Need info

[teffytmg 0]

Hi, I have a complicated story and need some input. I won't go into a long story as it is quite twisty turny. Long and the short of it is that I had an RNY done 3 years ago and lost all my weight to goal in 9 months. I kept it off and loved my bypass. Then at the 2 year mark, I developed a rare side effect and the decision was made by my medical to team to reverse it to see if it would mitigate or relieve the effects/complication with the intent to sleeve me as soon as I was healed to continue with the restrictive aspect. (because it is not a common situation, they knew it was possible it would not help) They reversed it in Sept 2014. Again, I healed great but promptly started gaining (Even though I did my very best to maintain my RNY eating habits) in January 2015, I was cleared to have the sleeve done and I have been working out like crazy daily to hold the weight gain at bay. The complication is still an issue but we have resigned ourselves to that fact and have been managing it quite well. My sleeve date will be mid june....

Here is my query... I loved my RNY. I loved the restriction and everything about it. I hear so much about people failing the sleeve/the sleeve failing the people and converting to an RNY. I am very afraid that the sleeve won't be enough. I regained 40 lbs and only need to lose 40 to get back to goal. I would like to hear some feedback about the sleeve. Do you have restriction? Is it noticeable? Average weight loss? IS it a tool that can work? I know how the RNY works. Can I (if I use it properly and respect it) have an honest expectation to lose weight with the sleeve?

Edited April 22, 2015 by teffytmg

[JamieLogical 8,684]

You will find thousands on this site who have lost weight with the sleeve. Now, your case is unique and there may be some issues with scar tissue from your RNY and the reversal of it that make your sleeve surgery not as straight-forward as it would be for someone who had never had RNY. I've read some accounts from people who went from lap-band to sleeve not having as much restriction because scar tissue from the band effected how small their sleeve could be and the shape of it.

Sleeve definitely provides restriction. I would argue that it provides more restriction than RNY, because with RNY, your pyloric valve is bypassed, meaning food can pass straight through your stomach into your intestines. With sleeve, the pyloric valve is intact and continues working as normal and hold food inside your stomach for longer so it has proper exposure to your stomach acid to break it down before allowing it to pass into your intestine. Also, with sleeve, the fundus is removed. The fundus is the top part of your stomach that is very stretchy and stretches to accommodate more food as you eat. With RNY, the pouch that is made includes some of the fundus, so your pouch is able to stretch more as you eat than a sleeve is.

The main thing you will be "losing out" on with sleeve versus RNY is malabsorption. Since none of your intestine is bypased, you will fully absorb all of the calories and nutrients from your food.

Edit: In terms of diet and food consumption, the two surgeries are very similar. You will always want to put Protein first. You will eat several small "meals" and Snacks per day to get all of your Protein in. You have to avoid eating and drinking at the same time. You have to avoid carbs and slider foods. You have to avoid drinking your calories. It sounds like you were doing well with that with your RNY, so there is no reason to suspect you would have any trouble once you're sleeved.

[jessiquoi 623]

Good response, @JaimeLogical.

@@teffytmg I have been sleeved for a little over 5 months now. So far I've lost 45 lbs. I find it relatively easy to stay on plan. I definitely have restriction.

I belong to a FB group of over 400 people who all had their sleeve surgery in the same month. There's not one person who regrets their decision. We're all losing at pretty much the same rate (percentage-wise, based on our starting weight). Out of the group, there were 3, I think, who had complications, and they have all been resolved at this point.

I would recommend the sleeve to anyone who is serious about bariatric surgery.

[teffytmg 0]

I am fortunate as the surgical team that did my reversal is the same team that will do the sleeve. When they did the reversal they had to remove a portion of the fundus was already removed. Sounds like similar rules... My biggest fear is that i won't feel the restriction. I am in Canada and because the reversal was deemed medically necessary and because sleeving me was part of the entire plan at the time of reversal, the sleeve will be covered here. I have been considering going self pay to re-RNY me (since undoing the rny did not resolve the issues, I could conceivably re-RNY with no additional impact) but if there is a chance I can achieve my 35-40 lb re-lose to goal with just a sleeve, then I (and my body) would be ok with the less drastic. I think the RNY was great and it did help me lose well over 120 lbs. I see that a lot of people also go from a sleeve to an RNY so its likely an option, if I need the stricter controls of the RNY, that this is something that could be explored later but I would really like whatever option I go with in June to be the last step. I went so far as to start looking into RNY surgeons as self pay last week but I think I need to get more feedback from the bariatric community

(to be honest I was happy with the RNY being the only step and it makes me sick to my poor overly abused tummy that it was reversed...)

[samuelsmom 670]

@@jessiquoi What is the fb link? I had my surgery the day after yours.