I'm in the midst of getting ready for surgery. Originally I was planning on doing Lap Band Surgery but recently my surgeon brought up the prospect of VSG, mainly because I am a weightlifter and very active and he thinks it may be a better option for me, THAT, and the fact that my insurance is one of those that pays for VSG in full. So I've been researching VSG which is how I ended up here.

I've decided to have WLS because I'm 40 yrs old and I have a 2 year old daughter and a 1 year old son. And I need to lose about 125-150 pounds. I, like a lot of people have tried everything under the sun and lost weight and gained it back again. It's time for something more serious.

When I decided on the band I was scared to death of having that band inside of me forever, etc, etc. But I mostly got over that. NOW, as I consider VSG I am SCARED TO DEATH, shitting a brick because it is irreversible and the thought of a big portion of my stomach basically getting thrown in the garbage is REALLY bothering me. I mean what if I need that 10-20 years from now!!?? Maybe I'm just being silly but that is driving me crazy at the moment. After everything I've read/heard about the band it seems as though VSG is better, EXCEPT for that whole "stomach in the trash" thing. Is this something you guys have dealt with, or are you still dealing with? I'm real curious to hear people's thoughts on this. Thanks!!

Well, I'm pre-surgery right now, too. But, I can't WAIT to get rid of my stomach! I never want to see it again.

I'm just curious, but why are you worried about with not having it anymore/What made you worried about possibly needing it again later on in life? :bananajump:

I was never concerned about losing a portion of my stomach, especially knowing it is still a fully functioning one, just smaller than most peoples. I sure as heck don't expect to wake up some morning and think, "gee, I want to be fat again, I sure wish I had my stomach back."

Also, I wasn't worried that I would ever need it again because back in the early seventies, my mother had major health problems and actually ended up having 3/4 of her stomach removed due to a medical issue. That has been over thirty years ago and she has never had any issues resulting from only having 1/4 of her stomach. So, I figure I will be just fine without mine.

I know exactly how you feel. I have had the same thoughts. I think mine comes from the fact that my mother in law used to be a healty sized woman....175ish. Now that she is 92, she is soooo little. I can not imagine needing nutrition at some point and not being able to eat enough. I guess it does sound dumb to some people but it sure crosses my mind! I am also concerned about hair loss. Will we have to drink protein shakes forever? And do I need to be looking for shakes I like now...before surg? I still have lots of questions and I wish I could talk to someone who had this done several months ago. I love this forum but I would love to talk on the phone to somebody!

Deb, you really don't want to look for shakes before surgery. Most of us have found that our tastes changed quite a bit after surgery and things we liked before, we don't afterwords. I never could tolerate the Protein shakes, I just make sure I get enough protein in with the foods that I eat and I have done fine.

If you would like to chat on the phone, let me know and I will pm you my number.

Behemoth,

I can relate to your fear. I am scared too. I am having the sleeve done 12/29, but I am trying to keep the old "what-if" fears in check. For me, losing weight has been on the New Year's resolution list for at least over a decade..... This year I am taking a new approach. I don't KNOW if it will create regrets - it might, but, if ANOTHER 10 years pass and I have done nothing, I know that will cause me to have regret. I am holding onto a quote of Jillian from a couple of episode ago on BL, Feel the fear, move through it, and DO IT ANYWAY!

I had a band, and let me just say that it being reversible is the biggest crock of poop and false advertising. I say that because yes, it can be removed, but your anatomy is forever changed, and possibly damaged by the band placement. With that off my chest, I was not concerned with losing 75% of my stomach with my revision. I read plenty of articles, journals, and even peer reviewed documents on partial gastrectomies not related to WLS. I have never missed that part of my stomach that allowed me to eat huge portions of food, and continue eating. I love that I have control on portions, and make better choices now than I even did with the band. Some days with the band, I had to eat "slider" foods because that's all that would go down, and half the time those things came up anyways. The band is NOT for life, even the manufacturers know this, and I have never found one single lapband patients with their band for 10 plus years that hasn't had some sort of horrid complication be it a slip, revised port, erosion. I think the longest I've ever found is one patient on OH that has had her band for 9 years, and last I heard she was looking into revising. The revision and complication rates for the bands is steadily climbing.

Deb - I'll be more than happy to send you my contact information if you would like to chat sometime.

hair loss can happen with any surgery, it happens with WLS because of the rapid weight loss. I lost about 1/2 of my hair, I had super thick, coarse hair, but the losing has slowed down significantly and I have new hair growth already coming back in. There are members here who get 100grams+ of Protein in from supplements, and they still lost their hair. So, I honestly believe it's more related to the shock our bodies endure during surgery, and rapid weight loss. I didn't start losing hair until 3.5 months post-op, and it's slowing down at the 6 month post-op mark.

I have never used protein supplements like others on here. I hated them. Once I got to regular food, I am able to get my protein in from food sources. Yes, I get all 60-70 grams of protein from food sources therefore I don't need any supplements. There is only one that like, it's Optimim whey Extreme milk chocolate. We order it from bodybuilding.com and they have 16 flavor pack for $18.99. My husband uses it as a recovery protein after his strength/weight training.

You can surely check out the Protein thread in the food/drink forum on here for places to order samples. My taste buds changed significantly after surgery. I couldn't tolerate anything sweet, or anything with aspartame. A lot of protein supplements have aspartame as a sweetner so that left me out of the protein loop for a long time.

Also, I had to see a hematologist/oncologist before my revision in June due to a clotting disorder. My hematologist is awesome, and he was excited to share some studies that show people who have partial gastrectomies decrease their chance of getting cancer by over 50%. I found this extremely exciting because my family history is riddled with cancer on both sides. He was excited that I was doing this not only lose weight, but to gain a much healthier life. He also expressed very little concern with me losing 75% of my stomach at my age. He told me stories of several stomach cancer patients that had gastrectomies, and lived long, healthy and full lives even with their tiny tummies.

Just my 2 cents.

HI

I am now 2 weeks post op and if you read some od my earlier posts you will see i was really scared and messed up before the op.

But 2 weeks later ive lost over 1 and a half stone or 10kg.

I feel amazing - ive adjusted to the smaller amounts really easy.

My only regret is that i didnt do this years ago.

ive been to a restaurant with my husband and had special meals with the family at home and didnt feel anything but pure happiness.

i wish you love and hugs with your decision.

Dalite

xxx

THANK YOU!!! I really appreciate everyone's input. This is something I'm going to have to work through. I KNOW I need help, and I KNOW I need WLS in order to live a long and healthy life. Somewhere in the back of my mind there is something telling me "how can you live a long and healthy life without most of your stomach?" I think it's the fat guy in me trying to sabotage what I need to do. Part of my problem is mental. At the moment I am 366lbs, but you would never guess it, I carry it well. I'm a weightlifter and just a big guy all around. I like being big, which is part of my problem. BUT, a lot of that stems from being abused as a kid and now it's my defense mechanism. I've learned this through therapy over the last year, long before I decided to have WLS. When I think about having surgery my fear rises to the top and I end up worried sick. When I first decided to get the Lap Band it was "oh my God, I am going to have this thing inside me forever." and "oh my God, how can I wear a weight lifting belt with that port just underneath my skin.", etc, etc. NOW that I am about 98% commited to VSG it's the same thing, "how can I live the rest of my life with only 15% of my stomach?", and "oh my God, those staples are gonna be in there forever", "what if those staples leak two years from now?", etc, etc. It's just my subconscious defense mechanism rising up to sabotage. The problem is, I realize this and I still let it scare the crap out of me.

. When I think about having surgery my fear rises to the top and I end up worried sick. When I first decided to get the Lap Band it was "oh my God, I am going to have this thing inside me forever." and "oh my God, how can I wear a weight lifting belt with that port just underneath my skin.", etc, etc. NOW that I am about 98% commited to VSG it's the same thing, "how can I live the rest of my life with only 15% of my stomach?", and "oh my God, those staples are gonna be in there forever", "what if those staples leak two years from now?", etc, etc. It's just my subconscious defense mechanism rising up to sabotage. The problem is, I realize this and I still let it scare the crap out of me.

I suspect many of us pre-op folks share these same concerns. My surgery is Dec 29th and I know these thoughts have concerned me.

I do have a specific question that I have not seen answered in my research on VSG and Behemoth mentions above. Is there a limited period of time where leaks are a concern? Does the new stomach heal itself and close up around the staples so that at some point you no longer have to be concerned about leakage around the staples? Or are leaks a continuing possibility even after several months?

Thanks.

I do have a specific question that I have not seen answered in my research on VSG and Behemoth mentions above. Is there a limited period of time where leaks are a concern? Does the new stomach heal itself and close up around the staples so that at some point you no longer have to be concerned about leakage around the staples? Or are leaks a continuing possibility even after several months?

This, among other things has been a big concern of mine, (tomorrow I'll be 3 months out). Initially my surgeon told me that by approximately 2 weeks the staple line should be sufficiently healed. However I did cite instances in this venue and on Obesityhelp.com where people had leaks significantly later than 2 weeks out. I don't exactly recall but I believe one fellow was nearly 2 months out when a leak was discovered. I told my surgeon about that and he said that was unusual and the leak was likely there earlier on but not yet detected. I hope some others can offer you more definitive information.

I suspect many of us pre-op folks share these same concerns. My surgery is Dec 29th and I know these thoughts have concerned me.

I do have a specific question that I have not seen answered in my research on VSG and Behemoth mentions above. Is there a limited period of time where leaks are a concern? Does the new stomach heal itself and close up around the staples so that at some point you no longer have to be concerned about leakage around the staples? Or are leaks a continuing possibility even after several months?

Thanks.

My surgeon advised that around 6-8 weeks post-op the risk of leaks decreases substantially. NOW, with that being said, some people have leaks later because:

1) They don't follow the rules, overeat, and vomit all the time. Sometimes people think it's okay to advance their post-op diet and then they advance their diet too quickly, and the staple line does NOT have time to heal. Which can and will weaken the staple line.

2) They may have a pinhole leak, and either they or their provider ignores the symptoms, or are misdiagnosed until the leak grows larger due to those symptoms.

I have never heard, or read anywhere about leaks several months or years out where the leak just appeared out of nowhere.

There was a VSG patient on VSG with a leak, but she had symptoms for 3 months before demanding a leak test, and was treated for a UTI, gall bladder issues, and various other ailments before she finally demanded a leak test from her surgeon. Low and behold she had a leak, and it had been there all along. She fully recovered after another surgery to repair the leak.

Tiffykins,

Do you have any links to the articles that you have found with partial gastrectomies not related to WLS? I would love the information on the longevity of a partial stomach. Thanks!

Gastrectomy (Total Gastrectomy, Partial Gastrectomy, Subtotal Gastrectomy, Stomach Removal) | ThirdAge Articles

This one has several links and reference pages attached as well.

AMA Arch Surg -- Excerpt: COMBINED PROCEDURE OF PARTIAL GASTRECTOMY AND INFRADIAPHRAGMATIC VAGUS RESECTION, February 1951, PALUMBO et al. 62 (2): 171

http://www.ptolemy.ca/members/archives/2007/ulcer/docs/martin12005.pdf

This one above is long, and very "medical", but it's informative if you can wade through all the information. Page 11 starts talking about gastrectomies.

This is a forum of cancer survivors and this is just one of the entries for gastrectomies. Again, it's a lot of info to read through, but it takes time to read all of it.

I'm pretty geeky when it comes to research.

Plus, our old laptop died, and I lost all of my bookmarks. So, I had to google and try to find the ones that stuck out in my mind.

gastrectomy | Cancer Survivors Network

Gastrectomy (Total Gastrectomy, Partial Gastrectomy, Subtotal Gastrectomy, Stomach Removal) | ThirdAge Articles

This one has several links and reference pages attached as well.

AMA Arch Surg -- Excerpt: COMBINED PROCEDURE OF PARTIAL GASTRECTOMY AND INFRADIAPHRAGMATIC VAGUS RESECTION, February 1951, PALUMBO et al. 62 (2): 171

http://www.ptolemy.ca/members/archives/2007/ulcer/docs/martin12005.pdf

This one above is long, and very "medical", but it's informative if you can wade through all the information. Page 11 starts talking about gastrectomies.

This is a forum of cancer survivors and this is just one of the entries for gastrectomies. Again, it's a lot of info to read through, but it takes time to read all of it.

I'm pretty geeky when it comes to research.

Plus, our old laptop died, and I lost all of my bookmarks. So, I had to google and try to find the ones that stuck out in my mind.

gastrectomy | Cancer Survivors Network

Tiffy since you are on the "geeky" side when it comes to research, and I am still too anxious to delve into these things would you mind giving up a little summary of the article? Thanks in advance.

Mostly, through my research, I found that patients who had partial or entire gastrectomies is they did not experience any long term problems nutrtionally or physically. Many of them follow a more strict diet than we do because of the cancer, or ulcerative condition.

I found some cases of patients in their 60's and 70's that had gastrectomies, not only lost weight, but found their HBP and/or cholesterol issues resolved due to the dietary changes.

The risks are the same regarding leaks, blood clots, infections and etc with gastrectomies for other reasons rather than weight loss.

Overall, the complication rate was higher with these patients because they had compromised immune systems, from cancer, or their stomachs were damaged due to ulcerative/polyps and so forth.

For many patients, they lived long, healthy, and maintained normal weights once they recovered. I did not find mortality rates over 2% due to having the gastrectomy itself. Most patients died due to the cancer spreading to the lymph symptom or bowel.