Have a surgery date...2/26 and some questions

Hi Everyone,

I thought I'd check this board out...not sure where I should be...lol

 

I'm 5'2" and 211 with a BMI of 40.5.  I was just approved for my surgery and my date is 2/26.  Although my biggest motivator for having this surgery is to help resolve diabetes and sleep apnea, I am getting excited about what my new life will be.  I'm looking forward to seeing my neck and shoulders, and I'd like to run 5Ks.

 

I'm curious with your experience, how much weight can I expect to lose and how long?  I have a formal event  about 10 weeks after surgery...what do you think my weight-loss could be?

 

I am having the RNY but was curious about DS....what surgery did you have and your experience?  I'll be leaning on a lot of you in the next 8 weeks as I prepare for this.  Some days I get cold feet but know this is the best thing I can do for MYSELF.  i turned 50 this year and I wanted to do this for me!

 

Deb

 

 

Im 54 and having the DS as I believe that it has the most long term success. Just b sure and research.

Did you're insurance approve it with a lower BMI?

Welcome to the LWs.

I was 61, 4'11", 220 when I had RNY.  I had high BP, sleep apnea, high cholesteral, arthritus and GERD.  I am now off all meds except my acid inhibitor.  I lost a little over 100lbs.  Went from a 22-24 to a 4-6-8 depending on what it is and who makes it.  I couldn't be happier with my recovery and result.

Everyone loses differently but I imagine you would be 30 or so lbs lighter in 10 weeks, maybe less, maybe more.  How that translates in terms of sizes, who knows.  Seems like the first sizes drop slowly eventhough we are losing more weight and when the weight loss slows down, the sizes change faster. 

Yes because I have severe sleep apnea, resting tachycardia, and psoriatric arthritis. We are hoping the weight loss will help all three. Of the three it's the arthritis that scares me the most. Very painful. Good luck to you!

Welcome!

There can be such a range in weight loss pre op and post op that it's hard to say where you'll be at 10 weeks out.

I started 5'3" 244 lbs, 234 on surgery date, at 10 weeks out I weighed 189 pounds.

Yours could be anything. I have a co-worker who lost 98 pounds by 3 mo. I have another rl friend who lost 35 at 3 mo out. It's hard to say because of so many factors. Diet, exercise, compliance to diet, age, metabolism, history of weight loss etc etc etc.

 

I am 57 years old and 5'4" and was 237 at highest qualifying weight in July 2012. Saw the surgeon and had already implemented some protein drinks into my daily routine (usually one a day) mid-August and had made it down to about 209 for that visit before pre-op appointment on August 11th. Because I was doing so well, he scheduled me for only 10 days of pre-opt diet. I went down only 2 more pounds but he seemed pleased. Surgery day was August 31st and I was 207 (30 lbs down from highest weight). I lost 17 pounds my first month after surgery. Ten my second month. Then it immediately slowed to a more gradual pace with periods of time where I would stay the same for as long as 2-3 weeks and then suddenly drop a few more pounds. I am now 4.25 months out and weigh 162. 

I hope this helps some. I had limited ability to exercise so I might have been able to lose more in that period if I could have.

Thank you. What procedure did you do?

Welcome aboard! When I was trying to decide between RNY and DS I had to take a hard look at what I thought I'd be capable of following (lifestyle wise) long term. I drew up a pros and cons list of all the things about the RNY and DS I knew. The DS won in my case.

Also, my surgeon does all the WLSs, not just 2 or three, and presents the info while trying to help people determine for themselves which surgery would help them be successful considering their personal eating habits. See the section below from my profile on my surgeon's presentation. I hope it helps. : )

Dr Elariny's What Kind of Eater Are You? [Edit Post]
on April 6, 2012 3:23 am
Published


Here's the run down my surgeon uses to help patients decide which surgery might help them address their eating demons the best. He describes our eating demons by categorizing eaters in 3 ways: 1) the bloater--eats one or two big meals a day, doesn't snack and is pretty active (busy) throughout the day. 2) the sweeter--is addicted to sweets/carbs/sugar and may need some help with volume eating. 3) the grazer--eats or nibbles pretty much constantly and may eat a meal for longer than a half hour.

The bloater may do well with a restrictive only surgery such as the band or the VSG. With the band patients can expect 50-60% weight loss. It's a failure for sweeters and grazers. With the VSG expect 70% weight loss. This surgery can be converted to DS easily. (Note: we have seen lightweights be 100% successful with both the band and VSG here on this board) My surgeon sees about 55% weight loss maintained after 5 years with the VSG but he makes his sleeve larger than most.

The sweeter may do well with the RNY using negative reinforcement of dumping on sugar and fat. There is a 20-25% chance of late regain after 2-3 years--a regain of 20-30% of the initial pounds lost. When successful, expect 60-65% weight loss. (I think these numbers are also more for heavy weights because we see much better success in the lightweights who stay hooked in here on the board)

The grazer may do well the DS and has a 80-90% success rate long term. Patients can expect 90% weight loss. It is also puts type II diabetes in remission for approximately 90% of patients long term. The DS works well for sweeters, grazers and bloaters but can be beat with excessive sweets, fats and grazing. (My surgeon calls the DS the bazooka of weight loss surgeries. Some surgeons won't do the DS on lightweights but some will reduce the amount of malabsorption and give lightweights the DS using a longer common channel. For more info on the DS, see www.dsfacts.com.  There aren't that many surgeons skilled enough to do the DS. Don't jump into this one without doing a lot of research on your surgeon. Surgeons who don't do the DS will use scare tactics and lies to dissuade patients from pursuing the DS. We call them bait and don't switch surgeons, or outright greedy lying *******s.)

Thank you. That was VERY informative. I guess I would say I am a volume eater and fast eater. And I stopped exercising as I got heavier. I eat when I am not hungry all the time especially when my family goes to bed at night. Something I have stopped and have lost about 8 lbs just by that and trying to eat slowly like a WLS patient round do.

DS appeals to me bc ofthe diabetes factor ( one if my main reasons for doing this) and I can drink while eating.

The CONS for me seem to be the terribly odorous gas and diarrhea I have been told about and the amount of supplements I hear you have to take although I keep asking for specifics and no one has given me any. I know I can handle the RNY supplementation but think any more may not be doable for me.

When the nurse called to say I was approved for surgery I told her I was having second thoughts and she immediately was supportive and said I should not have any surgery unless I was 100% sure it was the right one for me and set me up for an appointment with the doctor. She said he does do the DS but usually does it for patients with a BMI of 50 or more. ( I checked and he is not Vetted although he has an excellent reputation for gastric bypas surgery)

She said he doesn't feel the additional malabsorption and possible complications for lightweights is best when RNY works very well if you follow the way of life.

The negatives for RNY for me would be no drinking at meals andno NSAIDs because that is what I like to take for headaches.

What do you think?