1970Jon

I had the sleeve about 8 years ago. I have gained most of my weight back now so I was thinking about finishing off my VSG with the DS now. To me it seems logical: Since I have already had a sleeve I am already half way there so why not just finish it off with a DS? Unfortunately, the surgeon that did my sleeve got killed in a plane crash about 3 years ago so now I am looking for a new surgeon. I have contacted a few places to see what there cost would be and whatnot so I can decide. When I contacted one of the places they tried to talk me out of it telling me that the DS is a very extreme procedure and it is performed only as a very last resort. They told me that usually the only time when they do a DS is if the patient is extremely obese and the patient is going to die at any moment if they do not do it. I am currently 350 lbs and 5'11" for a BMI of 49. Eight years ago when I had the sleeve I was 412 lbs for a BMI of 58. The doctor said that DS patients have a very bad body odor for the rest of their life. He told me that he could always tell when a DS patient was in his office because he could smell them while they were sitting in their office. He said that if I got this procedure I would have social issues the rest of my life because I would always smell bad. I would in effect become a permanent pariah for the rest of my life. People would be ablel to smell me over a mile away! He said that I will have permanent diarrhea for the rest of my life and that my stools will be very foul smelling. It will be like after I go to the rest room it will smell really bad so that everyone will know that I was in the rest room. I can imagine going to church and having to sit by myself in a pew that is far away from anyone and having to use private rest rooms. This doctor also said that since I have acid reflux that he could not do the DS on me. I have however found other surgeons that would be willing. This doctor recommend that I revise to a mini gastric bypass (not sure how that would be possible since the half of the stomach that would normally remain attached to the duodenum piece that would be attached downstream is already gone. I have also found another surgeon that has a different type of DS called the SADI-S that is supposed to be better for acid reflux people like myself but the weight loss results are not quite as good as a traditional DS. What are your experiences? Is the DS really as bad as that one doctor says for your social life? Is this SADI-S a good thing? In my situation would mini gastric bypass be better (even though I am not sure how they would do it)?

You know, I wonder if the diabetic drugs Miglitol and Acarbose would help a DS patient. These 2 prescriptions are known to be carbohydrate blockers so that is why physicians give them to diabetics to lower their blood sugar. I am not diabetic (I am insulin resistant though). This is just a thought. Maybe Bariatricians should think about using those 2 drugs in their DS patients.

This is off topic but you might want to ask your physician for a prescription for pantoprozole, It is a lot cheaper at only $4 a bottle. I used to take Nexium and one day my physician asked me if I would rather take pantoprozole (generic Protonix) because it was a lot cheaper and I said sure. My physician told me that pantoprozole is just as good as Nexium only a whole lot cheaper.

Dr. Esquerra and Dr. Ungson where the surgeons I were referring to in my earlier post. They seem to be the authority on DS in Mexico.

Unfortunately my health insurance does not cover the procedure so I have to self pay. I will be doing it in Mexico. I was able to find a different Surgeon in Mexico that has done over 500 DS's and he also does SADI-S which is similar to DS. I am right now leaning towards this guy as he seems to be more knowlegeable about the DS type procedures. I am still trying to decide if I want DS, SADI-S or Roux-en-y. I am kind of torn. On the one hand I think it would be logical to just finish off where I started on the VSG with the second half and do a DS or a SADI-S. Also, the DS offers the most weight loss potential. I do however have acid reflux and am on pantoprozole (generic Protonix) so that may be more amenable to Roux-en-y. Do I want to lose more weight or do I want to cure Acid Reflux? I know a person here in Phoenix that had Roux en y and gained almost all of her weight back so I am a bit leary of that. I am hard headed so I think I need an extreme solution....LOL. I think I need the most extreme one out there which would be DS. From what I understand, Robin Blackstone, MD is the only surgeon in the Phoenix area that is trained on how to do the DS. I like her but since I have to self pay I can not afford her.