Hello everyone,

I am a newbie to the community and started my process on January 26th and finally decided on a surgeon. I had my first nutrition visit and I suppose I will be scheduled for surgery at some point at the end of May. I originally planned to have the bypass and even quit smoking recently so that I would qualify. My concern is after reading everything, that the side effects will be too much for me to handle. I know that everyone is different I suppose I am just having second thoughts. Can you all offer me some feedback on why you chose your surgery?

Hi, welcome. What side effects concern you? Each procedure has it's own issues and risks but for me personally I am glad I took the chance. It has given me a chance to live a lifestyle I couldn't do at twice my size.

Hi, welcome. What side effects concern you? Each procedure has it's own issues and risks but for me personally I am glad I took the chance. It has given me a chance to live a lifestyle I couldn't do at twice my size.

Thank you for the welcome. Well. for starters I am getting a lot of people telling me they do not understand why I am even getting the surgery including my nutritionist which I found a bit rude but none the less.

I have never had a surgical procedure done so I am a bit worried about that.

I am curious as far as whether or not you can control the weight loss. For example at one point if I become comfortable at a specific weight, will it be difficult to maintain or will I be full all of the time?

Secondly I wonder how often deaths really do occur related to surgical complications? What are the biggest issues you have faced because of it?

I already know about dumping and the possibility of hair loss, I suppose I am curious to know why or how you decided.

Mine was an informed decision based on conversations with my surgeon. I had concerns, I addressed them with him, and he provided data to help ease my mind. Talk with your surgeon and convey your concerns as to why you do/don't want a specific surgery.

First, to address your general concerns about surgery, I am not sure of the numbers for RNY, but for sleeve, the mortality rate is lower than knee replacement. I don't think many people would hesitate to get knee replacement if they needed it.

As for the choice between RNY and sleeve, this is something you really should go over with your surgeon, because it can be very specific to your own personal and medical needs. Here are the reasons I personally chose sleeve, but again, these are MY reasons.

- I was starting a BMI of 40, which is sort of the low end for any WLS, so RNY was probably more than I needed.

- I was terrified of the idea of rerouting my intestines, and the higher risk of leaks associated with having more joins.

- I didn't like the idea of the unused portion of my stomach remaining inside my body where it could potentially develop ulcers or cancer and not be accessible with a normal endoscopy.

- I liked that sleeve kept my pyloric valve in tact and in use. I was kind of weirded out by the idea of my pyloric valve over there attached to my unused stomach maybe opening and closing still based on signals from my pouch.

- I didn't like the idea of dumping syndrome. While some people use it as a deterent from eating sweets, I wanted to be able to eat sweets again eventually. Plus, not every RNY patient experiences dumping, so I didn't want to rely on that.

- I was worried about the malabsorption and what that might mean for my Vitamin and mineral intake long term. While you do still have to be on extra Vitamins for life with sleeve, at least you can be confident you are actually absorbing all the vitamins you take.

- I was self-pay and sleeve is cheaper!

First, to address your general concerns about surgery, I am not sure of the numbers for RNY, but for sleeve, the mortality rate is lower than knee replacement. I don't think many people would hesitate to get knee replacement if they needed it.

As for the choice between RNY and sleeve, this is something you really should go over with your surgeon, because it can be very specific to your own personal and medical needs. Here are the reasons I personally chose sleeve, but again, these are MY reasons.

- I was starting a BMI of 40, which is sort of the low end for any WLS, so RNY was probably more than I needed.

- I was terrified of the idea of rerouting my intestines, and the higher risk of leaks associated with having more joins.

- I didn't like the idea of the unused portion of my stomach remaining inside my body where it could potentially develop ulcers or cancer and not be accessible with a normal endoscopy.

- I liked that sleeve kept my pyloric valve in tact and in use. I was kind of weirded out by the idea of my pyloric valve over there attached to my unused stomach maybe opening and closing still based on signals from my pouch.

- I didn't like the idea of dumping syndrome. While some people use it as a deterent from eating sweets, I wanted to be able to eat sweets again eventually. Plus, not every RNY patient experiences dumping, so I didn't want to rely on that.

- I was worried about the malabsorption and what that might mean for my Vitamin and mineral intake long term. While you do still have to be on extra Vitamins for life with sleeve, at least you can be confident you are actually absorbing all the vitamins you take.

- I was self-pay and sleeve is cheaper!

Thank you everyone for the advice, I actually just left a message for my program coordinator asking for another consult. I am hoping to hear from them within 24 hours and then I can make a better informed decision.

First, to address your general concerns about surgery, I am not sure of the numbers for RNY, but for sleeve, the mortality rate is lower than knee replacement

Per the ASMBS, the 30 day mortality rate is 0.14% for RNY and 0.08% for GS. The mortality rate for knee replacement is 0.25%.

@@PhoenixMarie -

I also had never had surgery before my RNY. I was worried about how I would do with recovery. I was really fortunate. I recovered very quickly and the worst effects I had were to the anti-nausea patch in the hospital (So much dry mouth) and being tired. I've always been a world class napper so that was no problem for me. I will be 3 months post op on Thursday and I feel like I am back to being me, but almost 55 lbs. less!

I chose RNY because of the sleeve's potential to make GERD worse. I had just started with the heartburn thing in the last year and was in now hurry for it to continue.

I am glad you are talking to your coordinator. I found my best advice came from my surgeon's office. I actually went to the info session thinking about getting the band, but was discouraged by the surgeon. Then for many of your same reasons thought I wanted to get the sleeve, but finally decided that the RNY was for me and I have never been happier! It is such an individual decision and even when you make that decision, you will not know for sure how you will recover, etc. My attitude before surgery was "prepare for the worst, hope for the best!" So far that has served me well.

Good luck and welcome to the group!

pam