Re: Alimentary Limb - Please Answer!

July 17, 2001

In a message dated 7/17/01 10:23:42 PM, duodenalswitch writes:

<< I'm very interested in your answer...I also am a carb eater so if this is

true I'll have to talk to Dr. Baltasar about it. I don't want to run into

the same thing if there is a way to do something before hand. I'm sorry

you're so stressed. I know things like this can be very disheartening. Hang

in there...You are doing great!

>>

Sherry: Sometimes I worry about this, too --- eating carbs and all. I was

a real heavy carb eater as a pre-op (no pun intended LOL). Now, I focus on

protein and really don't have room for an excessive amount of carbs like

before. I do eat them, though. My situation is different from the original

poster's, though - I have lost 50 pct of my excess weight (about 70) at five

months out, even though it has seemed pretty slow up to now. I want to get

down to 170 and started at 307. I'm now 236.... about 70 more lbs to go,

man! AGH The halfway point is the worst!!!!

I'm not totally sure whether or not certain people's body's will utilize

carbs more efficiently (i.e. - store them) even after the DS. But, I do know

that I had only lost 15 lbs at three weeks out (whereas others had lost

20-25) and I mainly ate PROTEIN with a passion. I had little if any carbs

(absolutely no room for it!). So, I know that my loss was not as fast as

others to begin with and the carbs were not even an issue at that point.

I also have a 250 alimentary/100 cm common channel. I have been very

satisfied with my loss and rate of loss (my skin has adjusted really well,

I've felt great for the most part). BUT, I can obsess about it and wonder

whether it will just 'slow down' or 'stop' whenever I'm on a plateau. My

body really tends to fight the surgery and hangs on for dear life. Then, I

get an extremely rapid loss for a few days and level out... once again. Sigh.

I think you have some good questions -- I wish there was some more research

about this topic and how carbs are processed, etc. You can try the real

protein-intensive approach and see if it works... I'm not *totally* convinced

that it's what one eats. I think each body really reacts differently and

will go at it's own rate regardless.....

all the best,

lap ds with gallbladder removal

January 25, 2001

five months post-op and still feelin' fabu!

pre-op: 307 lbs/bmi 45 (5'9 1/2 " )

now: 236 (and still goin' down????)

July 17, 2001

> I started out a lot heavier than you though, and am afraid I

> might be more of a carb person than you are. Do you have any

> idea how many carbs you get in a day? Have you ever tracked it?

I do not restrict my carb intake at all. Let me share with you a

portion of a private post I made to a friend recently who asked about

my intake:

" The longer I am post-op, the more SURE I am that I made the

perfect choice for myself with the DS. I am a stubborn cuss

when it comes to changing my diet. I am resistant to change, and

just plain selfish, I guess, when it comes to not wanting to

endure deprivation of any kind. All along, I have felt that I

was " testing my limits " . I truly eat whatever I want, including

liberal junk.

None of this detracts from the fact that I'm mentally

waiting/expecting/fearing regain. Only time will heal that

fear, I guess. Meanwhile, I continue to stubbornly test my

limits and I'll be damned if I'll change a thing that I'm

doing just for the sake of trying to control the scale. I

know I'm probably foolish to be so stubborn in refusing any

food limits, but that is just me. At some point, if and when

(and I pray the DS doesn't betray me!) I start to REALLY

see a gain, I'll have to look at food restrictions. At this

point though, I'm just at that precipitous place where I'm

waiting to see what is going to happen. It's unnerving to

say the least.

So, ideas for you, I am not a role model! I'm the worst one

to ask for how to change anything, cuz I have been going

with the flow from day one and riding the DS wherever it

wants to take me. Maybe it'll reassure you to know that

someone as reckless as me is still doing OK. "

So, there you go. I think, Sherry, that we can drive ourselves CRAZY

trying to analyze things. Your configuration has been tried and true

for many, many, many people! You sound like me in that you want to

know the " whys " of things. You're stressing because you have a

milestone coming up and that fear of failure is trying to get the

best of you!

You have lost 96 pounds in 5.5 months. It took me 8.5 months to reach

to -100 pound mark. Try not to stress! (I know it's hard!) But I bet

when you get near the 200lb. in your weight, you'll be amazed at the

sizes you're wearing and how much smaller people perceive you to be,

merely by virtue of having heavier bone mass or whatever it is that

makes us formerly MO people able to carry a lot more weight in a more

compact area than our never-been-MO friends.

Hang in there. :::hugs::: You're doing great!!! I mean it!

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 17, 2001

> I started out a lot heavier than you though, and am afraid I

> might be more of a carb person than you are. Do you have any

> idea how many carbs you get in a day? Have you ever tracked it?

I do not restrict my carb intake at all. Let me share with you a

portion of a private post I made to a friend recently who asked about

my intake:

" The longer I am post-op, the more SURE I am that I made the

perfect choice for myself with the DS. I am a stubborn cuss

when it comes to changing my diet. I am resistant to change, and

just plain selfish, I guess, when it comes to not wanting to

endure deprivation of any kind. All along, I have felt that I

was " testing my limits " . I truly eat whatever I want, including

liberal junk.

None of this detracts from the fact that I'm mentally

waiting/expecting/fearing regain. Only time will heal that

fear, I guess. Meanwhile, I continue to stubbornly test my

limits and I'll be damned if I'll change a thing that I'm

doing just for the sake of trying to control the scale. I

know I'm probably foolish to be so stubborn in refusing any

food limits, but that is just me. At some point, if and when

(and I pray the DS doesn't betray me!) I start to REALLY

see a gain, I'll have to look at food restrictions. At this

point though, I'm just at that precipitous place where I'm

waiting to see what is going to happen. It's unnerving to

say the least.

So, ideas for you, I am not a role model! I'm the worst one

to ask for how to change anything, cuz I have been going

with the flow from day one and riding the DS wherever it

wants to take me. Maybe it'll reassure you to know that

someone as reckless as me is still doing OK. "

So, there you go. I think, Sherry, that we can drive ourselves CRAZY

trying to analyze things. Your configuration has been tried and true

for many, many, many people! You sound like me in that you want to

know the " whys " of things. You're stressing because you have a

milestone coming up and that fear of failure is trying to get the

best of you!

You have lost 96 pounds in 5.5 months. It took me 8.5 months to reach

to -100 pound mark. Try not to stress! (I know it's hard!) But I bet

when you get near the 200lb. in your weight, you'll be amazed at the

sizes you're wearing and how much smaller people perceive you to be,

merely by virtue of having heavier bone mass or whatever it is that

makes us formerly MO people able to carry a lot more weight in a more

compact area than our never-been-MO friends.

Hang in there. :::hugs::: You're doing great!!! I mean it!

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 17, 2001

Sherry..

I didn't answer because I COULDN'T.. I only know that the split

between biliary & alimentary is 60:40, & my common channel is 100cm..

I plan to ask when I go for followup with my surgeon on the 20th, &

I'll be happy to let you know then. I've been losing kinda slowly,

too, but I'm telling myself it only means my skin will shrink rather

than sag (I hope). I started at 397.6.. not sure where I am, now..

but when I can, I'll answer your question. I wasn't ignoring you.. I

know you're very anxious (I'd be upset too.. my DS was the most

painful even in my life), & I wish I could help.

Hugs,

Liane

> Ok, I'm very upset right now. Mainly at the situation that put

> me here with the Surgeon scandal that happened the day of my

surgery,

> but also because it seems people on here can't stop fighting long

> enough to answer my question.

>

> Some of you answered with " you've lost 105 pounds and that is great;

> just remember to get your protein first, vegetables second and

> avoid carbs " . Now, I know your hearts were definitely in the

> right place, but that is seriously not what I asked and I REALLY

> need to know.

>

> PLEASE, how long is your alimentary limb?? I would especially

> like to know this from Dr. Welker's patients. Also, how long

> is it before they shorten it in surgery, if anyone knows??

>

> I'm so upset because when I eat a piece of bread and you eat

> a piece of bread, *I* absorb more calories from it than you

> do because my alimentary limb is longer because of my surgeon

> being snatched out from under me (without my knowledge) on the

> day of surgery!

>

> If I could eat all protein & vegetables and avoid carbs, I

> wouldn't have needed this surgery in the first place. Carbs

> are absorbed in the alimentary limb and to find out that mine

> is longer than it should be is upsetting.

>

> I need to know how long most of them are made these days. It

> would be comforting to hear of someone who started at my

> weight (420) who made it down to goal with a 250cm alimentary

> limb. But I don't think that's gonna happen. I think I

> need a revision and that's INFURIATING. And I don't use that

> word lightly.

>

> Please don't take offense to anything in this post. It's not

> meant to inflame. I'm just trying to express how angry and

> upset I am and that I *need* answers, please!!

>

> -Sherry (Lake Marcel, WA)

> BPD/DS Feb. 2, 2001

> self-pay

> 5'5 " / 315 pounds / 33 years old

> Lost 9 pounds in pre-op weight loss efforts

> Have lost 96 pounds since surgery!

> Total of 105 pounds gone forEVER!

> http://www.fluffynet.com/wls/

July 17, 2001