Hi my name is Jen! I am just beginning my pre-op testing and had my initial consult with my surgeon this past Friday. I’ve done a lot of research about the sleeve and the bypass but I am struggling with choosing which would be the best for me. I’m curious how did you choose the best option for you? What was the deciding factor for the surgery you chose?

24 minutes ago, DuckDuckGoose said:

He is a great Dr.

This was when I was asking questions. about worst case scenarios. If something should happen, and I needed to have a bypass instead of a sleeve.. He Said we know what surgery we are doing before hand, and that would never happen, but if I choose to have something like the Duodenal Switch, and he couldn't complete it due to scar tissue or some major unforeseen issue, then since he was already in there, he would do what he could.(bypass/sleeve) as I was already under.

That makes sense.

SWITCH is very serious

My options were the sleeve or bypass, and the surgeon recommended a sleeve first. That was also my first choice, as I'm not really interested in doing a bypass to be quite honest. The sleeve is touted as safer and that it has less complications than the bypass, and nothing is 'off limits' on the sleeve as well, which appealed to me. I am the type of person that if you say 'no', then I immediately want to do the forbidden thing, lol.

Mostly it came down to safety for me though, honestly. I admit that I have also heard of more 'horror' stories with the bypass also, so that helped to affect my choice. My surgeon did say that if I wasn't very successful on the sleeve though, in a year's time, she would very likely approve me for a revision to another kind of WLS. She said it wouldn't be bypass though.

6 minutes ago, LustyDraconianMaid said:

My options were the sleeve or bypass, and the surgeon recommended a sleeve first. That was also my first choice, as I'm not really interested in doing a bypass to be quite honest. The sleeve is touted as safer and that it has less complications than the bypass, and nothing is 'off limits' on the sleeve as well, which appealed to me. I am the type of person that if you say 'no', then I immediately want to do the forbidden thing, lol.

Mostly it came down to safety for me though, honestly. I admit that I have also heard of more 'horror' stories with the bypass also, so that helped to affect my choice. My surgeon did say that if I wasn't very successful on the sleeve though, in a year's time, she would very likely approve me for a revision to another kind of WLS. She said it wouldn't be bypass though.

See you had your own personal"reasons" for going with the sleeve and that's your prerogative.

I have no fear of surgery and I believe bypass will give me better results in the long run and I'd rather my inside be rerouted than having 80% of my stomach thrown in the bin thank you.

I want the restriction,I need the malabsorption, I want the dumping so I'll never want to go near any junk food again!

So yes it is an individual choice and I'll keep going until I find the dr who agrees with me with my bmi being over 40 RNY is my best choice I want to do it right and once only..not have multiple surgeries.

I hope you don't suffer from reflux or GERD and good luck.

3 hours ago, Mikeyy said:

See you had your own personal"reasons" for going with the sleeve and that's your prerogative.

I have no fear of surgery and I believe bypass will give me better results in the long run and I'd rather my inside be rerouted than having 80% of my stomach thrown in the bin thank you.

I want the restriction,I need the malabsorption, I want the dumping so I'll never want to go near any junk food again!

So yes it is an individual choice and I'll keep going until I find the dr who agrees with me with my bmi being over 40 RNY is my best choice I want to do it right and once only..not have multiple surgeries.

I hope you don't suffer from reflux or GERD and good luck.

I was absolutely terrified going in, plus it was my first surgery as well. I had no idea what to expect, but I'm glad that I didn't have any issues to speak of (in surgery, that is.) It's odd to think about how the 'safer' surgery is the one where most of your stomach is cut away, lol. ?

My first few weeks I did alright, but now I am having a great deal of nausea and sickness, but no GERD or reflux, thankfully. My nurses seem to think it's normal given my surgery date wasn't so long ago, but told me to contact back if it continues beyond the 2nd month out, to consider more testing and see if anything else is wrong. So for now, it's nausea medication and carefully watching the foods I eat so I don't get sick. ?

Thought I would post an update! I decided to go with the bypass. In the long run I think I will find the most benefit from the surgery because of its effects on diabetes. I got a call from my surgeons office and my surgery is tentatively scheduled for March 19!

2 minutes ago, losingtolivewithjen said:

Thought I would post an update! I decided to go with the bypass. In the long run I think I will find the most benefit from the surgery because of its effects on diabetes. I got a call from my surgeons office and my surgery is tentatively scheduled for March 19!

Good choice.. same reasons here my diabetes is getting worse!

1 hour ago, losingtolivewithjen said:

Thought I would post an update! I decided to go with the bypass. In the long run I think I will find the most benefit from the surgery because of its effects on diabetes. I got a call from my surgeons office and my surgery is tentatively scheduled for March 19!

Cheers! I wish you luck with your surgery!

Duck: my doctor told me the exact same thing, if he couldn’t do the bypass he would do the sleeve. I think it’s just to cover their bases but my bypass was successful. I think that’s a pretty common line

Question is it hard to reshrink and restart your diet after two years I had the bipass

I'm going with Bypass because I used to have a lap band, which totally didn't work out for me. And to me, the sleeve is similar in function and outcome as the lap band.

I discovered that I REALLY need extra help dealing with what goes in my mouth. Because of the malabsorption aspect and the "outcomes" of eating the wrong foods I felt the Bypass was much better for me. I want to eat correctly, but 65 years of habits are hard to overcome without some serious help.

Plus the Bypass has been around so long, that it's success is proven.

That's it^ no use getting half an operation go full throttle with the bypass

I had the SIPS surgery in November and I’m down 80lbs. My wife had gastric bypass and I feel she had a less messy recovery. It could just be me but I don’t remember her having as many issues. I won’t go into detail but I can’t even risk passing gas yet. Again, it’s only been 3 months. In the end I should be able to eat more than my wife at one time with the same outcome.

My doctor let me decide though he suggested bypass. I chose the sleeve. First reason - dumping and alcohol. We entertain a lot with wine pairing dinners. Not willing to give that up. Second was purely anecdotal. Having lost a lot with band then regaining after it failed, I am completely averse to rebound weight gain. I saw too many examples of rebound weight gain in bypass patients as people’s intestines learned to absorb nutrients (and calories) again.

My surgeon chose what was best for me, and that was the sleeve

I had to make the same decision between sleeve and bypass. Most studies show that bypass patients loose faster and have great % of excess weight loss at 1 year post-op, but by year three the weight loss is the same for both procedures. The risk of regain is also pretty close for both procedures (although a lot of it is up to you and the choices you make). However, if you do regain weight down the road (which can happen), the options for a revision from a bypass are limited. If you have the sleeve, you can always convert to a bypass or SIPS/modified DS down the road (I think SIPS is going to be the revision of choice in 5 years). I originally was leaning towards the bypass, but my surgeon pushed hard on the sleeve. I took his advise and I don't regret it.