Can't Decide About Surgery!

[j16 166]

I'm several months in on the presurgery visits. All the medical stuff has checked out. I'm not worried about the anesthesia because I just had general anesthesia twice in one day for emergency gall bladder removal and a follow up surgery for complications. I am struggling to get the 50 gram Protein in and keeping the carbs under 100, though I have managed to lose 30 pounds so far. I've always been a big volume eater more than a junk food eater, which is why I was originally thinking of the sleeve.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Keep researching. Read all the threads here you can get through.

There are so many angles to this.

Remember -- there aren't many (any?) people here who opted to lose weight without WLS. Pretty much everyone here has been a WLS patient.

My own story is I had VSG surgery at age 68. I've lost 100 pounds and am maintaining astonishingly well (at 17 months post-op). Lost from 235 pounds to 135 pounds. No complications at all, and I feel great and look great.

I had GERD pre-op and took Ranitidine for it. For the 4 months post-op my surgeon had me on a PPI (Protonix). Then I went back to Ranitidine and have been doing well on it. Of course, I follow the usual GERD eating instructions -- don't eat for 2 hours before bedtime, minimize the GERD-causing foods at night (tomato sauces, especially), etc. But I can't predict for anyone else what their GERD reaction to VSG will be.

Good luck to you in your decision and your actions thereafter.

P.S. I guess you know that if you don't have WLS and lose weight "conventionally," your long-term odds of keeping off most of the weight you lose are only 2%. Those are some tough numbers. Ugh. But WLS's long-term success odds are much better than that -- about 50% long-term success odds. That's pretty much why most of us decided to go the WLS route.

[Pinkgirl1234 761]

You gotta go for what you are comfortable .These are major operations.

Cut 85% of your stomach out or reroute your insides...these are extreme measures and you have to live with your decision .So be sure WLS is for you.

[NikkiDoc 312]

I had mild GERD controlled with Nexium prior to surgery. I had the sleeve and hiatal hernia repair. I was on Nexium for the 3 months after surgery and have had zero issues with reflux or heartburn. Talk to your surgeon and get the upper GI. If you have a hernia that may be causing or contributing to the GERD. Being overweight was also contributing to the GERD. Get rid of both of those contributors and no more GERD.

I frequently eat late and right before bed. My only concession is that the head of my bed is still raised. I also drink virtually no caffeine now and before surgery I used to drink a large unsweetened McDonald's iced tea, plus 2 diet Dr Pepper bottles plus another 16-20 ounces of iced tea a day. At most I will have a watered down child's sized iced tea a couple of times a week when I go out.

Check with a surgeon and see what options they think are good for you. Another one that isn't as widely available is a duodenal switch (DS).

I am like many other posters here. I have lost 60 pounds here, 80 pounds there, 40 pounds and gained it all back. I have found after the sleeve I am not hungry all the time, I get full quickly and it is easier to stay on track.