Hello!

I am going to have surgery, however, I have read it is still deemed as "experimental". How do we know if this will be a safe solution for us years down the road?

Yes, everyone loves their sleeve now, since it is brand new. What if the staples come apart? What if you develop stomach cancer and have too little of a stomach to do anything with? What if your stomach expands in a couple of years due to old habits creeping back?

Sorry to ask so many questions- I'm just trying to find out what I can, considering there are no long term studies on VSG.

Thanks!!

I had the same concern considering the long term side effects and complications of RNY and lapband weren't well documented except in the last few years.

I did independent reviews of medical journals, patient testimonials, and read tons of research articles on gastrectomies (complete or partial) for stomach ulcer and cancer patient.

I found no long term complications related to the actual gastrectomy portion of their surgery. These patients had diseased tissue to begin so the complications were more related to their condition/disease and not the actual surgery. This gave me peace of mind knowing that I was going to be okay. There are 1000's of people living without their stomachs. They have to take different supplements, but they live long, healthy, and fulfilling lives.

Check out springerlink.com pubmed.com for research articles.

There are at 5 year studies out that you can find for VSG as well.

Thank you! I had noticed some other postings from you about ulcers and whatnot, and all the research you've done. Puts my mind more at ease. :confused:

I was looking through everyone's photo album and notice yours has an invalid link? I was curious to see your journey. I can only see the SKINNY you now on your profile pic!

I've add you to my friend's list, and you'll now be able to view my blog and photos.

Best wishes on your journey ! ! ! You're gonna love the sleeve.

Oh- cool. Thanks Tiff. It's such a foreign thought.. To be thin... Very odd.

Have a good weekend.

There's some stomach cancer in my family, so CA was a particular concern for me. The surgeon said that this surgery actually diminishes the risk of getting stomach cancer, as there's less tissue and so there's less room for a tumor to start.

My greatgrandmother had an 80% gastrectomy due to stomach cancer about 20 years ago, and for a 91-year-old, she's doing pretty well. She has trouble tolerating some foods (rather random, e.g. no mashed potatoes but ground beef is fine) and she has major reflux. However, as mentioned earlier, she's 91 years old, and it's common to have digestive problems at a very advanced age, so I don't know how much of it is from her gastrectomy and how much from aging. I also don't know if she's on a PPI for her reflux or not, she lives abroad and I'm not sure how widespread PPIs are over there. Her stomach cancer has not come back since the surgery.

Some things we just aren't going to be able to predict--like how much your stomach will stretch--because we each eat differently and there are a lot of other variables as well. The question about cancer is one that I asked my surgeon. He explained that VSG is actually much safer than bypass surgery in terms of possible cancer. He said you can have your entire stomach removed and still live. With bypass surgery, because a portion of the stomach is sectioned off, but not removed, that portion of the stomach can't even be viewed with an endoscope. Additionally, what you would swallow for an upper GI would never make it to that portion to provide a good x-ray image, so it would be very difficult to know what was going on with the bypassed portion of the stomach if you were to develop cancer.

Great. Thank you all so much for your input. It certainly puts me more at ease.

About the stretching of the stomach depends a lot of what we do individually, if we overeat there are more possibilities that we will stretch as opposed to sticking to smaller portions (at least this is what my surgeon told me when I came up with the worry of sleeve stretching) It's the same with the amount of weight we lose, icecream milkshake and all that goes down so well that again my surgeon said if you want to get the calories in you will get them in, so I guess a lot depends on us! Good luck, you'll love yor sleeve, I'm sure!!

The sleeve has long been a procedure in other countries as well.

Its always a concern I think when you have a major surgery that affects an organ that doesn't regenerate itself. I'd rather have something partially removed and left in good working order than something added or rerouted. There's a whole design thing going on here and that actually works, so I don't want to disrupt the *ahem* flow of things :biggrin0:

Very true. Thanks ladies! :biggrin0:

What about pregnancy? Is it just a matter of being really careful with your nutrition? I know lap-band patients have their bands loosened when they get pregnant so they can get enough food in for mom & baby, but we don't really have that option. Definitely not something I'm worried about now, but I've thought about it when it comes to long term!