I'm near the end of my journey to get the gastric sleeve. I should have learned my date by now, so probably any day now.

My Dr initially wanted to do duodenal switch and if not the gastric bypass, because I have recent history with pain in my stomach, controlled with ppi's. I told him I would not consider either, only gastric sleeve.

Now I'm having second thoughts. I'm scared of the gastric bypass due to a friends friend dying from complications. I do have a small hiatal hernia they need to repair. I'm afraid IF I decided to go with the gastric bypass, I will have to wait longer. I'm wondering if insurance would need another approval to do the GB? It say approval states the GS.

Any help appreciated!

Edited January 25, 20197 yr by gabybab
Misspelling

30 minutes ago, gabybab said:

Now I'm having second thoughts. I'm scared of the gastric bypass due to a friends friend dying from complications. 

Do you know this persons medical history? All of the conditions behind the complications? Is it the same surgeon?

Complications can arise from any surgery.

Keep in mind if you get a sleeve and you already have reflux or similar issues you could be facing a needed revision if your problem worsens anyways. It may be more prudent to listen to the surgeon and opt for bypass now than undergo two operations.

You likely would need new approval but that does not necessarily mean a longer wait once you have insurance approval to change the form, but a longer wait is worth it to make sure you get the needed surgery.

You need to get the surgery you are comfortable with but why base a decision on a friend of a friend situation and let that influence your health and medical decisions?

I do not know the lady, nor do I know her medical history or any comorbidities.

I'm very worried about dumping and vitamin deficiencies.

Thank you for your input. It gives me more thinking to do and consulting with my Dr again.

I had the sleeve done and I wish I had done bypass. With the amount of weight I needed to lose Bypass would have been the way to go. As the previous poster said, if you already have issues with acid reflux then sleeve might not be your best option. I would say take the time to think this over, there is no need to rush into a decision that you may regret later.

Walter, did you not lose all your weight? I've seen people lose a lot with the sleeve and some not enough.

I needed to lose about 200 pounds and I lost 110

However I have put 20 back on I am about 18 months out from surgery. I would say go with Bypass. However, as they say "wherever you go, there you are" and you may not have the best results with either surgery if you do not address the over eating issues that you already have.

Do not base your choices on friends or friends of friends experiences. Make your choice based on indepth research and discussion with your medical team as to what is best for you and why.

dying from any weight loss surgery is almost unheard of these days. Back in the 60s or 70s, yes - but not now. These surgeries have come a L-O-N-G way and are extremely safe now. Mortality rates on gastric bypass are 0.3%. It's even lower for the sleeve. That means you have a 99.7% chance of pulling through just fine. And you will.

vitamin deficiencies are rare if you take your vitamins religiously. You have to take vitamins with the sleeve, too.

dumping - not all RNY'ers dump. I know LOTS of RNY'ers who've never dumped (I haven't, either). The statistic I see thrown around on these and other boards are that 30% of us dump. I don't know if there are any hardcore research statistics behind that, but suffice it to say, lots of us don't dump (I kind of wish I did - it would keep me from eating some of the things that I shouldn't!)

lastly, if you have GERD, you're taking a big risk with getting the sleeve. It could be fine - or your GERD could get a lot worse. I know of several people who have had to revise from VSG to RNY because of GERD. I had GERD pre-surgery, and I didn't want to risk it getting worse - so the choice was a no-brainer for me.

I too had problems deciding on whether to go with the sleeve or the bypass and ended up deciding on the sleeve. I was not comfortable at the time of my surgery (1/21/2019) to rearrange my internals for WLS when the research that I had done, along with the information that I had discussed with my doctor has educated me that both surgery's have a very high success rate and doctors are now finding that performing the Gastric Sleeve is effective without needed to complete a total Bypass... there are also less risks and complications involved with the Sleeve. Currently I have not had any reflux issues, which I have had in the past... not everyone's journey is the same.. so I feel that while listening to other people's stories is helpful., ultimately you need to make a choice that you are comfortable with... one thing that people often forget is this is also a life style change.. not just a quick fix.. my stomach is smaller but once it's healed I can go back to eating anything I want.. if that's a person's mentality then I feel you're setting yourself up for failure long term.