Hey guys, I was wondering for any fellow Canadians out there. How did you get your surgeon to let you do the sleeve over the bypass? I really, and I mean really, don't want to do the gastric bypass. I have really bad anemia which i've had since I was a child. To this day I don't have good control of it. My family doctor started me with 1 Iron tablet, then 2, then 2 irons and 2 B12 tablets and now I take 2 iron and 1 Vitamin C tablet and 2 b12 tablets.

I struggle like crazy with my anemia. I fall asleep in class, on the bus, I faint sometimes getting up from bed. I haven't even gotten my drivers license yet and I'm 20 because im afraid of falling asleep at the wheel.

I know my anemia will be affected with either surgery but I know the bypass will make it worse compared to the sleeve. I have my first assessment appointment in January to see the nurse. Do any of you have any tips or advise about how I could steer my surgeon into the direction of a gastric sleeve? Shiuld I just tell them my fears about the bypass?

Im from the US,

So I do not know how the healthcare system works there but have you tried advocating for IV infusions of Iron? I had the same problem with anemia and it was the only thing that worked for me. And it was this same reason i chose VSG.

Also be very vocal about your choice of the VSG above RNY and state why.

Hope that helps (from south of the border)

Edited December 18, 20178 yr by Tealael

You really need to get to the root cause of your anemia. I struggled with this for YEARS and it does make you feel lousy, so I'm sorry that you probably feel that way. Its my understanding that iron infusion are pretty dangerous. Vitron C -- I took that stuff for years. Celiac disease is a hidden cause worth considering, and easy to investigate if you are already getting an upper endoscopy pre-surgery. Bariatric vitamins come with and without iron, fwiw.

I was also worried about my surgeon wanting to do bypass on me rather than vsg due to my weight compared to height. I had more to lose so typically they want you to do bypass if there's a bunch to lose. But I went in and told them that I wasn't going to do bypass because I didn't want to have any issues with malabsorption and he said that's completely fine and I would do fine with the sleeve!
If your surgeon refuses to do a sleeve then find a different one!
Good luck!

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@Road2NewMe raises a good point. There's some "mythology" on line about the benefits and perils of different surgical approaches. For instance, I thought I was going to be RNY because I was dxd with mild GERD during my endoscopy, but it turns out that GERD when it comes with a hiatal hernia is quite easy to fix when you are sleeved.

10 minutes ago, Apple203 said:

You really need to get to the root cause of your anemia. I struggled with this for YEARS and it does make you feel lousy, so I'm sorry that you probably feel that way. Its my understanding that Iron infusion are pretty dangerous. Vitron C -- I took that stuff for years. Celiac disease is a hidden cause worth considering, and easy to investigate if you are already getting an upper endoscopy pre-surgery. Bariatric Vitamins come with and without iron, fwiw.

I had infusions with a Hematologist at a cancer treatment center, so my journey was very safe and it resolved my problems.

BUT as with any proceduce routine or not it is best to do dome research and then weight the benefits against the risks

(just like with WLS)

Edited December 18, 20178 yr by Tealael