Pre surgery bloodwork shows borderline anemia. Should I still go for RNY or switch to sleeve?

[punkyisland 11]

Getting my surgery date next week. Met with surgeon this week and went over all of my pre op appts/ testing. He said my blood work showed borderline anemia... just under normal with both Iron and B12.

I was hoping to choose RNY. But now hearing I’m at a higher risk for Vitamin deficiency after.. should I consider sleeve instead?

Has anyone been in a similar position? Did you still go through with bypass, and were you ok with just the regular amount of Vitamins recommended?

[allies journey 144]

Getting my surgery date next week. Met with surgeon this week and went over all of my pre op appts/ testing. He said my blood work showed borderline anemia... just under normal with both Iron and B12.

I was hoping to choose RNY. But now hearing I’m at a higher risk for Vitamin deficiency after.. should I consider sleeve instead?

Has anyone been in a similar position? Did you still go through with bypass, and were you ok with just the regular amount of Vitamins recommended?

I think that if your surgeon says you can still have the RYN and isn't overly concerned about the bloodwork you should go with your original plan. Especially if you have GERD.Good luck and trust your doctor.

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[SusieQ2019 567]

My cardiologists told me that I am slightly anemic. I changed from RNY, to the sleeve. The sleeve was my original choice, but thought the RNY would be good based on extensive research I did. One can still be anemic with the sleeve as per my surgeon, he and I discussed both surgeries and weight both options and I am pleased to be doing the sleeve on April 29th. The bariatric program requires both sleeve and RNY to take Vitamins.

I know malabsorption is a concern with the RNY, but from my research folks have to be committed in making sure that they take the required vitamins.

Talk it over with your surgeon and make the best decision for you.

Best of luck.

[punkyisland 11]

I have no GERD. But still chose rny for myself. This is where I’m second guessing myself... yesterday was my appt and I asked the surgeon about my blood work results. He said my Iron and B12 was just under the normal numbers, and I shouldn’t worry about it. That it was a significant decreased level.

But while I was driving home, I got a phone call from the surgeons assistant. He said he was looking at my chart and noticed I had low levels in my blood work. He initially thought I had already had surgery. When I corrected him, he said they have a new system and he’s getting used to it. He said in the meantime though I should start taking B12 and iron now then.... I should have asked more questions on the phone, but I was driving. But the surgeon had said I shouldn’t worry about it, and the surgeon assistant told me to go ahead and start taking Vitamins and then also mentioned possibly needing transfusions and nasal spray afterwords if I do become anemic?

Should I call? I think I only have my pre-surgery appointment left, not sure if that involves the surgeon again...

[punkyisland 11]

Corrected * surgeon said my level for B12 and Iron was NOT significantly low..

[SusieQ2019 567]

I saw my surgeon on all of my appointments. If you still have questions you should call.

[catwoman7 10,846]

B12 levels are easy to bring up with supplementation - Iron can be harder. Ask your surgeon - if he's OK with you going through the RNY, then there you go...

[Frustr8 7,886]

And if you need it, you'll have an Iron INFUSION like I did in March. Really nothing scary-larry about it. We had life-changing my iron to ferrous fumerate,also called Ferrocite, nice medicine but my body just wasn't utilizing it properly. Hence the INFUSION. A lot better than when they gave you Z-track injections, those critters hurt major big time! But my philosopy-just one more way I vary from the norm, it's MY JOURNEY , win or lose, and I am a winner 😝

[MrsGamgee 756]

Iron can be finicky, especially for women (making an assumption here). Being a little low isn't uncommon. I would confirm with your surgeon about the supplements pre op but I wouldn't be too concerned.

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[staceylc 3]

On 4/19/2019 at 6:09 PM, punkyisland said:

Getting my surgery date next week. Met with surgeon this week and went over all of my pre op appts/ testing. He said my blood work showed borderline anemia... just under normal with both Iron and B12.

I was hoping to choose RNY. But now hearing I’m at a higher risk for Vitamin deficiency after.. should I consider sleeve instead?

Has anyone been in a similar position? Did you still go through with bypass, and were you ok with just the regular amount of Vitamins recommended?

I have had the bypass for almost 5 years now. My lab work was all normal before I had surgery and my bariatric doctor recommended the bypass to me to really get the most bang for my buck and I agreed since I was relatively young. I, however, needed both Iron infusions and B-12 shots after surgery. Iron was pretty immediate after (I would say a month after) due to my symptoms. The B-12 shots I needed within the past year or two (it's been a minute). The shots were discontinued because my levels have been normal but my body has never been able to absorb iron any longer and maintain it. It was bad right after surgery and especially last year (but for some reason even though I had every single symptom of the deficiency, it still took me too long to resolve and my ferritin was at 4 and iron saturation was at 5), This time around dealing with these iron infusions , I said if I would have known it would have such a HUGE effect on my body (it was never really mentioned, and I never had problems like this before so I kind of turned a blind eye to it pretty much), I probably would have opted for the sleeve instead.

It takes a lot of advocating for yourself and support from your medical professionals and to be 100% compliant with everything to ensure you stay healthy along the process.

Remember everyone's body will react differently. I lost a lot of weight and REALLY fast after and have lost about 150 pounds total. Good luck!