Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and wanted to garner some opinions on having a gastric bypass in Poland or other eastern european countries. I'm 26 years old and have been a yo-yo dieter since I was a teenager, I'm currently 120kg (12 months ago, I was 85kg). I'm sick of the constant cycling and feel the bypass will be one of the tools I can use to maintain a steady weight.

From everything I have read about the procedure, I've found myself favoring the bypass over the sleeve. So if you have experience of having a sleeve/ bypass op in Europe please get in touch, I'd be keen to have your input.

Jordan.

Well I had the RNY BYPASS but I'm in Australia.

I've gone from 146kgs to 75kgs

Not Eastern Europe but I highly recommend Dr. Chris DeBruyne in Belgium. I had MGB with him in January and I’m down nearly 60lbs already. There have been no complications and everything has been easier than I ever imagined. I had a lapband removed at the same time. Any questions, feel free to ask.

33 minutes ago, Superman84 said:

Well I had the RNY BYPASS but I'm in Australia.

I've gone from 146kgs to 75kgs

Hi,

That's great to hear. How did the surgery go? Have you experienced many bumps in the road? I'm in Switzerland- pretty much the most expensive country in the world for just about anything so having surgery here is not an option for me unfortunately. I'm just a bit worried about having an op in one country and recovering in another.

Surgery was fine my hospital was only 2.5hrs away and my surgeon is one of the best..

Besides some pain the first week nothing major since been pretty smooth actually...

Well I had insurance but still had to pay $4000 cash but they covered everything including my own private hospital room

Was there for a week waited on by nurses 24/7.

4 minutes ago, elsie77 said:

Not Eastern Europe but I highly recommend Dr. Chris DeBruyne in Belgium. I had MGB with him in January and I’m down nearly 60lbs already. There have been no complications and everything has been easier than I ever imagined. I had a lapband removed at the same time. Any questions, feel free to ask.

Hi Elsie, thanks for your reply. Belgium is a country I've been looking at actually so it's nice to hear a review about it! It seems to be quite competitively priced in comparison to the UK or Switzerland. Can I ask- what were the deciding factors in choosing the MGB instead of the full RNY?

Hi GenevaCH, I was revising from a band so this was the surgeons recommendation. I couldn’t go with sleeve as the band leaves scar tissue so the pouch is left bigger as a result. I didn’t even think of the RNY to be honest. The same surgeon put my band in and I trusted his opinion 100%. (But I did do my own research). He said it gave his patients the best lifestyle in terms of socializing etc. It was also cheaper than the RNY. And the fact that it’s reversible also played a big part. This is the group I went with: www.belgiumsurgeryservices.com

I'm pretty set on going to the Baltics - but which country/clinic, not sure yet - need to do more research.

As for Belgium/Dr Chris, I get that people are loyal to their surgeon but this guy's fans take it too far imo. Nobody deserves that kind of hero-worshipping imo. Also his after-care package seems absolute pants by East European standards.

On 05/23/2020 at 18:52, MoominMan said:

I'm pretty set on going to the Baltics - but which country/clinic, not sure yet - need to do more research.

As for Belgium/Dr Chris, I get that people are loyal to their surgeon but this guy's fans take it too far imo. Nobody deserves that kind of hero-worshipping imo. Also his after-care package seems absolute pants by East European standards.

Not sure how giving a positive recommendation can be considered ‘fans taking it too far’. I don’t know what you hold against him, but the ‘hero-worshipping’ you refer to might be from reading multiple positive reviews from people living a better life as a result of having surgery with Dr. Chris. During my research I didn’t find as much good feedback on any other European surgeon. You are entitled to your opinion obviously but please don’t bad mouth a surgeon you haven’t actually met or had an experience with.
Best of luck with your research and your journey.

8 hours ago, elsie77 said:

Not sure how giving a positive recommendation can be considered ‘fans taking it too far’. I don’t know what you hold against him, but the ‘hero-worshipping’ you refer to might be from reading multiple positive reviews from people living a better life as a result of having surgery with Dr. Chris. During my research I didn’t find as much good feedback on any other European surgeon. You are entitled to your opinion obviously but please don’t bad mouth a surgeon you haven’t actually met or had an experience with.
Best of luck with your research and your journey.

I wasn't referring to your post specifically - nothing wrong with a personal recommendation (that's why I didn't quote it), but I've seen a lot of glowing recommendations for him which seems out of all proportion to the professional set-up of his business. Frankly I can't get past the 'you must pay in cash' aspect of him - it's not normal, and makes me extremely suspicious.

On 05/24/2020 at 08:33, MoominMan said:

I wasn't referring to your post specifically - nothing wrong with a personal recommendation (that's why I didn't quote it), but I've seen a lot of glowing recommendations for him which seems out of all proportion to the professional set-up of his business. Frankly I can't get past the 'you must pay in cash' aspect of him - it's not normal, and makes me extremely suspicious.

His professional set up is just that, professional, but with the addition of zero bs and jumping through hoops, that’s why I give glowing recommendations.
Yes, I can see why the cash thing would put you off in fairness but it’s not the only way to pay. I paid by bank transfer. It needs to be received 10 days in advance.

My surgeon was very similar he was straight to the point no BS pretty easy process event with insurance I had to pay a gap and did it online like @elsie77 but that's not my surgeons fault that's the insurance will only pay so much...

But everything was covered with that had my own private room and bathroom 24/7 on call nurses free TV etc