As you may know, I had gastric bypass surgery in January 2002. I had done pretty much everything to lose the weight (various diets, exercise, Fen-Phen, Redux), but I was never able to keep it off. My Nephrologist kept telling me to "get the weight off", and at the time, I was followed by a bariatric physician, who had suggested that I go for Gastric Bypass. I went for an initial evaluation in 1999, and chickened out. My Nephrologist wasn't "on board" with me having this surgery, yet told me that at almost 400 lbs, transplant was not an option, and dialysis would "be difficult". My ex-brother in law, who was doing an Internal Medicine residency at the time, was also not a backer of the procedure; he gave me every reason not to have it, but none TO have it. However, in the end it was MY decision not to go through with it.
In 2001, a co-worker had the procedure, and despite some complications, did great. Also, the Medical Center that I work at had just started doing the procedure, so I decided to take the plunge. In retrospect, it was the right decision.
Fast forward to last month, and without having had Gastric Bypass, I never would have received a kidney transplant, and quite possibly may have been dead at this point.
Surprisingly, there isn't a lot of research with Gastric Bypass and Kidney Transplant. I asked my Bariatric doc if I was the first of his patients in this situation, and he had 2 others who had GBS and a transplant (both diabetics), and that was 2 years ago.
This study concludes that targeting obesity can lessen hypertension and diabetes, and may also stabilize CKD (chronic kidney disease). In fact, GBS may be a CURE for Type 2 diabetes (Medscape article here; may require free registration).
Although weight loss prior to transplant will possibly increase the chances of success, another consideration is that of absorption. I found a study which concludes that doses of immunosuppressants will probably be higher in GBS patients due to malabsorption (although it's a very small study). Personally, I'm on Cellcept 500 mg every 12 hours, and Prograf 3mg in am and 2mg in pm; that to me doesn't sound excessive, especially when considering that I'm only 6 weeks post op, and my level of immunosuppression is high. However, my iron stores are chronically low, and that probably is due to malabsorption/lack of adequate stomach acid to absorb iron due to GBS.
If you would like to sift through the studies, here are Google results and here are Google Scholar results.
Do you still have your old kidneys, or have they been removed?
I still have my "natives".
When my mom decided on being placed on the transplant list (in 1978), the standard was to remove the native kidneys. At that point, she had been on dialysis for over 3 years, and when they got in to remove them, there was pretty much nothing left; they had atrophied.
:::Putting my hands over my ears:::
I can't hear you? Are you talking to me?
LOL. Your email "reminded" me to post this, but there may be other people interested in this.
Best to keep the hands over the ears until YOU think it's the right thing to do. In fact, whenever I'm asked by someone who is considering GBS, my advice is DON'T do it until you are fairly certain it is what you want to do. The worst thing would be to go through with the surgery BEFORE you are ready for it, which increases the chance for failure.
My husband was diagnosed last year with renal cell carcinoma. He was already kidney failure so they went ahead and removed the kidney. He is doing well on dialysis, but he needs to lose another 60lbs before can be put on the transplant list. His doctor recommends gastric bypass. He is actually scheduled for surgery in July and needs to start his liquid diet soon. They recommended a protein shake for him that low potassium and high protein, but It is really expensive. I was wondering if anyone here knew of any other options that he can try?
When I had my gastric bypass (I think at the time I was at Stage I or II of CKD), I alternated between Carnation Instant Breakfast and Slimfast. Before doing that, it would be best to check with his renal dietician and Bariatric Doctor. Good luck.
I would advise going to either a Gastric Bypass surgeon's office or a dietary program. I know the offices I go to sell Unjury and Healthwise products that are reasonably priced. I am a mom with 5 kids so I know that every penny counts, but if you are supplementling some meals with protein shakes and drinks it really is affordable. I have found that going through offices to buy these products is less expensive then trying to substitute these products with things you can get at the grocery store or drug stores. Hope this helps some.
Hi Jeff!
Hope you are fine after your kidney replacement. Thanks for the information. Its true that there is not enough research done in Gastric Bypass and Kidney Transplant till now.
refinance auto loans | refinancing loan | refinance mortgage loan | refinance home loan | used car loan