Wondering was size of bougie did or will your surgeon use. My surgery is scheduled for Sept 1, 2022. My dr said he uses a 36 more often than the 34. He will make the decision at my surgery.

Mine told me he "cuts a generous 40."

My surgeon used a 32 - that's his standard. I think each Dr. has their own preference. There really is no right or wrong, its what the individual surgeon finds most successful.

In 2015, my surgeon said she used the flexible endoscope as a guide (about a diameter of 9.8mm).

I didn’t even know that was a thing to ask. Sorta wish I had though if it determines the size of the sleeve cause mine seems to be bigger than most peoples. I could always eat more than expected and over a year out I still rarely feel any restriction. I eat about a serving of most things and I just have to measure out my food to keep portions small.

I don't know, and I really don't care - what's important is how your surgeon does the job and how are his typical results. The bougie is just a tool, or guide, and some may not use one at all. Similarly, I don't care if my mechanic uses Craftsmen, Snap On or Beta tools to fix my car.

When I was early post op, there was a clique of patients from one particular surgeon who all insisted that if your sleeve wasn't a tightly oversewn 32F like their surgeon did, that you would never lose enough weight, or keep it off, and no one would ever love you again. Funny thing was that those whose surgeons used a 36 or a 40 did just as well. And some who had a 32 struggled and missed the mark.

My wife had a huge sleeve (relatively speaking) with an initial capacity of 4 oz - typical of a DS sleeve and correlates to probably a 56-60F, while my stomach was initially 2.5 oz, which could come from any of the common VSG size bougies, 32-40F (height, and hence stomach length plays a part of that capacity, so a shorter person will usually have a smaller capacity stomach than a taller person, bougies and all else being equal. Despite those initial differences, our meal sizes are basically the same. Go figure.

So don't agonize too much over what tool your surgeon uses.

My surgeon uses a 32F (loose). This is his standard for everyone.

I'm almost 8 weeks out and can tolerate about 1.5 ounces of food at one time.

8 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

I didn’t even know that was a thing to ask. Sorta wish I had though if it determines the size of the sleeve cause mine seems to be bigger than most peoples. I could always eat more than expected and over a year out I still rarely feel any restriction. I eat about a serving of most things and I just have to measure out my food to keep portions small.

I am the same as you, I think I have said this in reply to a few of your comments ??.....sleeve twins........??. Prior to surgery I was scared my stomach would be to small and I would only eat a bite or 2 of food for the rest of my life .....how wrong I was