31 bougie / surgery in India?

Hi - I am new to this site, have been looking into WLS for some time and think VSG is the one for me. I am an Australian expat living in India, and am thinking of having the surgery locally, as my insurance does not cover any type of WLS.

I have met with one of the local bariatric surgeons and he said he uses a 31Fr bougie - this seems smaller than anything I have heard of on this site. Just wondering if a) anyone has had the surgery in India (esp. Bangalore) and b) if anyone has had any experience with a 31 Fr bougie.

He also said instead of overstitching the staple line, they use a biodegradable tape (?) over the staple area. He said to allow 5 days in hospital, 1 before the op, and 3 after.

Thanks
J

The smallest bougie I've ever heard of anyone using is a 32 French. To use smeller than that puts you at risk of severe reflux and the inability to take in enough food. As for the suture line, I've never heard of anyone using glue to close the stomach. The standard is ovesewing or buttressed staples. Did the doctor provide you with any stats on his previous patients? When you're dealing with a surgeon who's going so far from the international standard, I'd need a lot of success stories and a sterling complication rate before I'd see him. Is it possible for you to get to Mexico?

There is a lady who has had a DS, Bearmom, and I think she had her DS in India, and maybe could point you towards reputable surgeons there. 

BelizeSleeve had a smaller one than that  you would have to pm her for the size im not sure if it was a 28 or a 30   but talk to her she is over 2.5 yrs out now... she did not have hers in india

Hi I am BelizeSleeve...

My surgeon does a 32 F, but I asked him to do mine as tight as was safely possible.  He said he would, and said he gave me a 30 F, oversewn, which was the equivalent of a 28F.

I had no complications, no reflux, no sticture, etc.  nothing went wrong, nothing.  I was on a very advanced plan, which I won't get into here, but I was able to start eating within 3 days, and full foods within a couple of weeks.

My tummy tolerates all foods...  I rarely get hungry, usually my tummy will only growl if I go 5 or more hours without food.

I LOVE my Sleeve and I am so glad for the restriction I have.  When I was not careful I put on 13 lbs, I have 12 of those back off again and have learned my lesson.  I am now maintaining back down well below goal.  I set my goal higher than I really wanted, just so I would always feel like a success.  My current BMI is 19.7.  I like to be very lean...

IMPORTANT NOTE:  I am almost 6 feet tall, my surgeon said that my tummy was so long, that he had to use a whole extra cartridge of staples on me.  Hence my sleeve has lots of capacity.  If I had a shorter stomach, I may not have been able to eat enough to maintain.  As it is I can eat enough to maintain and even gain if not careful.

Brandi gave me poke to come over and say hi. I had the DS in India, but was at Saifee hospital in Mumbai. The surgeon was Mufazzle Lakdawala, but he's really the only surgeon I even know of in India, and spends much of his time training other surgeons.

Even though I had the DS, my stomach is a sleeve, and I "think" it's the same size. My surgeon makes all his sleeve and DS stomachs the same size. It's tough at first because you supposedly have several ounces of capacity, but for a while, a few bites, like 2, will be all you can do with that small of a sleeve.

I wouldn't want any smaller sleeve, not just because it's hard to get enough food for a while, but you don't want to increase the risk for other problems. 

I'm not sure if I had tape or over stitching, but had no issues with my stomach. I'll look up my surgical reports and see if I can see if it was tape or not. 

For sure any given surgeon has a style, but none can really cut too close to the guide, as there is a rather standard distance range that they are adhere to in the profession.