Hi guys, I was curious if anyone is from or around St. Louis?

I am set to have my surgery in 2.5 weeks. I did my research before joining the program back in August and thought I was happy. Recently, I found a review on my sugeon that freaked me out a bit.

First, let me say she has great reviews for the most part.

But there is a review by a lady claiming that my doctor only removed 20% of her stomach during her sleeve surgery. I don't know the situation. Maybe there was a reason for this.

She said that she had to have revision surgery 2 years later in 2016 and her new surgeon claims that my surgeon has a reputation for being conservative in the sense of how much she removes during VSG.

I DON'T WANT TO HAVE A REVISION!

So, do you guys think she is bitter and her new surgeon is just shady in stating this, basically saying she doesn't do good work?

Or should I be worried and use a different surgeon?

I don't know how to feel. I do understand that a lot of reviewers are the upset ones and are more likely to do said review. And there are probably 10 more that never took to the internet and claimed their success.

Maybe I'm overthinking this.

Ask the surgeon directly what size bougie she will be using.

Talk to your surgeon and explain to her your concerns. You are correct you do not know the back end of the other patient's history. Bad news travel faster than good news.

I am glad that you post this question because it is a question I had in mind to ask my doctor on what standards they follow when deciding on the size of the sleeve.

I saw a video on YouTube where the size of the sleeves are made smaller than when this weightloss surgery was new.

Ask the surgeon directly what size bougie she will be using.

That was the first question i asked my surgeon.

Ask the surgeon directly what size bougie she will be using.

This person said she didn't even use a bougie. Is that possible?

I’ve never heard of the surgery being done without one. That’s odd.

Freestyle sounds like no style at all, don't think I would want a surgeon who merely " eye-balls" their work. Always thought,itwas a pretty straightforward thing, the sleeve, then you hear of posters with hour-glass shaped stomach remnants, ones that were big and floppy, and you say " I just don't know" maybe I'm lucky I was a RnY bypass, although I bet there may be misshapen or wrong- sized pouch too.

It's possible she uses an endoscope instead of a bougie, but you need something to construct the sleeve around. It's not something you can just freehand.

It's possible she uses an endoscope instead of a bougie, but you need something to construct the sleeve around. It's not something you can just freehand.

Saw my surgeon for my pre-op and she confirmed that she does not use a bougie, but uses an endoscope. She showed me the size. Pretty small. She said she uses it because she can look at the stomach at the same time and check for complications. And then can use it for the leak test. She put my mind at ease.

My surgeon put my mind at ease. I asked her about the lady saying she only removed 20% of stomach.
She said it is possible for patients to let their stomach stretch when not sticking to good eating habits. Those patients tend to blame the doctor and do best being switched to bypass.