Re: Does anyone have info on fobi?

July 10, 2001

In a message dated 7/10/2001 6:00:22 AM Pacific Daylight Time, aviva@...

writes:

<< Are all you people suffering from ongoing unpleasant odor of any kind?

Does no

one want to sit next to you on the bus? Do you, as this person claims, indeed

come home from the hospital after surgery and move into the bathroom for the

rest of your lives? >>

Aviva,

I can tell you that I have fairly normal BM's most of the time, unless I eat

ALOT of fat or veggies, then it softens up a bit, and I may find myself going

a little bit more. The odor is a little stronger, but let's face it sh*t

stinks! LOL. I can go to the bathroom at work, or sit on a bus without having

to worry. What I'm happy about is that I can control my BM's and I don't have

to scope out the restroom every time I am in a public place, unlike some of

the other surgery patients. Just my perspective on things. Hope it helps!

Kim B,

Dr. Anthone

DGB/DS open 4/18/01

-74lbs.

July 10, 2001

Hi everyone,

I'm writing my own Chapter 1 in refuting the naysayers. Why people have such a

knee-jerk reaction that the BPD/DS is " the worst thing you can do yourself " is

beyond me. Not that I have to convince anyone but myself, but still.

Today's naysayer came armed with the Fobi Manual For Better Living (I'm making

that up). I was so tongue-tied that I couldn't remember what I had heard about

it, but I do recall that what I heard wasn't very positive. Dr. Fobi does a

combo of RNY + VBG.

Does anyone have any more material that might help me give an informed answer of

why that's not preferable to BPD/DS? I am headed to the duoedenalswitch website,

and I also will look at fobi's site and at obesityhelp.com. If anyone happens to

have some other material or bookmarks on hand that could help, I would

appreciate it.

While I'm at it - the same naysayer is convinced that one of the biggest

drawbacks of BPD/DS is that, he opines, because of the malabsorption, waste and

toxic substances are eliminated from the body through the dermis, urine, and

feces, resulting in the BPD/DS patients being plagued, for the rest of their

lives, by very strong and unpleasant body odor and frequent bathroom habits. I'm

translating quickly from my native language, but that's pretty much the gist of

it.

Sounds to me like what he is describing is something I read in Dr. Hess' patient

brochure, and is a short term side effect that doesn't necessarily affect all

patients. I'm about to go look for more info, but now that I have you all

gathered here in one place, LOL, I may as well as you directly: What's the deal?

Are all you people suffering from ongoing unpleasant odor of any kind? Does no

one want to sit next to you on the bus? Do you, as this person claims, indeed

come home from the hospital after surgery and move into the bathroom for the

rest of your lives? It certainly doesn't sound like what I've been reading as

I've been following your stories since I joined this group, to say the least,

but I thought perhaps it's best to ask you directly, in case I've been missing

something ...

Many TIA

Aviva

July 10, 2001

> Today's naysayer came armed with the Fobi Manual For Better Living

> (I'm making that up). I was so tongue-tied that I couldn't remember

> what I had heard about it, but I do recall that what I heard wasn't

> very positive. Dr. Fobi does a combo of RNY + VBG.

My understanding is that the Fobi pouch relies mainly on extreme food

restrictions. The procedure includes placement of a silastic ring

that is supposed to prevent the pouch from ever stretching. I have

seen people do very well with the weight loss after Fobi, but whether

their quality of eating would be tolerable for you is something only

you can decide. I know that I didn't want that much restriction, and

on top of that the potential for dumping, and the idea of the band

also made nervous, since I had heard stories of band erosion, stomach

erosion, and all sorts of other fun complications.

Also, if you read Fobi's own words on his procedure, he sort of gives

(IMHO) faint praise to his own procedure here:

http://www.cstobesity.com/clininfo.html

" The " Fobi-Pouch Operation for Obesity " has an operative

mortality of < 1% and significant morbidity of < 10%. It

is 95% effective with greater than 40% excess weight loss

that is maintained for more than five years of follow up. "

He doesn't say exactly how many patients achieve what percentage of

long-term excess weight loss. I'm sure that many patients do better

than the 40% stated here, but I am left to wonder what the actual

numbers are.

As for your question on odor and BMs after DS, I can tell you my

experience. It took a good 6 months before my system felt

really " normal " again. During that time, I did have smellier, looser

BMs than pre-op. I had unpleasant bouts of intestinal gas sometimes

in the evening.

Now, at almost 21 months post-op, my BMs are softer than pre-op

(which is a blessing because I was often constipated pre-op!). I no

longer get the bouts of gas (I think they may have been mostly

lactose intolerance, and I take Dairy Care every morning now, plus I

think my system has adapted to a large degree too). I do not suffer

from any more diarrhea now than I did pre-op (seldom). My BMs are

sometimes smellier, but it is nothing that a spritz of air freshener

can't tame. I know that some people have more problems with this than

others, though. My regularity is such that I get up in the morning,

and within 30 minutes or so I have had a couple of BMs and that is

usually it for the day. Sometimes late in the evening I'll have

another one if I am eating a lot.

Anyone who says that DS post-ops have peculiar body odor are

perpetuating a myth. I have been around dozens and dozens of DS post-

ops for extended periods of time, and I have never smelled anything

the least bit offensive.

Hope this helps.

M.

---

in Valrico, FL, age 38

Starting weight 299, now 156

Starting BMI 49.7, now 26.0

Lap DGB/DS by Dr. Rabkin 10-19-99

http://www.duodenalswitch.com

Direct replies: mailto:melanie@...

July 10, 2001

Aviva,

I usually do not post on this list, but as a 3(+) month post op I

want to reassure you that I do not stink- I have no body odor at all

that is related to the surgery - and I do not live in my bathroom. I

do have gas, especially when I eat high fat / junk food, but nothing

intolerable or disruptive to my life. My common channel is 85cm, my 3

month bloodwork came back great, and the weight is coming off with no

problems.

Hope this helps!

Sincerely,

leslie latour

lap bpd/ds 3.22.01

Dr. Dennis Jr.

start weight 318

current weight 260ish

> Hi everyone,

>

> I'm writing my own Chapter 1 in refuting the naysayers. Why people

have such a

> knee-jerk reaction that the BPD/DS is " the worst thing you can do

yourself " is

> beyond me. Not that I have to convince anyone but myself, but still.

>

> Today's naysayer came armed with the Fobi Manual For Better Living

(I'm making

> that up). I was so tongue-tied that I couldn't remember what I had

heard about

> it, but I do recall that what I heard wasn't very positive. Dr.

Fobi does a

> combo of RNY + VBG.

>

> Does anyone have any more material that might help me give an

informed answer of

> why that's not preferable to BPD/DS? I am headed to the

duoedenalswitch website,

> and I also will look at fobi's site and at obesityhelp.com. If

anyone happens to

> have some other material or bookmarks on hand that could help, I

would

> appreciate it.

>

> While I'm at it - the same naysayer is convinced that one of the

biggest

> drawbacks of BPD/DS is that, he opines, because of the

malabsorption, waste and

> toxic substances are eliminated from the body through the dermis,

urine, and

> feces, resulting in the BPD/DS patients being plagued, for the rest

of their

> lives, by very strong and unpleasant body odor and frequent

bathroom habits. I'm

> translating quickly from my native language, but that's pretty much

the gist of

> it.

>

> Sounds to me like what he is describing is something I read in Dr.

Hess' patient

> brochure, and is a short term side effect that doesn't necessarily

affect all

> patients. I'm about to go look for more info, but now that I have

you all

> gathered here in one place, LOL, I may as well as you directly:

What's the deal?

> Are all you people suffering from ongoing unpleasant odor of any

kind? Does no

> one want to sit next to you on the bus? Do you, as this person

claims, indeed

> come home from the hospital after surgery and move into the

bathroom for the

> rest of your lives? It certainly doesn't sound like what I've been

reading as

> I've been following your stories since I joined this group, to say

the least,

> but I thought perhaps it's best to ask you directly, in case I've

been missing

> something ...

>

> Many TIA

> Aviva

July 10, 2001

Hi Aviva,

What this naysayer is telling you is a bunch of garbage! I had the BPD/DS

and I do not have any kind of body oder! People love to sit by me!! Short

term, as your body is getting used to doing things differently they can

smell pretty strong but whose BM's smell good anyway? Also if you eat too

many fats the smell can get pretty strong but you just quickly flush the

toliet and use some citrus orange spray and viola! its gone! heck, I can

put up with that to get to where I am today. Believe me when I tell you