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Surgeon: Dr. Clifford Deveney, Portland, Oregon Latest update: July 2004
by Laura H.:
My mother rushed me to Weight Watchers, where I promptly lost about 20 lb. and was a success. Until I went off Weight Watchers and gained it all back, and then some. My mother made no secret of the fact that she hated that I was fat. My mother is they type of woman who seems obsessed with a persons weight and from her I learned to equate my body size with my self worth. When I lost weight I got a lot of positive attention and strokes. When I was gaining, I was insulted, ridiculed and put down at every step. My mother was always on a diet but never more then maybe 30 or so pounds overweight and she couldn't stand that I was out of control. My weight continued to rise, with the exception of the time my mother took me to her diet doctor and I got diet pills. I was 14 and I loved them. I lost 20 lb. and was doing great until they stopped working. I went back several times but I could never lose weight with them again. I pretty much gave up at that point. I was smart enough to realize that diets didn't work and I would only regain whatever weight I lost, so why bother? That attitude didn't win me any friends since everyone else was dieting and losing and gaining and couldn't understand why I didn't at least try. I didn't try because I saw them do it over and over again and I saw how futile it was. When I was 20 I weighed about 200 lb. I was miserable, in a dead end job with no prospects for the future. I only had one boyfriend in my life, when I was 14 and on diet pills. I don't think I even went out on a date after that. My life consisted of working and coming home and eating. I hated myself and wished I was dead. All the things I wanted in my future, to meet a man and get married and have a family seemed impossible. I would look around at couples to see if any really heavy woman were with someone and I could never see it. Even if someone paid attention to me, I didn't trust him. I didn't want to be with someone who wanted to be with me, I guess. A friend of mine told me about Overeaters Anonymous and I decided to try that. I did great. So great that in 4 months I went from 200 lb. to 120 lb. and then I became scared of regaining all that weight. That's when I discovered bulimia. I alternated between anorexia and bulimia for a while, afraid that every bite would lead me back to 200 lb. again. At this time I got back together with my boyfriend from when I was 14. I went to him to make amends and wound up marrying him. I have always said that an "I'm sorry" would have been sufficient. I regained some weight, but not too bad. This started me on nearly 20 years of ups and downs. I had 5 kids (well, the first was adopted because of my eating disorders I couldn't get pregnant for a long time) and then I had 4 pregnancies. With each pregnancy I gained a lot of weight, but after I had the baby, I would diet strenuously and lose it. I managed to keep my weight at a somewhat normal range (between pregnancies) although it was getting harder all the time. With my last pregnancy I got up to 220 lb. but a year or so later I was down to 135 lb. for about 20 minutes and then I was off and running again. I started to gain out of control and in a couple of years I hit 225 lb. About that time, my cousin had weight loss surgery. She weighed about 325 lb. and had a RNY and lost 175 lb. That is when I first started to consider WLS for myself. I was on the Oregon Health Plan at the time and I heard it was impossible to have them pay for WLS so I didn't even bother. Around that time I was also trying to get Social Security because I couldn't work anymore due to physical and emotional problems. I got on Social Security in 2000 and also received Medicare. I had heard that Medicare sometimes paid for WLS so I decided to pursue it. I went to my primary care doctor but he wasn't very encouraging. He sent me home with a prescription for Orlistat. I was pretty discouraged. I did some research on the Internet and sent some emails out. One doctor sent me a handwritten letter. I was very impressed. He stated that I should qualify for WLS but I needed to have a bunch of tests done, plus commit to an exercise routine. I had told him in my email that my weight made it hard for me to get any exercise, plus my constant exhaustion. I gave that letter a lot of thought and decided to give it one more try. I joined a local pool and went to their water aerobic classes every day. I started a healthy eating plan. Over the next year I lost about 50 lb. but I was still living in fear because I knew it was a matter of time before I regained it. I felt like a ticking time bomb. I was uncomfortable getting close to anyone because I felt like a fraud. I always felt that my weight loss was temporary and if someone saw me getting real heavy again they would reject me. I got down to about 180 lb. which is still about 50 lb. overweight for me, but I felt better and had more energy. My constant heartburn was gone. Things were fine until Sept. 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks really affected me. They triggered my post-traumatic stress syndrome and I could hardly leave my house for almost 3 months. In Oct. my step father became critically ill and my mother wanted me to fly to California to be with her. I couldn't do it. I got to the airport and while waiting for the plane I had a terrible panic attack and ran. I felt terribly guilty that I couldn't be with my mother when she needed me, but I was unable to do it. I was still doing OK with my eating at this point but in Nov. my mother came to visit me in Oregon and for Thanksgiving we went to my cousins house and that is when I just said "forget it" to myself and stuffed myself. Of course, it didn't stop with Thanksgiving, and by the next year I had gained nearly 60 lb. At this time I knew I couldn't diet one more time. I just didn't have it in me to go through all that again. It took me a year to lose 50 lb. and a few months to gain back 60 of it. I knew that my only hope was WLS. I called the university and was told I needed a PCP referral, so I got a new PCP and went to see her. To my surprise, she was very supportive, although she did think I might not weigh enough. I weighed about 235 lb. so my BMI was right at 40. She gave me a referral to Dr. Clifford DeVeney. It took 3 months to get to see him, at which point my weight was 238 lb. He gave me some information on the surgeries that were available and some general information. At that time he recommended the lap RNY. I was fine with that, as my cousin and my sister both had the RNY and seemed to be doing fine with it. He told me I qualified for the surgery and that my insurance, Medicare, was good about paying for it, so all I had to do was schedule a date. I called his surgery scheduler and was given the date of Oct. 28, 2002. Since I had nearly 3 months to wait for my surgery I decided to get involved in some support groups and gather all the information I could about the surgery. I joined several online discussion groups and went to a live support group at the hospital. At that support group I found that many of the people had had the DS. I asked a lot of questions and started to think that the duodenal switch might be a better choice for me. I especially liked that fact that you didn't have to diet or worry about food getting stuck in the pouch, which I was hearing happen to a lot of RNY post-ops. I was a little put off by the gas and loose stools, but one of my constant problems has been constipation and it had gotten so bad that loose stools looked very good to me. As far as the gas problem, that too is something I have lived with and I didn't see that as a big obstacle. I just figured that when the time came, I would deal with it. I joined an online message board for DS patients and asked questions and came to the decision that I wanted one, too. It just felt like the right decision for me. What really made up my mind was reading the statistics of people regaining weight with the RNY. I had been that route before and I didn't want to go down it again. I couldn't imagine anything worse then going to all that trouble and pain to have surgery and then regain a lot of the weight back. Also, from reading message boards, it seemed common for RNY patients to not lose all their weight. Time and time again, I saw people one or more years out that had lost a lot of weight, but were still morbidly obese and couldn't lose any more weight, while the DSers seemed on a whole to do better at losing and keeping off the weight. I wanted that. I had my surgery on Oct. 28, 2002 and it was pretty uneventful as far as surgery goes. I was out of the hospital in 4 days and other then residual tiredness, I have felt pretty good. I am only 2 weeks post-op now and have lost about 20 lb. and already feel better. This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. For the first time in my life, I can lose weight without the fear of regaining it all and then some. I don't have to live in fear anymore. I am looking forward to my future instead of dreading it. I was at the point before the surgery that if it weren't for my kids, I wouldn't have had any reason to live. I didn't want to leave my house. I only went to the store and the doctors. I couldn't do anything with my kids and I was afraid I was an embarrassment to them. I was so worried that their friends would make fun of them for having a fat mother. Now I am teaching them how to eat right and soon we'll be able to exercise together. Before they used to complain that I never did anything with them and that was true. The only thing I did with them is eat. Now I am looking forward to bike riding and hiking with them and even walking. Before it was all I could do to walk to the local convenient store with them to get some goodies. I have just started on my journey. March 2003 August 2003 The other thing that I think has really helped is that I started an exercise program and stuck with it. That was very difficult because I've never been very active but I wanted to do something to help me along and this I could do. My lifestyle today is so good. Every time I take a drink of water with my meals, every time I have a little treat I thank God I didn't have the RNY. I am so glad I don't have to follow any pouch rules, because I don't have a pouch. I have a stomach, a little smaller but a real, functioning stomach. I love going out to eat and trying new places. This is one of the things that I have done for years with my boyfriend and I was worried about when I was planning the RNY. Would I be sitting there watching what he ate with jealousy after I finished my 2 oz of food? Would I ever be able to go to a birthday party or potluck and not feel left out or different? Would I have to worry about regaining a large part of my weight when my stomach stretched out? Did I have it in me to live with a diet, even a surgically assisted diet, for the rest of my life? I didn't think so but I was so desperate for something that I was willing to put myself through that to lose the extra weight. I am so thankful every day that I learned about the DS before I could go ahead with the RNY and that I had the surgery that I did. I feel like I have found the answers to all my prayers. I can eat like a normal person, make healthier choices because I want to, not because I have to, and I can get to a healthy weight. I chose 140 as my goal because at 5"3' it would put my BMI in the ideal category, no longer overweight. I felt it was a realistic and obtainable goal. I expect that I might lose a little more weight, especially since I still have quite a bit of my window left, but it has slowed down considerable in the last month or so. I plan on keeping a close eye on my weight for a while to gauge my eating, but I expect at some point when I am more confident I can use my clothes as a guide. It is all still new to me and will take a while to really integrate into my mind that this won't be like every other diet I've ever been on, that as soon as I let my guard down the weight will pile back on. I still have diarrhea and gas but things aren't any worse then before surgery. In fact they are better because I used to have a real problem with constipation and that was very uncomfortable. I hope things stay this way. I no longer have horrible heartburn, which is what I lived with every day before the surgery. My cholesterol is normal and so far my labs look good. I am diligent about my supplements and getting my lab work done. I try not to take this miracle for granted but to be proactive with my health. Malabsorbtion is nothing to play with and I have to live with it for the rest of my life. Would I have this surgery again? Without a doubt. Although I know I have been very lucky with a very easy surgery and recovery, I knew the risks when I went it. I knew about the possible complications. I knew that I could possibly not lose all the weight I wanted, but I felt it was my best chance at a healthier life and I've never questioned my decision for a minute. I don't want to imply that everyone will have the same results. Some people suffer with complications from the surgery, or they struggle to lose weight. I would recommend that anyone considering weight loss surgery research all their options and be prepared for all their risks before going ahead. I don't want to paint a rosy picture because everyone is different. There are people who tell me that they prefer to have a RNY because they want the built in protection of dumping. That doesn't make sense to me. I spent years being punished by my eating. I didn't want to punish myself any more, but my feeling is that if they've done their research and have their eyes open, I wish them the best. For anyone considering this surgery or any other, all I can say is research and talk to people that have had all kinds of surgery. Find out about their lifestyles and if they are happy with their choice. Be honest with yourself about what you can live with and what is realistic for you. Don't just have surgery because you are desperate or your insurance will only pay for one kind. This is something you will have to live with for the rest of your life. It's worth taking more time, talking to more surgeons, even traveling if you have to. You don't have to settle with second best. You deserve the best because you may not get a second chance. July 2004 My only complication from the surgery came about a year and a half out. When I had my panni removed I developed an infection that required antibiotics. Not long after that I started having pretty bad diarrhea. Since about a year out I have been able to eat a lot more and I just thought it was a matter of what goes in must go out. I tried all the suggested remedies and found some relief but it always came back, bringing the toxic gas with it. I just thought that it was part of post-op DS life and didn't really worry about it. In April I suddenly developed terrible joint pain and a rash on my body. The pain was horrible, I could hardly walk. My PCP was baffled and she sent me to a dermatologist, who took a skin biopsy of the rash. I was diagnosed with Bowel Bypass Syndrome, also called Bowel-Associated Dermatosis-Arthritis Syndrome. It is very rare and the only reason he knew to look for it was because he had seen one other case in the hospital. It was a result of bacterial overgrowth in the intestines. I was put on Doxycycline for 30 days and finally recovered. Now my bathroom habits are like they were for the first year after surgery, totally manageable. I now weigh 120 lbs, down from a high of 242 before surgery. I know I am lucky in that I can eat whatever I want. What is amazing to me is that I lost weight for the first year until I hit 120 lbs and then it just stabilized right there. At the same time I was able to eat a lot more then I had been. It was like my body just knew what to do. I can't believe how well the surgery has worked for me. My labs have been perfect. I am very diligent about my supplements and I think because I can eat so much I get a lot of nutrients from my food, too. I make sure I eat a lot of protein and I usually have a protein shake daily just to be sure, but I don't have to be careful about carbs or anything. I have had some people state that I am too thin, which I find kind of funny but I can honestly say that I put no effort into maintaining this weight and I've never denied myself a thing in order to stay this size. At some point I know I might have some rebound weight gain and that is fine, too, although I imagine it would be difficult to see the scale go up. I haven't exercised for a while. I stopped when I got sick and I just haven't been motivated to get started again. I have found that no matter how hard I try to develop good habits it is always easy to slip back into the old way. I am so glad that I didn't have a RNY. I look at the way I eat now and I know if I had the RNY I would be gaining weight again. I know I would be one of those people that no matter how hard I tried I just wouldn't be able to make my tool work. Dieting never worked for me before and a surgically assisted diet wouldn't have been any different. |
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I was a normal size child until I hit my teens. The summer between grade school and Jr. High school I put on 50 lb. and went from about 85 lb. to 135 lb. The amazing thing is that I didn't even realize I had gained weight. I got my new school clothes that year and I went from a child's 16 to a woman's 16 and didn't think anything about it. Then I went back to school. The kids at school noticed and weren't shy about telling me how fat I was. I couldn't understand it. I wasn't eating anything different. Food had turned on me and went from being my friend and comfort to my enemy and the reason for all my problems.