Just letting everyone know that i am 7 days post-op and feel great, I do not feel hungary and i am just on liquids for 3 weeks its awesome not to feel hungary. oh and I have lost 20 lbs since surgury freaking amazing. If anyone has any questions hit me up and i will answer them.

I am afraid the doctor I am in contact with does not do the 'sleeve'. He recommended the Bypass which I believe is too invasive. Do you know of any doctors in Houston that do the sleeve? Dr Kuri in Mexico would have been a good choice but I do not have a visa to mexico.

Dr. Kuri does not do sleeves, he only does bands. For a sleeve surgeon you really need someone very skilled in staple lines. This is certainly one procedure you do NOT want to be a guinea pig, you need someone who has done a LOT of sleeves.

Just letting everyone know that i am 7 days post-op and feel great, I do not feel hungary and i am just on liquids for 3 weeks its awesome not to feel hungary. oh and I have lost 20 lbs since surgury freaking amazing. If anyone has any questions hit me up and i will answer them.

Hi there,

i had a gatric sleeve last wed 28/01/09 an i was just wondering whether you had diarrhea while you were on the liquid diet?

congratulations on your weight loss to date

very best wishes

Sarah

I sure did! Liquid in, Liquid out! :tongue:

Hi Macmadame, How much weight did u loose on the lapband before changing to the sleeve? Which is more painful?

I hear there is a good doctor in san antonio...any ideas anyone?

Hi Macmadame, How much weight did u loose on the lapband before changing to the sleeve? Which is more painful?

I hear there is a good doctor in san antonio...any ideas anyone?

It wasn't MacM that revised from band to sleeve, it was me. I was at goal when I revised so I tried very hard not to lose but it was very hard.

Both were about the same for recovery. I think they were exactly the same... pretty easy.

Doctors... I'm partial to Mexico! ;o)

Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Disadvantages

• Higher BMI patients will most likely need to have a second stage procedure later to help lose the rest of the weight. Remember, two stages may ultimately be safer and more effective than one operation for high BMI patients. This is an active point of discussion for bariatric surgeons.
  

Does anyone have any further knowledge or experience on this issue? I've just started looking into the sleeve and comparing it to the band, and this would be a big negative towards the sleeve IMO. I'm a self-pay, so needing a second surgery wouldn't exactly be the best thing for me unless the doctor included it in the original package price.

I can tell you that my surgeon has done over a thousand sleeves and hardly anyone has come back to convert to a DS. Something like two people.

I've seen it a few times on the VSG board on OH as well. But again, we're talking about a handful of people out of thousands. These are generally SMO people and often they can't exercise as much as is recommended for health reason or maybe they have some kind of metabolic illness that slows their weight loss down.

Also, statistically, the higher your BMI is, the harder it is for any surgery to get you to a normal weight, but particularly the band. Lots of surgeons will try to talk you out of a band with a BMI over 55. It's not that they don't work for anyone at that weight -- I know someone who lost 200 lb. with a band -- but the odds are not in your favor and the surgeon will tell you that and, often, try to talk you into a different surgery type.

Does anyone have any further knowledge or experience on this issue? I've just started looking into the sleeve and comparing it to the band, and this would be a big negative towards the sleeve IMO. I'm a self-pay, so needing a second surgery wouldn't exactly be the best thing for me unless the doctor included it in the original package price.

That is old info.

Traditionally if someone was a BMI of 70-80-90 they were too high risk to do a full gastric bypass or DS so they would do a VSG until they were down to a more realistic weight.

They found that people didn't need to go back for bypass or DS after getting a VSG so they started looking at it as a procedure by itself, just like banding or bypass. They started doing research and discovered it's a pretty darn nice procedure and people do not typically need a revision after a sleeve.

The info posted above is outdated, old, an inaccurate.

I can tell you that my surgeon has done over a thousand sleeves and hardly anyone has come back to convert to a DS. Something like two people.

I've seen it a few times on the VSG board on OH as well. But again, we're talking about a handful of people out of thousands. These are generally SMO people and often they can't exercise as much as is recommended for health reason or maybe they have some kind of metabolic illness that slows their weight loss down.

Also, statistically, the higher your BMI is, the harder it is for any surgery to get you to a normal weight, but particularly the band. Lots of surgeons will try to talk you out of a band with a BMI over 55. It's not that they don't work for anyone at that weight -- I know someone who lost 200 lb. with a band -- but the odds are not in your favor and the surgeon will tell you that and, often, try to talk you into a different surgery type.

So are you saying the sleeve is considered a better option for high-BMI patients than the band? There's a better chance of losing a larger amount of weight?

Thanks for the posts guys. The sleeve is looking better and better to me. I don't quite want a bypass, so this seems like a good alternative.

So are you saying the sleeve is considered a better option for high-BMI patients than the band? There's a better chance of losing a larger amount of weight?

Thanks for the posts guys. The sleeve is looking better and better to me. I don't quite want a bypass, so this seems like a good alternative.

Oh my goodness, yes! Inamed stats show that at the end of 5 years people have lost 55% of their excess weight with a band. Five year studies for the sleeve show 80%.

Oh my goodness, yes! Inamed stats show that at the end of 5 years people have lost 55% of their excess weight with a band. Five year studies for the sleeve show 80%.

Wow! That really is a huge difference. What about recovery time for the sleeve? I know the band is either an outpatient procedure or just an overnight stay.

Wow! That really is a huge difference. What about recovery time for the sleeve? I know the band is either an outpatient procedure or just an overnight stay.

Sleeve.... In MX it is 3 nights after surgery in the hospital, in the US it is typically 1 night in the hospital. Recovery is quite similar to a band. About a week.

Sleeves are fantastic!

I'm trying to learn everything I can about GS surgery-do you have any regrets?

Not at all...

Just that I didn't do it earlier!

I'm trying to learn everything I can about GS surgery-do you have any regrets?

Yes. My regret is that I got the band first.

I should have been sleeved first. It would have saved me about $12,5K and my sanity.