correct.

A type 1 or 1.5 (LADA) can not be corrected by getting WLS (that would require a pancreas transplant.)

Type 1 and 1.5 are autoimmune diseases. Type 2 is not and so is resolvable, even once on insulin.

With that said tho, those who have type 1 or 1.5 who do have WLS often reduce the amount of insulin needed.

Now, type two is only resolvable in 95-98% of DS surgeries...and the longer you have diabetes AND the worse it is, the longer it may take to finally resolve.

I still tell doctors, like last night in the ER, that I am a type 2 but diet and exercise controlled...no meds.

Liz