Question:
anyoen have the DS and consider revision to another porcedure?

I stopped losing weight 17 months after surgery. Now 3 years since I had the DS I am considering looking into a revision to the RNY. Anyone have any info to share?    — Gayle F. (posted on August 6, 2003)

August 6, 2003
What went wrong? Start weight, lost too? regained too? These are all important questions, some state regain with d/S doesnt occur/ Please tell us more.
   — bob-haller

August 6, 2003
Gayle, I'm so sorry your surgery didn't work for you as well as you'd hoped. Like Bob, I'm also curious about the specifics. From your profile, I'm gathering that you started out at a SMO weight (BMI 61.3), lost 165 pounds from the DS, but stopped 50 pounds short of where you wanted to be. I didn't see any mention of regain, so I'm assuming you've mostly maintained your initial loss (except for maybe the typical 10% rebound). Is that correct? If it is, that situation is unfortunately not all that unusual with any of the procedures (whether DS or RNY). The more distal surgeries (DS and very long-limbed RNY) tend to help SMO patients lose a higher percentage of their weight compared to proximal RNY, but they still don't often provide 100% EWL. From what you've said in your profile, it looks like you lost ~70% of your excess weight, but then stopped. There are a lot of people in your position -- much better off than when they started, but still not happy with where they ended up. To respond to your question, it may be possible to get revised to a super-distal RNY (same intestinal measurements as the DS, but with a tiny pouch instead of a tubular stomach), and that could possibly help you lose the rest of your weight, but it also comes with greatly increased nutritional risks. You would need to commit to supplementing very heavily for life (even more vitamins, minerals, and protein than required now) to make sure you stayed healthy. Michelle Curran (Vitalady) has a very distal RNY like that, and she's done great, so it is certainly possible. However, it may be difficult to find a surgeon who is willing to do that type of revision, since it's not at all common and they may be nervous about the nutritional issues (I've never actually heard of anyone having a DS converted to an RNY, but it doesn't seem as if there would any technical reason why it couldn't be done). If I were in your position, I would look into the Lap-Band instead. On the DS Yahoo group, there was recently a discussion about this issue -- using a Lap-Band in combination with the DS to help patients whose weight loss stopped short of goal. There have been some surgeons who have started experimenting with this, and one surgeon who posts on the DS list said that he considers it to be a very promising approach. If you're not already a member of the Yahoo DS group, I highly recommend it. There's a ton of great information there. Good luck, Gayle!!
   — Tally

August 6, 2003
After my DS, I slowed down in losing weight at around 290 (having lost around 200 pounds). While repairing a hernia, my WLS surgeon 'revised' my surgery to shorten up the carbohydrate absorbing portion of the intestine and I then started losing weight again. I now vary between 225 and 240(pre-menstrual) and am at 23% body fat content, which puts me in the 'fit' range. If you are concerned, go see your surgeon. Revising to a RNY pouch or adding a lapband might make your stomach smaller, but the fundemental aspects of the weight loss being the shortened intestinal absorption are the same, depending on the amount bypassed...Good Luck!
   — merri B.

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