Mini gastric bypass anyone?

[mrmbv 2]

I had my MGB done 15 years ago by Dr Rutledge... Anyone here who had the same procedure done?

[weegie88 18]

I am having a revision from a band to a MGB in June. Have watched most of Dr R's videos on youtube and found them really informative. Would be great to hear from someone who lived with that op as long as you have.

Edited April 4, 2015 by weegie88

[Band07 374]

Wow 15 years! I'm having a revision from sleeve to MGB on 4/23. How have you done ? Any regrets ?

[finediva 979]

@Band07. Why are you revising, if I may ask?

[Band07 374]

Sure ! With the band, I did very well, it changed my life. I kept it very tight however and I had a lot of reflux and back and shoulder pain and honestly after 6 years I was sick of feeling stuck all the time, sometimes I would be up all night uncomfortable because of something I ate hours before. I also had a couple of dilated pouches so I knew it was already not what it had been in the beginning. When the sleeve came out everyone said how amazing it was and how you never felt "stuck" just full. I had also read a few things about the band embedding into the liver over time and I just got worried that only being 35 at the time, what would another 10/20/30 years be like with the band, that was scary to me so i had it removed. From that day on I have been hungry all the time and my portions have always been larger than any other sleever I know. Iv had X-rays and my "sleeve" is very large and distorted and no matter how much I try (eating right, crossfit 3x a week !) I'm still slowly and steadily gaining.

[finediva 979]

@Band07. Thanks for taking the time to explain it all. I wish you much success!

[mrmbv 2]

@@weegie88 @@Band07 my experience with MGB has been, in general, amazing. Looking back, the only "hard" part was reprogramming your brain to eating. The first couple of months, say at a restaurant, I would order as if I was pre-op. It takes time to adjust/accept that is impossible to eat that way (not that it is a bad thing). I experienced dumping often, again part of the adjustment period. I'd say a year post-op I had mastered the new lifestyle and was able to eat anything, just with the Portion Control that my body imposed on me. It was a win-win!

The only side effect I have experienced in all these years has been Iron deficiency. So, every couple of years I would go in to my hematologist and I would get a round of either Iron shots or iron IV. Life was good.

On the 10th anniversary of my MGB I gave birth to a healthy baby girl. My pregnancy was perfect, with absolutely no problems or complications. It was so perfect that I had to be induced at 42 weeks because both baby and myself were too happy with the pregnancy! 16 months after she was born, I got pregnant with my son. If I had been younger, I would/should have probably given my body a little more time to fully bounce back, because my iron deficiency kicked in soon after my first trimester. I had to be given 2 separate blood transfusions because iron shots or IV are not allowed in pregnancy. I was always overly tired due to my severe anemia. During my last trimester I was caught up in the middle of a "fight" between my hematologist & Ob-gyn on how much to wait to induce. My anemia was so out-of-control my hematologist feared my body would not resist birth. My ob-gyn was confident I would. I was absolutely nerve wrecking. I had ever prayed harder. Finally, it was my son who "made the decision" for all of us and changed position the day I was going to get induced. He ended up being born completely healthy and perfect (thank you God!) via c-section at 41 weeks. Unfortunately, I was so weak and anemic, I was not able to breast feed him full time and was able to do part-time for just 3 months.

During the first 10 years post-op, I kept a stable, very comfortable weight and dress size. At first I maybe lost too much weight, only to gain a couple of pounds to my ideal weight soon after. It was great. Two pregnancies after 40 changed that.

Specially with my son's pregnancy I started nervous eating more often because, in my head, I thought he might be hungry because I was so anemic (crazy, I know!). So I've gained weight. Too much of it in my book, although I'm not morbid... Yet. 15 years post-op I'm finding it extremely difficult to loose it and it's very frustrating.

Unfortunately Dr Rutledge is MIA and I couldn't consult with him if this is "normal".

So I consulted a new bariatric Dr, just to have an opinion. His concern was that, supposedly, Dr Rutledge's MGB is frowned upon by most of his peers because some studies have shown patients 15-20 years post-op developing gastric cancer due to bile build up from the liver (scary, huh?). He says that is why there are so few Drs performing Dr Rutledge's, once considered revolutionary, MGB. So he ordered a endoscopy. My results did indeed show huge bile damage, eventhou I do not feel any heartburn or discomfort! The biopsies performed reflect numbers that are not completely healthy either (although not cancer at this point). So basically he said, it is not a matter of "if" I get cancer in the area, it is a matter of "when" in the next 1-5 years! So, now I'm getting surgery done to eliminate Dr. Rutledge's MGB and stop the bile from the liver in the area and prevent cancer from developing and invading the area.

I will be forever thankful to Dr Rutledge for the joy and freedom his surgery gave me. I would give anything to consult my new situation with him. But now, 15 years post-op and a mom to 2 beautiful young kids, I'm scared.

That's why I asked in this forum if there are any other veteran MGB patients. I need to find out more info on this 15-20 post-op development.

[Band07 374]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story. I'm sorry to hear you are struggling now. From what my surgeon said, he now does something (I'm not sure what exactly) during the procedure, to prevent bile reflux as I was very concerned about that as well. Also, there is a group on FB called MGB, It's a closed group you should definitely check out if you haven't already, there is a lot of others on there who had the procedure many years ago. Best of luck with your situation and please keep us updated.

[mrmbv 2]

@@Band07 That is great! If your Dr has a way of preventing future bile reflux, you are one lucky gal! MGB works awesome and it is truly a life-changer. Knowing about the danger of bile reflux now, I couldn't in clear conscience recommend MGB to anyone, BUT if there is away to prevent it: WOW! then YES, GO FOR IT!

Even as scared as I am for my upcoming surgery and/or the possibility of cancer, I don't regret anything about the last 15 years. Like I said before, MGB gave me freedom and a self-confidence that I would have never achieved on my own. There are plenty of haters out there who criticize this and any kind of WLS - but this is by no means the easy way out (as they claim). It was the right decision for me at the time. Dr. Rutledge had been doing his procedure for 2-3 years with incredible success when I got mine done, so he had no data for long-term complications. Now that you know more data and your Dr has a way to prevent what seems to be the only bad long-tern side effect, I say, GO FOR IT without hesitation!

If you have any post-op questions or need any extra encouragement, please let me know, I would be happy to help! I will be praying for you on 4/23

Thank you for letting me know about the Facebook page. I will certainly look for it!

[Band07 374]

Thanks so much ! Best of luck to you with your procedure as well, I will definitely be asking more about what he does and how it prevents the bile. I hope it all works out for you, please keep us posted.

[weegie88 18]

@@mrmbv so sorry to hear of your complications. I pray you will see a some good resolution to it soon and you can get back to worrying about your kids which is a mum's normal state of mind . Both my boys were born at 42 weeks, neither wanted out of there and the youngest did a full 180 turn at 39 weeks otherwise he would have been breach. That was a night to remember.

What you said about doing the best thing at the time based on the research available, it is all any of us can do. None of us have a crystal ball and thats a good thing in a lot of ways. I did watch a lot of Dr Rutlege's youtube videos as part of my own research and he does cover reflux and 'fear of' cancer. I am wondering if his advice has changed since he started out, especially with advice on that? Does anyone know why he is MIA, has he retired ?

Either way, I really do wish you God's speed with a good outcome. Thank you for sharing your story it will help many others I am sure of that.

Chrissy x

Edited April 7, 2015 by weegie88

[weegie88 18]

@@Band07 I would be really interested to hear what it is your surgeon is doing to help stop the reflux and will be emailing my surgeon to ask specifically about that.

Chrissy

[Soonerjoseph 14]

It's more than likely the Caballero/Carbajo "stitch" seen in this article: http://www.nutricionhospitalaria.com/pdf/3512.pdf

[Band07 374]

Yes ! Actually I was just logging on to see if anyone has heard of this. That is what Iv been told he does.

[weegie88 18]

@@Soonerjoseph Thanks! Appreciate the link. I have seen that before but had not made a connection. Think I am suffering from information overload/ amnesia.