This is my first post. Both my wife and I are meeting with a surgeon next week to discuss bariatric surgery. We don't have much faith in lap band, and from what I have read VSG seems to avoid some of the issues with the more extreme Rouen-Y. My older brother had the Rouen-Y two years ago and has met his weight loss goal. He's urging me to stick with the "Gold Standard" which is of course the surgery he chose. I wonder if some of you would be willing to share why you chose to go with VSG?

For what it is worth, I have more weight to lose than most of you, around 180 lbs.:thumbup: I've had weight problems my entire life and refuse to surrender the years I have left to obesity.

Comments?

This is my first post. Both my wife and I are meeting with a surgeon next week to discuss bariatric surgery. We don't have much faith in lap band, and from what I have read VSG seems to avoid some of the issues with the more extreme Rouen-Y. My older brother had the Rouen-Y two years ago and has met his weight loss goal. He's urging me to stick with the "Gold Standard" which is of course the surgery he chose. I wonder if some of you would be willing to share why you chose to go with VSG?

For what it is worth, I have more weight to lose than most of you, around 180 lbs.:thumbup: I've had weight problems my entire life and refuse to surrender the years I have left to obesity.

Comments?

I chose VSG so I don't have to deal with issues related to malabsorption, Vitamin deficiency requiring taking lots of meds, anemia (more meds), dumping (help...is a bathroom nearby???oops.) and less "cutting up" of the innards.

My total excess weight was 130 lbs. I've lost 59 lbs since surgery on Sept 23. Feeling great. I can eat anything, just not much at one time. I'm not hungry because the part of the stomach that makes the hormone causing hunger is GONE. Good riddance I say.

Do your research and what ever surgery you pick, find a surgeon who has done at least 300 of that kind of surgery. Research shows they have a much lower complication rate once they've done 300. Read everything you can get your hands on. That will give you a list of questions to ask your potential surgeon. Once you are confident of the surgeon and the facility (which needs to be a HOSPITAL, not a CLINIC,) go for it!

Best of luck to you!

Congratulations for the two of you making this decision together. In my opinion, it will make it easier for both of you to be successful. I have been jumping thru hoops to get lap band, but began having a lot of reservations about it regarding after care and complications. My original wish was VSG, but my insurance doesn't pay for it, nor does my surgeon accept self pay for it. Just a week ago I learned of a surgeon in Kansas City who accepts self pay and it's only $11,999! So, here I go; jumping through their hoops to have it done! I'm very excited. I didn't choose RNY, which my insurance would cover, because I don't want malabsorption or dumping. I like the idea of the gherlin hormone producing part of the stomach being gone. I struggled somewhat with the idea of losing a large portion of my stomach, but RNY is a lot of cutting and pasting that I'm not too crazy about on top of the other issues. With VSG, your body will still process foods the way it does now, but in smaller portions.

Of course, any WLS is a decision you and your wife must make based on what you feel is best for you. You each may even choose something different.

Do your homework. Read posts old and new on this site. Another site, Obestity Help also has a VSG forum that I visit regularly. Lots of good information on both sites.

Best of luck to both of you!

Wanda

This is my first post. Both my wife and I are meeting with a surgeon next week to discuss bariatric surgery. We don't have much faith in lap band, and from what I have read VSG seems to avoid some of the issues with the more extreme Rouen-Y. My older brother had the Rouen-Y two years ago and has met his weight loss goal. He's urging me to stick with the "Gold Standard" which is of course the surgery he chose. I wonder if some of you would be willing to share why you chose to go with VSG?

For what it is worth, I have more weight to lose than most of you, around 180 lbs.:thumbup: I've had weight problems my entire life and refuse to surrender the years I have left to obesity.

Comments?

Congrats you both of you. I can give you the reasons I chose a VSG instead of RNY for my revision.

I think it's really hard to call the RNY the gold standard when I see and hear of so many patients seeking a revision in 3-10 years because their stoma or pouch is stretched, or they are no longer malabsorbing, and the regain stats are just scary in my opinion for RNY.

I chose VSG instead of RNY because I was not interested in malabsorption of Vitamins, nutrients, nor did I want to deal with rerouting of my intestines.

Also, if I needed malabsorption, I would go with the duodenal switch. The sleeve is the first part of that surgery, and based on my lifestyle, I knew a restrictive only procedure would work for me.

Also, with RNY, they leave that "blind" stomach in there, that can still be diseased, cancer-ridden, yet it can't be scoped, so there is another surgery to fix those issue.

I was a volume eater. With the sleeve, 4-6oz of food is very satisfying, and I'm beyond happy with my results.

In 6 months, I dropped over 100 pounds with the sleeve. I only technically lost 7 with the band before I revised to the sleeve this June 2009.

Also, I prefer to take Advil or Naproxen for pain. With the band, and RNY those are big no no's. I had the band because I was so against RNY for my lifestyle. I was not aware that the sleeve was being performed in our area, or I would of chose it first.

Best wishes to you both.

Welcome and good luck with your decision. Others have pretty much already hit on the reasons I chose VSG over RNY. I did toy with the idea of getting RNY because my insurance would have covered it, but in the end I stuck with the sleeve decision and self paid (thanks to God that I was in a position to do this). The biggest reason for me was "I wanted to be as normal as possible." I was 29, now 30, and knew that I had a lot of living left to do. I didn't want to have to worry about what types of pills I could/couldn't take or what nutrients I wasn't absorbing. BUT that was just me. I was considered a "light weight" and had read plenty to know that I could get my weight off with this surgery. I don't think there is any one surgery that is the best choice for everyone, good luck!

I admire you for making this decision at your age. Even though a light weight now, as you age, that takes a turn for the worse. At your age, I wore a size 18. Now I'm a 28. I wish these options were available to me at your age. But, on with life. It's going to be a wild ride!

Welcome and good luck with your decision. Others have pretty much already hit on the reasons I chose VSG over RNY. I did toy with the idea of getting RNY because my insurance would have covered it, but in the end I stuck with the sleeve decision and self paid (thanks to God that I was in a position to do this). The biggest reason for me was "I wanted to be as normal as possible." I was 29, now 30, and knew that I had a lot of living left to do. I didn't want to have to worry about what types of pills I could/couldn't take or what nutrients I wasn't absorbing. BUT that was just me. I was considered a "light weight" and had read plenty to know that I could get my weight off with this surgery. I don't think there is any one surgery that is the best choice for everyone, good luck!

OldAv8tor, I wanted to take a quick moment to first welcome you to our forums, we are so glad to have you join us and happy to share with you our reasons for going with the sleeve.

As Deedee said, everyone here has already pretty much touched on the reasons why I chose the sleeve as well. I started out with the lapband. For those it works for, it is a wonderful tool. Unfortunately, for some of us, we just seem destined to have problems with it. So, when I had the opportunity to revise to the sleeve, I jumped on it.

For me, the sleeve is almost effortless for me. I am the first to admit, I am bad about counting calories, etc. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life counting and monitoring every bite I take. With the sleeve, I honestly don't do that. I try and make healthier choices, but have no guilt when I treat myself either. I just stop eating when I am full. That is all I do. I have been doing that since I got sleeved on April 2nd and have been thrilled with my weight loss to date.

Whatever surgery you decide is best for you, I wish you nothing but the best of luck.

I have not had my surgery yet but I picked VSG cause I have endometriosis and I talk some medication for it. Its heavy duty at times and with the RnY I cant have it. I cant live without it, my endometriosis is far to painful.

I had a total of 168 to lose, and since I am pre-op I have been working darn hard on it. I am down 43.4 pounds I dont have a final date yet for my surgery but best of luck to you.

Your comments pretty much confirm the conclusion I had come to on my own. Nonetheless, it certainly makes me feel less alone when it comes to making such a life changing decision. It is heartening to hear from so many people who are satisfied with their choice and on the way to living life without the burden of having to deal with all the problems that accompany being overweight.

Thanks to all and best of luck!

OldAv8tor

Great question and equally great replies!

As many of the respondents mentioned, gastric sleeve surgery is much less complicated than many other types of bariatric surgery…

• Your digestive system is not rearranged, unlike gastric bypass surgery or duodenal switch surgery. It also differs from the more complicated procedures by being primarily restrictive in nature (makes you feel full sooner rather than directly causing your body to absorb fewer calories).
  
• There are no foreign objects implanted in your body as with gastric banding or vertical banded gastroplasty.
  

Because of these differences, the gastric sleeve has a reduced risk of:

• Vitamin deficiency/malnutrition
  
• Dumping syndrome and other malabsorptive-procedure (i.e. gastric bypass) side-effects
  
• Long-term gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) vs other restrictive procedures.
  

Another consideration: with gastric sleeve surgery, a large part of the stomach is removed, so afterwards your stomach may secrete fewer hormones that make you feel hungry (i.e. ghrelin peptide-YY).

To be fair, gastric sleeve surgery does have a few negatives vs other procedures:

• It cannot be reversed (not necessarily a bad thing)
  
• A relatively long staple line is created during surgery which may increase the risk of staple line leaks and/or bleeding
  
• It is a newer procedure than Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and other surgeries. As a result, it has fewer long-term studies to support the short-term results. Some critics fear that the pouch could stretch over time (although there are a few relatively quick and safe procedures that can tighten up a stretched stomach pouch).
  

A couple of studies that directly compared gastric sleeve surgery to other procedures also suggest that weight loss may be similar or better than weight loss following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery or duodenal switch surgery.

Good luck with your decision and with your new life!

Bariatric Surgery Source

Gastric Sleeve Surgery - Evaluating & Comparing Its Effectiveness and Outcomes

Edited December 15, 200916 yr by Bariatric-Surgery-Source