mcg968

Thanks Wink. I was thinking about using Dr. Sudan. Have you heard anything about him. I know that he is able to perform pretty much any surgery-even the duodenal switch.

Hi....I had my VSG on wednesday at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City...with Dr. Daniel Herron......he is a wonderful surgeon and I am coming along just fine.......went home on friday morning.....I hope that whomever you choose,,,that you also find great success and have good health.....all the best....... R

I had Dr. Yoo and an out 11 weeks tomorrow i think.. I am down 51 lbs now. Dr. Yoo did a vsg on 2 people i know and they did well and spoke highly off him. I am very pleased with my sleeve so far. i also liked dr park at duke. Best wishes.

I was told to quit taking my b-12 because my levels were so high.. All other levels were perfect at 3 months... I am 99% compliant with my Vitamins.. like most, I occasionally miss a dose but it's rare that I do.

Hmmm....don't know how I missed this thread. I was sleeved in April almost a true 45 lbs down. Still struggling to get my Protein up past 60 a day....and get all my Fluid in. I am rarely hungry and often forget to eat at work! That's my problem right now. My hair is shedding now but I am not to worried about it....I know it will grow back. Had my second follow up and my labs look great...only my B1 is slightly low. Happy I did this despite my GERD has been exacerbated by the surgery. I feel and look great!
Surgeon: Dr. Farrell UNC Hospital 4/24/2013:------ Preop: 239-----Current: 194.6

It's my understanding that the Vertical Gastric Sleeve is the first part of the DS. If you were over a certain weight, like 400 or 600 lbs, they would do the Gastric Sleeve and then wait until the patient was in better health after losing a couple of hundred pounds. Many were still losing at a good rate so they never had the DS finished.
Finally it was approved as a procedure in itself a couple of years ago. I don't believe those who have had a Vertical Gastric Sleeve are able to be modified to a Gastic Bypass because there isn't usually enough stomach left to make a pouch. But if you got the sleeve and you could only get so far down, you could probably get approved to modify to the DS.

I agree that the DS sounds super scary to me b/c of the degree of malabsoption. Even the RNY was more complex than I wanted. I would consider revising to RNY if I was unable to lose weight, but I think maintaining it will likely have less to do with my surgery and more to do with my own habits, so I'm trying to work on those seriously. For me, DS wasn't even a consideration.

Within reason sleeve size does not impact overall weightloss. I have a slightly larger than average sleeve due to having a long stomach so I can eat (gasp) around a quarter of a cup more food than most other sleevers. Those who were sleeved many years ago before the exact "just right" size range was perfected, may have TOO LARGE of a sleeve where some of the fundus (stretchy part of the stomach) was not removed so THAT can impact overall loss but the difference between a 32 bougie and a 40 bougie is really small in terms of how much food your stomach can hold, but a slightly larger sleeve can help prevent strictures and be better for those with acid reflux.
I'd MUCH rather go back years later and get DS than have my intestines rerouted and deal with malabsorption unnecessarily. DS is a VERY powerful surgery and it has it's place but I'd rather avoid it.... As long as I can stay under 230ish pounds I wouldn't do the DS even if I don't maintain my goalweight.. If I found myself ballooning back up over 300 pounds then yes, I'd absolutely go get the DS.

Hey, I'm in Raleigh. I will be sleeved Monday by Dr. Yoo with Duke.