My 19 year old daughter has type 1 diabetes and has been approved for gastric bypass surgery (Roux en Y). Have other people with type 1 diabetes had this surgery done? What were the results? Are there any special considerations that our doctors may not be aware of? (The bypass doctor and the diabetes specialist have approved her for the surgery, but I haven’t heard of any other cases like hers.) I want to be sure that she’s not “pioneering” in this area. I would appreciate the opportunity to benefit from the experiences of others like her.

The Roux en Y procedure is usually reserved for extremely obese folks. I have one such patient with type 1 diabetes who has been successful post-surgery and went from 350 pounds to now 180 pounds over about a year.

There are numerous types of surgical procedures favored by different surgeons around the world. You should discuss this very specifically with your daughter’s diabetes team and also with the surgeons. In fact, you should insist that the surgeon and the diabetes doctor talk to each other so that appropriate monitoring and safety concerns can be addressed in the preoperative and postoperative period. Who will monitoring blood glucose level and changing insulin doses? How will this all be coordinated? All key issues.

SB

[Editor’s comment: See Surgery Pre-Op Advice for some additional thoughts.

WWQ]