Re: DS Help

[Guest guest]

It is possible to have a DS partially revised.  Barbara Henson had this done,

see

http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=Henson960691386 & Z=487

The stomach size can not be altered since most of it was surgically removed. 

However, it would see that the intestinal tract could be reconnected to allow

greater absorption.  Your fiend might want to look into that possibility.

Ray Hooks

For WLS nutrition info, visit

http://www.bariatricsupplementsystem.com

 

Butterflye wrote:

> Hey folks, a friend of mine needs help, and I know someone on this list will

> have a thought about it.

>

> My friend had a DS in July. SInce that time, she has kept almost nothing

> down, she's getting weaker by the day, she's miserable. She's on a couple of

> DS lists, and no one there will acknowledge that there can be problems with

> a DS, just like any other surgery. In other words, it has become " her

> fault. " Added to this, she lives in North Dakota but her surgeon is in

> Phoenix, AZ, and he's blowing off her phone calls and really not helping.

> Her military GP in ND has no idea what to do with her since he doesn't

> understand her surgery, and her surgeon won't contact her GP to give him a

> clue. She's spending her days, when she's not sick, on the phone with the

> surgeon's office and the GP's office, trying to get some solution. She

> finally had a GI series this week, but the GP said it LOOKED ok, and since

> he doesn't really know what he should be looking for, he's at a loss.

>

> Is there a list for folks with the DS surgery who have had these sorts of

> problems, where she might get some answers? I want you all to know I am NOT

> putting down the DS, but I don't know enough about its mechanics to offer

> her any suggestions. She's pretty much stopped doing protein shakes because

> she gets hives from whey, so I can't even tell her " keep using your protein

> until you feel better. " (I did suggest she try soy protein, something being

> better than nothing, I guess.)

>

> Anyway, if anyone can offer me some suggestions here, she really needs to

> talk to DS people who've been there, and at the present she can't find any

> who will admit to problems. I understand their reticence, but at some point

> we all have to come clean with what works for us and what doesn't.  You can

> email me offlist, to save the excess traffic here and avoid the " which

> surgery is best " diatribes we don't have any use for.

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

> ~~ Lyn G

>

> Homepage:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG

>

> Unsubscribe: mailto:Graduate-OSSG-unsubscribe

>  

>  

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Lyn,

Have you suggested that your friend get a copy of her surgery report,

admission and discharge summaries. These papers will help her GP to understand

what

she has been through having the surgery. Because I had many complications to

my original surgery,open RNY, and had to have 2 revisions, I learned to get

copies of everything that I have done, lab tests results, xrays , nuclear

medicine, copies of rx/s, etc.. I keep my own health record now.

Other than this, I dont know of anything else to tell you. I am sure that

someone will be able to help more.

Peachy hugs,

[Guest guest]

>> I don't believe someone should go so far away for surgery unless they can

afford to go back for GOOD follow-up care. Now please understand I am not

blaming her.

In her case, she travelled that far just to have the DS. She researched for over

a year, and was absolutely determined that the DS was the only surgery for her,

BECAUSE it was supposed to have less post-op risks than the RNY. She believed

every good thing about the DS and every bad thing about the RNY (and once told

me she could never spend a lifetime dumping like we do), and she fought TriCare

(military insurance) for nearly a year to get her way. The doctor in Phoenix was

the only one TriCare would pay for who would do the DS, even though there is a

doctor in Minneapolis (much closer to her) who does the DS - Tricare wouldn't

pay for him.

What saddens me is that she fought the military system so hard, for so long, and

was so excited to be able to have the surgery she chose, and the guy is letting

her down, and the military doctors have never seen many RNY's let alone the DS,

so they don't know what to expect or how to treat her. I encouraged her to take

this into account when she made the decision for the DS, but she was so sure

there would be no complications with the DS and many with the RNY, there was no

convincing her otherwise.

I know of another woman who lives very remotely from any surgeon, and she says

if she can't have the DS she won't have any WLS at all. I don't understand such

a line of thinking, I guess, but maybe that's because at 400+ pounds, I'd have

taken any surgery at all for a chance to live a normal life. And I don't

consider throwing up everything, even water, to be remotely like a normal life.

I'll pass on your suggestions to her, and hopefully she can get some answers

soon.

~~ Lyn G