I'm meeting my surgeon Dr Dilemans ( Belgium ) the day before my surgery next week ( OMG NEXT WEEK!!!!)

He has operated on a few people I know .

During emails he has suggested I may be better with the gastric bypass rather than sleeve due to having a lap band that had to be removed ( nothing to do with band complication of other surgery ) He said the bypass works much better after the sleeve but I'm worried it's a more complicated operation and with a bmi of 31 is it necessary to go for the bypass ? What would you do ?

I had a Lapband gone wrong and had it revised to gastric bypass on July 5. I had the Lapband removal, hiatal hernia repair and gastric all in the same surgery. No complications and very little pain. I didn't go with the sleeve because I have GERD and the doc said that it would get worse with the sleeve. The amount of food I get is just fine. I couldn't hold much with the band either but it doesn't hurt to eat anymore! No GERD at all anymore and I feel great. I still get some fatigue from the surgery but it gets better every day! I was 170, 5'3.5, and a 29.6 BMI. I am very happy I made the decision to do this. If your doc recommended bypass, I'd believe him. He knows what's best for you. At first, I asked for the sleeve. He told me why it was best for my situation to have bypass. Best of luck to you whatever you decide!

Thank you so much for your reply . I'm mostly worried about more time on the table, not absorbing vital nutrients
can you take tablet multi vitamins now ?
What about dumping syndrome ?
Does that mean you can never eat anything sweet again ? Sorry for all the questions and thanks so much for your reply xx

When you say more time on the table, do you mean time to eat? I have 20 minutes to eat. Do not drink 30 minutes before or after. That's the hard part! As far as vitamins, my Bariatric dietitians said it has to have 19+ nutrients on the label and 18 mcg iron 2x day. They recommend chewable. There are many that you can buy online but don't all have those specifications and are expensive. I have Flintstones Complete. For my calcium, I have to take chewable (not gummy) calcium "citrate" 500 3x/day. The citrate absorbs better. I purchased Bariatric Advantage Strawberry (many other flavors) at the hospital but you can purchase online. Bariatric Pal and Amazon might also have them. I look forward to taking them believe it or not! Kinda like Starburst! I'm not sure about dumping. All I know is that I never ever want it! I had enough pain from my Lapband. You may be able to have a few bites of something sweet down the road but not sure. Ask your doc. I am hoping to use natural sweetners to make something sweet but not sure when/if I can. I'm only 3 weeks out now and believe me..... I don't even crave sweets one little bit. I'm not hungry. During the surgery, the part of the stomach where ghrelin (hunger hormone) is stored is detached. It works! I hope this helps you some!

Thank you so much for your reply . I'm mostly worried about more time on the table, not absorbing vital nutrients
can you take tablet multi vitamins now ?
What about dumping syndrome ?
Does that mean you can never eat anything sweet again ? Sorry for all the questions and thanks so much for your reply xx

I don't think it's more than a half an hour longer (give or take) for the bypass vs sleeve. You'll have to take vitamins for the rest of your life with either surgery. Only 10% of people experience dumping (from what I've read). I had the sleeve but if my Dr had recommended bypass I would've done it. I have no GERD and was only prediabetic so the sleeve was ok for me. People have great success with both surgeries.

Also, was he specific as to why he was leaning towards bypass?

OH! "That" Table! I guess I'm a bit dense today! ?

OH! "That" Table! I guess I'm a bit dense today! [emoji23]

[emoji23]

Sleeve to bypass n no regrets so far...8 weeks out. At my hospital there's not a big time difference on the table and our post-ops r all the same. Surprisingly our bypass pts r handling the pain n diet better! Pray n the lord will guide you!!! Best of luck

Hi Lizzie

just reading your post. I went to Belgium from UK to have a comsultation with dr Dillemans regarding conversion to bypass where he told me the same that "band to sleeve conversions are useleless". Just wondering if you went ahad or not and how you are getting on.