Why did you choose the type of surgery you will have or might have? What factors were deciding factors for you?

I did very little research in fact i did not realize there was other surgery options out there, I had family member a brother that did the sleeve before me, so i just went with that and did the sleeve,

However

There a ton of posts here with this same topic of types - with ton of issues

good read : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5700383/

This is a great pre-op question! Each individual has to choose for him or herself, of course. Here was how I ultimately arrived at bypass for my choice.

After learning about each procedure, I originally decided that I would have gastric sleeve. I have arthritis in my knee from an old sports injury and I was taking an NSAID for it—which you cannot take with bypass due to the high likelihood of ulcers. I also wanted a lower likelihood of dumping syndrome. After talking with my PCP, however, I changed my choice to bypass for a few reasons.

First, after losing over 100 pounds to date pre-op I have been able to manage my arthritis with over-the-counter medications. Second, thinking of surgery as one tool in the weight loss toolbox, bypass is likely to result in a higher percentage of weight loss than sleeve. Last but not least, I want surgery to work as a tool to help me sustain my weight loss when I hit my goal weight. My PCP has had many patients who received sleeves require dilation and, in some cases, extension of their sleeves to bypasses. She also shared that the dumping syndrome that comes with bypass serves as a good long-term deterrent to overeating.

I am having bypass surgery on Monday, February 24th. I plan to continue to post both pre- and post-surgery, so more to come!

I wanted gastric bypass to lose the maximum amount of weight possible. But I wasn't "that" obese and my Primary Care Doctor and psychiatrist wanted me to go for the "less invasive" sleeve surgery, which didn't make sense to me because they cut out 2/3 of my stomach, which sounds pretty "invasive" to me. LOL! So that's how I decided.

My surgeon had suggested bypass. I wanted sleeve. He had recommend it as it is malabsorption for life and that would achieve the greatest results he felt. I figured why change the plumbing and was willing to make the changes I needed. He said sleeve was fine as long as i remember that it was not malabosrption for life. After the one year checkup he said I was good and surpassed their expectation of my weight loss, I lost more than was expected from either surgery.

I know a lot of people who have had both. The sleeve seemed less intrusive to me. I didn't want vitamin malabsorption issues. My surgeon, who I really respect, recommends the sleeve to people like me who have never had GERD issues and don't have more than about 100 lbs. to lose. It's what I wanted and I'm 100% happy with the decision for me.

I completely respect everyone's personal decisions as valid for them and wish everyone success.

I had GERD before surgery, so it was a no-brainer: bypass. Bypass often (but not always) improves GERD if not cures it completely, whereas sleeve can (but not always) make it worse.

if it weren't for that, I probably still would have had bypass because at the time I had surgery, VSG was just becoming popular. Bypass had A LOT more research behind it, and I was afraid of VSG becoming "Lapband 2". However, sleeve has now been around long enough to prove itself. It's not "Lapband 2" - it's a good surgery. So if it weren't for the GERD, I'm not sure which surgery I would have chosen if I was facing it right now. They're both good surgeries, and I've known a lot of people who've had great success with both.

2 hours ago, MsMocie said:

I originally booked the sleeve, as I thought it was the best option to avoid malnutrition for life. The surgeon after reading my weight history however strongly recommende the mini bypass so I could have a bigger weightloss and maintain it longer. So I went with it. As of now, I have no issues regarding this. I don't have dumpings either. After reading a bit up on this, I feel a mini bypass is a good option that gives you the advantages of both sleeve and bypass and you only have the one anastomsis, thus less invasive.

Mini bypass? I'm not familiar.

I had GERD, Barrett's esophagitis from the acid, and even a Barrett's polyp that was removed. It was a slam dunk for gastric bypass if I wanted to avoid the acid and possible progression to cancer,

I am happy to report that 10 months after surgery, a follow up EGD showed NO Barretts! I have an ulcer but no Barrett's.

Edited January 16, 20206 yr by AZhiker

My doctor recommended I have the sleeve as he considered a better idea when looking at my health history. Part of the process for my doctor was to have an EGD to confirm that sleeve was the right choice. My doctor found a mass in my duodenum which turned out to be non-cancerous, whew! A second opinion from a surgical specialist they decided to just monitor the mass instead of removing it as that surgery would be very complicated and losing more weight would help if I ever needed that surgery. Due to that issue the sleeve is a better choice because they can still do an EGD in 6 months to check on it. So long story short, the choice should be made by you and your doctor based on your situation and health history.

There's reality only two options in my city which was sleeve or bypass RNY.

I did tons of research and decided on RNY for various reasons.

1. I wanted the Malabsorption aspect.

2. I wanted greater chance of fixing my diabetes which it did pretty quickly; was off all diabetes medications within a week of surgery.

3. I wanted the metabolic changes that came with the redirection of intestines because i believe my metabolism was so bad after decades of bad food choices.

4. I wanted the most restrictive procedure available and only wanted one surgery; most of my research showed many people being revised after sleeve surgery to bypass for many reasons.

I am very very happy but I've been very strict on myself from day 1.

Almost 5 months later and I'm down 126lbs from highest weight.

But everyone has their own preference and reasons to what surgery they like.

I wanted gastric bypass to lose the maximum amount of weight possible. But I wasn't "that" obese and my Primary Care Doctor and psychiatrist wanted me to go for the "less invasive" sleeve surgery, which didn't make sense to me because they cut out 2/3 of my stomach, which sounds pretty "invasive" to me. LOL! So that's how I decided.

I too wanted the bypass to lose the maximum amount of weight and my doctor felt I could achieve the same results with the sleeve even though I suffered from GERD. I trust my doctor and I'm very happy with my surgery. I have not had any issues with GERD since my surgery.

5'4"
Starting weight 297
VSG on 7/31/19
Surgery wt: 266
CW 206
GW 135

I did lots of pre reading. (I avoided personal you tube clips & social media sites like FB pages detailing how to purée burgers! Be judicious - there’s a lot bad info out there.) Then after going through my medical history with me, my surgeon went through each of the surgical options highlighting the pros & cons of each surgery for me based on my history. He recommended the sleeve which I had been leaning towards from my pre reading.

I suffered from a little reflux (often stressed induced), over produced acid in my stomach, had a sensitivity to lactose & would suffer terribly with hiccups. Don’t think my reflux has changed, my hiccups are less severe, my stomach doesn’t seem as acidic as before & I can tolerate dairy a lot better.

As @AJ Tylo said there’s heaps of informative posts here. Members are always willing to share their experiences & offer support.

Good luck.

I did not suffer from GERD pre-op so my Doc left the decision up to me. He told me he does do more RNY's and that it is the "Gold Standard", but that is because its just been around longer. He has seen successes (and failures) among both. He told me he feels that that success lays more with the patient than the type of surgery. He wanted me to choose whichever one I felt most comfortable with to my body.

Ultimately, I chose Sleeve because:

• I didn't like the idea of re-routing my intestines
• I wanted to have my pyloric valve intact
• I wanted to be able to take NSAIDS (or time-realase meds) if I ever needed to
• I didn't want to increase my chances of dumping (Boo on me: I dump anyways )
• I didn't want the malabsorption effect and have to take more vitamins (Boo on me again: I was prescribed the same vitamin regimen ? )

I stuck to my plan pretty strictly during weight loss phase and got to goal in 7 months with a 110 lbs loss & a BMI of 23 at the time (I am 14 months post op now with a total loss of 120 lbs & a BMI of 21)

Honestly though, I'm pretty sure I would have got to the same place with either surgery.

Do your research, take in the advice/recommendations of your doc/team, and go with your gut ❤️

Good Luck!

P.S. the one thing though that I thought was a "pro" for me to go bypass was that theoretically it was reverseable (I was totally scared at the time) ?

Edited January 16, 20206 yr by ms.sss

I chose gastric bypass for a couple reasons.

I know everyone doesn't get it, but I feel like the dumping syndrome Would be a help to me long term to stay on track just in case I considered straying a little.

And second, I know this isn't everyone but I've seen alot of stories of people needing to get the revision from sleeve to bypass and I don't want to have to go through this again.

Like everyone else said, talk it over with your doc. He/she will be able to help you come to a decision.