Hello everyone, I went to my first consultation. I am a little scared of the sleeve now. I was so excited, but after going to this, I am now fearful of the sleeve leaking. I know like this it is complications with everything, but I just want to know if anyone has had this fear at all. The doctor talked about long term effects. Has anyone had their sleeve longer than 10 years and if so how are things going ?

Any feed back would be wonderful! I love the support here!!

The risk of leak is fairly low - but does happen. Try to get your surgeon's actual stats.

What long term risks did he talk about?

What did he say about long term effects??

There is someone bound to be out there that has had a sleeve that long as that's about the timeframe that the sleeve was starting to be used. However, FINDING someone that's had it that's active on the forum is going to be a pickle.

They were few and far between way back then and the proceedure started out using a much larger boughie (resulting in a larger sleeve size), so apples won't be the same apples in the comparison.

HOWEVER, there are scads of people who have had their stomachs removed entirely or greatly reduced in size due to health issues like ulcers or cancer, and they are all doing fine. Do a search on Google about stomach removal. I remember reading about several families who have ALL had their stomachs removed due to a double genetic whammy left them all almost certainly to get a rare stomach cacer. One family I think was here in the USA, anohter was like in Romania or a Slavik country. They were getting on fine decades after the surgery.

I also seem to remember soldiers from the US civil war getting stomach wounds and having their stomachs removed. If they could survive the primative surgery and live to tell about it something must be working right.

I personally am 1+ years out and despite a few bouts of kidney stones becasue of dehydration I have had no real ill effects from the surgery.

I wish you the best in your searches for the answers!

Thanks for responding CowgirlJane. I live in North Carolina, and he stated it was just recently approved, however they mostly do lapband surgery. I could not list any long tern risks because it is so new. That is why I asked on this forum. He have had a lot of success with his patients with the lap band and gastric, I was just a lill weiry when he started talking about the sleeve. He said he would recommend it, if his child had to recieve it. But I am just a lil curious.

Thanks again!

This procedure was just recently approved (in the last 5 or so years) in the US as a single stage weight loss surgery. Previously, this was part 1 of the 2-part duodenal switch procedure. Doctors began to find out that the weightloss in the first stage was substantial enough to not perform stage 2 - the rerouting of the intestines, much like the RNY.

The surgery itself has been done for other reasons for decades here in the US. Its been done all over the world for weight loss for lots of years.

Thanks Rootman! I agree wholeheartly. I am doing more research now. I personally still feel good about the sleeve, even though he does more lapband surgerys. Is their any food or limitations you have when eating? I know with the gastric bypass it is a lot of foods that are not reccommended, such as sweets (because of the dumping effect), which has to be terrible at times. Thanks for all the info

Your sleeve will decide what you can and can't eat, really. Some people have zero issues with any foods, some people find that they can't tolerate certain foods after surgery. It really just depends on your tummy

Thanks Circa....thanks for the information. He did explain that as well. People were traveling to Mexico and other places in order to have the procedure done. I was thinking the same thing about foods. I just didnt know if it was a zero tolerance list to some things. Thanks!

Edited February 8, 201214 yr by jewels1227

@Dooter, the only thing he spoke about was the staples leaking. He said you would know when they are leaking because you would get sick. They would possibly have to go back in and restaple them again over a period of time if that happens. I think that is my worse fear!

http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/VSGM/discussion/4321985/Full-text-Long-term-Results-of-Laparoscopic-Sleeve/

This article has alot of good information about what you are asking.

My understanding is that there are no long term data on the sleeve since its only been used alone for WLS for around 6 years. Now I also was told this used to be the first state of a Gastric By Pass in people so add that in and its been around for a real long time. As someone suggested, you can get the stats of your specific surgeon. Mine had only had 2 leaks out of 6000 surgeries so I was confortable with that. Besides, if you do have a leak they fix it with a scope down the throat and don't recut you open. As with any surgery there is risk and you can see from the many people on this fourm, we took the plunge and haven't looked back.

Thanks Circa....thanks for the information. He did explain that as well. People were traveling to Mexico and other places in order to have the procedure done. I was thinking the same thing about foods. I just didnt know if it was a zero tolerance list to some things. Thanks!

Only in stages for the food limitations while your tummy heals. Every surgeon's post-op diet is different. For example, mine was a week of Clear liquids, a week of full liquids, mushy foods, then adding in regular foods. Not too bad Some people have way different post op diets - be sure to discuss a post op plan with your surgeon thoroughly.

I have no idea why anybody is still doing lapbands as their main surgery. It was the only alternative to the bypass 10 years ago, but now that we have the sleeve, I think it is really a much lesser choice.

I speaketh from experience - I was banded in 2001; revised to sleeve in 2011. The long terms stats for the band are TERRIBLE. I don't mean just weight loss, I mean complication and removal rates.

Jewels, I think what the others above have posted addresses your issue well. I personally have been sleeved for 8 months.

There is nothing that I CAN'T eat. BUT there is lots that I CHOOSE not to eat. I don't routinely eat lettuce salads anymore, because my capacity is so limited, I need to eat my Protein first. If I have room after I eat my protein, then I eat my veggies (with the exception of potatoes, I don't usually eat potatoes).

If I can eat my protein AND my veggies (very rare) then I will nibble on something with lots of carbs, like bread or potatoes. But I usually don't have room for anything after the protein and veggies. Also when I say "nibble" that is exactly what it is, a nibble. One or two bites is usually all I can manage after I have eaten my protein and veggies!

When my hubbie and I go out to eat, we have started sharing a meal. If the restaurant gives a choice in the size of the entree (Lots of restaurants will let you order a Steak in 8 oz, 10 oz or 16 ounce) we will order the large entree to split (although we split somewhere like 30/70, with me getting the 30% of the steak). Bill then eats the bread, the potato and the salad. Usually just the meat is all I can handle. Once in a while I will have a bite of his potato or bread. Sometimes I will order a dish of cottage cheese to go with my entree. But it is all about getting enough protein!

Thanks for responding CowgirlJane. I live in North Carolina, and he stated it was just recently approved, however they mostly do lapband surgery. I could not list any long tern risks because it is so new. That is why I asked on this forum. He have had a lot of success with his patients with the lap band and gastric, I was just a lill weiry when he started talking about the sleeve. He said he would recommend it, if his child had to recieve it. But I am just a lil curious.

Thanks again!

Hi! I'm in NC, too. Which facility are you going through? I went through Duke. They are a Center of Excellence and awarded with Blue Distinction, which was necessary for my insurance - BCBS.