Debbie M.
I had an RNY on March 25, 2002. My starting weight was 350 and I lost 100lbs in the first 4 months. The weight FLEW off, but unfortunately didn't stay off . Fast forward 8 years, regained all my weight, have had chronic diarrhea problems, never knew when I was going to dump. One day I could have a piece of watermelon and I would be fine, I could have it again 3 months later and it would cause me to dump. I'm convinced the only reasons people have RNY's is because they know someone else who did , or it's the only thing their surgeon does OR the only thing their insurance would approve. I later found out that 30% of people who started with a BMI of>50 regain their weight.
Anyway, here I am, back up to 350+ pounds, miserable, physically limited and hating life. I remembered hearing a little about the Duodenal switch when I was researching the RNY but I thought it seemed so extreme and there wasn't a lot of data out on it at the time. So I came back on OH and spent months reading posts, talking to people and figured out who the best revision surgeons were and that was Dr. Rabkin and Dr. Keshishian. I made appointments and met with both of them. Clearly both well qualified with lots of RNY to DS revision experience, but at the end of the day chose Dr. Keshishian because I found his passion for revision work refreshing, found him to be more personable and with a great sense of humor. The other thing I also really liked is on more than one occassion if I had a question and called the office he would pick up the phone, or if I sent an email, he'd have no problem picking up a phone and calling me back or dropping me a quick email. I found the same true preop and post op and his response time was pretty remarkable. He also has a common sense approach to things and I'll give you a few examples.
I had my preop appointment the day before surgery and told him I was really nervous and wondered if he had a preop cocktail I could take. He said, go out and have a light dinner with a nice glass of red wine, that'll help. I was shocked. I'd been drinking nothing but liquids for 2 days. But, took his advice and it did do the trick. To this day, I remember that as being one of the best meals I ever had, I can still taste the garlic in the hot rollls that were brought to the table (it's the last time I had an alcoholic beverage or warm peice of bread). Another time, a few weeks after surgery I was having problems with constipation and asked him for recommendations. He said start out by taking a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and see if that helps, if not, try some Citrate of Magnesia through your feeding tube. Long story short, it took about another 5 tries of other products but finally got the job done. I guess what I'm saying is I like his approach to things.
Surgery was 3 hours long, first he takes the RNY down and brings your anatomy back to the way it was when you were born, then he starts the DS - he had me done in 3 hours flat. Surgery was at 9am and I was up and walking around by 3pm. That first walk is always the worse, then gets better from there. He requires you take at least 4 walks around the nurses station a day.
So had my surgery on Wednesday and was in the hospital until Saturday. While I was in, the hospital allowed my Mom to stay in the same room with me. I had a big room with another bed that she slept in. It was great having her there incase the nurses got busy and forget to give me things I needed, or if I just needed asssitance in general.
They set you up with a pain pump, plus provide other meds to keep you comfortable. The hardest part of the whole thing was the discomfort from the incision which went from sternum to belly button. It didn't help that I had a cough left from a cold I'd been recovering from and every sneeze and cough was enough to send you to the moon.
The first six weeks of recovery for me were really rough - revision surgery isn't for sissies, that's for sure. It wasn't so much pain as your system feeling awful, trying to find it's way, trying to adjust. What I found most frustrating is seeing signs of feeling better, so then I'd take a little longer walk that day because I had more energy then BAM, it would set me back 2 days, this back and forth went on for the entire 6 weeks. But the good part...when that day comes that you finally turned the corner, it's the best feeling in the world. For me feeling good meant feeling fabulous. I had my surgery in February and in under 4 months I've lost 70lbs. Only 130 left to go!
I'm still finding my way with my DS - took me awhile to realize I didn't have a pouch and didn't have to worry about all those insane rules. Still trying to find the right balance with vitamins and ensuring I get all my protein in. I'm very happy I've done this and have no regrets.
8/17/2010 - yesterday was my 6 month anniversary - can't believe how fast time has flown. I've lost 126 pounds and am very happy with my progress. I'm very committed to, drinking water, taking vitamins, protein first. I try to keep carbs under 50, but admit I do have sugar from time to time. Not a lot, just a bite or two. I hear that's what some normal people do, could it be possible, could I be turning into someone normal when it comes to weight. We'll have to wait and see, still to early to tell although I'm encouraged. I've got 80lbs to go, seems so much less daunting than thinking I have over 200 to lose. This surgery is mush more forgiving than the RNY, I don't feel like I'm dieting all the time, I enjoy eating so much more....everything even tastes better. Will take my measurements in the next day or two and will post later.
