Should I do VSG?

[vania 0]

For the last years I have been struggling with diets. I gain the pounds in a few days that takes me weeks to loose . I'm tired of doing diets that don't work. I'm 50 pounds overweight and considering doing a VSG. Do you think is a good idea? I'm scared of the surgery scars. How bad are the scars? Someone can send me a picture to have an idea of how the scars would look.

[Tiffykins 672]

The sleeve is a wonderful tool for WLS. I've been very pleased with my results, and my life post sleeve.

But, no one can tell you if it's the right option for you. I can tell you why I chose WLS, and how I knew it was the right decision for my life. I struggled my entire adult life with being overweight, and a volume eater. I dieted off and put back on over 400 pounds in the last 10 years. Losing 30, gaining 40, losing 60, gaining 50, so forth and so on. I knew that I needed surgical intervention to get me to goal, and to help me maintain the loss. I was great at losing, but I was even better at gaining it back.

The scarring is minimal. It's a laproscopic procedure with one larger incision about 1.5 inches long. Depending on your own skin, complexion, and how you heal, will determine how your scars will appear. I'm about 2 shades above pastey white. I have had 4 laproscopic procedures in the last 16 months, and 2 different procedures that placed drains in my abdomen, so I have 16 scars on my abdomen. My tummy resemles a connect-the-dot activity page, but I have zero plans of trotting around in a bikini, or flashing strangers my stomach anytime in the future. My scars a rosy pink color, and are fading. My scars from my first lap procedure/lapband placement (October 2008) are very faint and just look like little pink dots on my stomach.

For me, I'll take the little scars over fat rolls any day of the week.

Best wishes in your research.

[Kikiphiasmom 44]

I love my sleeve. I, just like Tiffikins, had the same issue. Losing and gaining my adult life. I was 5'3" and 276lbs. That was just too much for my little frame. I dont regret my sleeve one bit. I havent done as well as Tiffikins but I am 70lbs down in 4 months. I love it. I dont regret it and like she said the scares are minimal. Tiny little dots and the biggest one is like 1 inch long. Good Luck

[MINI-Me 196]

I was 68 pounds past my ideal weight. Like those above, I have yo-yo'd all my life. I come from a family of morbidly abese people. My father passed away last year from obesity related issues. While I still miss him every day, that was a wake-up call for me. While I was the "smallest" of my family members, I was still obese.

I had the surgery 4 weeks ago and have already lost more than 21 lbs (30% of what I wanted to lose)!!!!! This surgery has surely saved my life and gave me many more years to live for my husband, kids, and future grandchildren. For me, it was THE answer.

[vania 0]

thank you so much, this help alot. i will have my sleeve this coming friday, march 2 with dc Rodrigues in mexico. Have you heard about him?

[MINI-Me 196]

I have not heard of him, but I'm sure someone on this board has. Good luck with your surgery. Keep us posted on your progress.

[Josephine 1]

The only thing I'd be concerned about is that 50 lbs is not much to lose. I'd ask the surgeon to give you at least a 40f so you will have a better shot at being able to stop the weightloss after you hit50-60 lbs lost. If he gives you a 32, it might be a lot harder to stop the weightloss when you want to.

That's just my opinion, and some people say bougie size has very little to do with it, but mine's a 40 and I've lost a lot of weight, never thrown up, never had problems with any food, etc. I love that I'm able to eat anything, just a lot less of it.

I'm almost 5 months out and losing steadily. A good example of what I can eat is what I ate yesterday.

1/2 cup of oatmeal with 7 cashews and 10 frozen blueberries

2 string cheese

1/3 of a mango

2 ozs of rice/vermicelli/scrambled eggs/chicken breast

1/4 cup of greek yogurt

1/2 cup of endive/mashedpotatoes/bacon/nutmeg/vinegar mush with 1 cheese souffle (Admittedly this meal took me about an hour to eat but I knew I needed to try to get dinner in because I have a kidney infection so I had been sipping white beer and cranberry juice all day. Man it's hard to drink beer after VSG.)

Then before bed I had 5 saltines with light gouda cheese.

I thought after all that I'd show a gain on the scale (the beer and cranberry juice alone was 700 calories) but I actually lost another 2 lbs.

I dunno, maybe bougie size doesn't matter that much, but I know I can eat enough healthy food with a 40f whereas some people I've read that have a 32 can't get in much more than 1/4-1/2 cup of food at a time.

If I only had 50 lbs to lose, I'd be scared it wouldn't stop. I have a few friends that are 20-30 lbs below goal and try very hard to gain weight. We're all different, so it's hard to say, but I do know that a 40 allows me to get in proper nutrition (my 4/5 month bloodwork was excellent!) and still lose weight.

Additionally, if for some reason a 40 is too big and you have trouble maintaining, you can have additional surgery to convert to a bypass or switch, but if you get a 32 and can't stop losing, what can you do? Nothing except get used to weighing 110 lbs.

Just my opinion. I do think the sleeve is an AMAZING tool, but for someone who has only 50 lbs to lose, it's a risk that your body might get down way below goal before it matures/heals enough to allow you to stop.