Hi all- still deciding whether I want to do this or not- I'm almost 400 lbs and need to do something, but am scared of surgery!

What made you decide to get sleeved vs bypass? Any regrets on having the surgery? Thanks in advance!

I'm still pre-surgery, but I'm choosing VSG over the Gastric Bypass. GB concerns me because of the malabsorption of vitamins/nutrients. While there are definitely ways to manage it and be healthy, I'd still be afraid of becoming chronically deficient or anemic despite those efforts. Also, I learned that there is a lifetime possiblity of having obstructions or twisting of the small intestine because of the rerouting. (While it's not a super high probability, it's still there.) One more thing I didn't like was that if doctors ever need to do scans or ultrasounds, it is harder for them to actually 'see' what's going on in your GI tract because of the rerouting and the new criss-crossed shape of the intestines. As you can begin to tell - I'm a bit of a worrier! hehe. But to me, the sleeve is a happy medium between the Band & GB, so I'm going to go with it. Either way, you gotta figure that some surgery is better than no surgery, right? Good luck with whatever path you choose!

Thank you for you input! Good luck!

The malabsorption of nutrients and Vitamins. Also the awful dumping, which my friend goes through.

The malabsorption of nutrients and Vitamins. Also the awful dumping' date=' which my friend goes through.

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Thanks!

Still per surgery but all of the above!!! I have tried it all, I am 49 and tired of being fat, I keep saying let me try again on another way only to fail and gain it back plus some. I've had enough so I'm going for the sleeve!!! If everyone else can manage so can I...... Wish you luck in your decision

i originally wanted the band, but when i was told that while it would help it wouldnt help enough. I have a couple friends that had the bypass and i just couldnt see them switching anything around in me..so i chose the sleeve that way there isnt half my stomach floating in my abdomen..im just about over my 6 mon weightloss requirement and soon hope to get a date

No malabsorption - no food restrictions - no dumping - much simpler surgery. I can't think of a good reason to do a bypass.

In addition to wanting to avoid the potential malabsorption issues often associated with gastric bypass, I was hopeful that I would be one of the lucky ones who didn't experience hunger once 85% of my stomach was removed. Fortunately, so far so good on that point...3 months post-op, and I've not felt even a twinge of hunger!!

I started at 373 pounds. I chose vsg over gb for a few reasons.

1) the malabsorbtion issue bothered me

2) with the sleeve, everything still works the way God intended it to so, I figured it would be easier to adjust myself to it.

3) if you look at the statistics, the only benefit that gb has over vsg is that if you are diabetic, gb helps fix that faster than vsg, and since I wasn't diabetic yet, that didn't appeal to me.

4) the only real issue I had that made me think long and hard is that there isn't a lot of longterm research for the sleeve. Most research is about 5 years. I spoke to my surgeon about this and he told me that he expects the sleeve to become the 'premier' wls in the near future. He also said that he has removed more bands than he has put in this year.

I was sleeved on June 5 this year. I live a very normal life now. I am able to eat without 'dumping' and can have pretty most anything I want 'within the scope of my own personal restrictions' except for breads, they don't quite agree with me yet, but I expect that by the end of the year, I will be able to have it if I choose to.

If you count my pre op loss that started April 1 this year, I have now lost a total of 120 pounds and am at 253 and losing 2-5 pounds a week. For me, life is good.

Also, 1 last thing that helped me choose. My aunt had gb, and lost a lot of weight and is happy with her choice. But she has that 'sickly' weight lost look to her. None of he folks in my support group have that appearance. She has seen my results and said that if she had it to do over, she would have gotten the sleeve.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your new life!

I started at 373 pounds. I chose vsg over gb for a few reasons.

1) the malabsorbtion issue bothered me

2) with the sleeve' date=' everything still works the way God intended it to so, I figured it would be easier to adjust myself to it.

3) if you look at the statistics, the only benefit that gb has over vsg is that if you are diabetic, gb helps fix that faster than vsg, and since I wasn't diabetic yet, that didn't appeal to me.

4) the only real issue I had that made me think long and hard is that there isn't a lot of longterm research for the sleeve. Most research is about 5 years. I spoke to my surgeon about this and he told me that he expects the sleeve to become the 'premier' wls in the near future. He also said that he has removed more bands than he has put in this year.

I was sleeved on June 5 this year. I live a very normal life now. I am able to eat without 'dumping' and can have pretty most anything I want 'within the scope of my own personal restrictions' except for breads, they don't quite agree with me yet, but I expect that by the end of the year, I will be able to have it if I choose to.

If you count my pre op loss that started April 1 this year, I have now lost a total of 120 pounds and am at 253 and losing 2-5 pounds a week. For me, life is good.

Also, 1 last thing that helped me choose. My aunt had gb, and lost a lot of weight and is happy with her choice. But she has that 'sickly' weight lost look to her. None of he folks in my support group have that appearance. She has seen my results and said that if she had it to do over, she would have gotten the sleeve.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your new life![/quote']

Thanks for the info!

In addition to wanting to avoid the potential malabsorption issues often associated with gastric bypass' date=' I was hopeful that I would be one of the lucky ones who didn't experience hunger once 85% of my stomach was removed. Fortunately, so far so good on that point...3 months post-op, and I've not felt even a twinge of hunger!! <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote']

Thanks!!

omg....I completely agree with 'theoldmusicbox'! It's like you read my mind regarding my own personal decision for having my vsg!!! Thank you for sharing