Step One....complete

I'm having my surgery on the 4th of June. I understand your concerns about the lack of long term information about the sleeve but remember, thats long term information on weight loss. The gastrectomy procedure has been around for a very long time, it's used to treat people with stomach ulcers and cancer. Its that thought that has made me more comfortable with my decision. For me, I was more concerned about the bypass because I did not want to reroute my intestines and have to deal with the malabsorbtion issues. Its important to remember that this isn't a magic cure, you have to diet just the same as you would without the surgery only now you have a smaller stomach and generally deal with less hunger. I figure I'm not going through all the pain and being uncomfortable for nothinng.... focus on the plan, diet and exercise with the bottomline result of being more healthy!

Good luck with your surgery! I exercise every night with my husband. We currently walk 4 1/2 miles in about 1 hr 15 min. So it's not the exercise I'm worried about, and I'm not really that big of an eater when it comes to meals. My main issue is the constant feeling (ie thoughts) that I'm hungry (and acting on it by grazing!). That's what's got me interested mostly in the sleeve. I've read that it will help reduce the "hunger" hormone significantly, and I really like the idea that you still have a functioning stomach, it's just significantly (85%) smaller than it currently is. I'm really not quite sure what situation would warrant needing your stomach reconnected post-op after so long a period of time anyway. I'm sure I'm just paranoid, and meeting with the "team" will help make the decision much easier.

Thanks for the info and for taking the time to post.

Hi, I'm pre-op, 660 pounds - getting the sleeve in June/July sometime -not sure yet. I think as far as concerns go - I chose the sleeve because for one - Bands are a waste of money they have a pretty high failure rate from what I've read online and I've done a lot of research for the past 4 years. I didn't choose this lightly.

Secondly, I don't really want dumping syndrome, and as far as I know most cases Sleeve patients don't really get that.

Thirdly - absorption - I don't want to have to take 3x the medicine a normal person takes when I get older. People 65+ take a lot of medicine to maintain their health - vitamins, Cholesterol Medicine, Heart Medicine, Diabetes, whatever comes up - not being able to absorb the meds is going to be an issue down the line that I really don't want to deal with.

Fourthly - it may be somewhat new for weight loss - but it's been highly successful and just looking at this forum you can see all the great results, and not too many negative ones. I also did research before, and I can't tell you now, but I do know I read somewhere that the mortality rate for Sleeve is less than for Gastric Bypass.

Lastly, I personally just think I can maintain a healthier lifestyle with Gastric Sleeve because I will get a lot more nutrients that I need, and stand a less likely chance of malnourishment. Thank to removal of Ghrelin part of stomach, I will also have less cravings - which the people on this forum have told me is true, most of them have said they don't want the trigger foods they once did.

These are MY reasons, don't necessarily make them yours - but I think that if you see why I personally am choosing this surgery, you might think of something you didn't that might help you to make up your mind.