How did you choose a WLS?

Hello! 

I'm at the very beginning of the road that will possibly lead to WLS and am looking to hear from others what helped you choose one surgery over the others.  I've read about all of them and understand the risks and different life-changes that will need to come after.  Initially, I'm leaning toward the DS, probably because it seems to have the highest success rates and, honestly, one of the things about the possibility of WLS that scares me the most is doing it and then STILL not being successful in keeping the weight off!  I understand the commitment to taking supplements for the rest of my life, and that there are risks involved, but it doesn't seem like the risks involved in DS much outweigh the risks involved in other surgeries. 

I haven't yet met with a surgeon and I realize this will be a conversation with her/him as well, but I'd just like to ask of people who have been through it:  How did you decide on your surgery?  Did you have much choice, or did your surgeon "lead" you to one?  If you were leaning toward one but changed your mind, what changed it?  Just looking for all the information I can get!! 

Thanks so much!

I chose my surgery working in partnership with my surgeon based on my health considerations. I had severe GERD as well as some other issues, so the RNY made the most sense for me.

As I said on another thread you started, all of the surgeries are a trade off of risks and benefits. None of them are easy to work with. You will have to change the way you do things no matter which one you choose. The DS may make the most sense for you, but it does carry the highest risks for complications and malnutrition.

You're going to need to figure out what will work best for you, hopefully primarily in partnership with your surgeon.

Thanks, AnneGG!  And thanks for the resources you shared on the other thread!  I was just referred, today, to a surgery center and so plan to have these conversations with a surgeon soon!

I originally was going to have the lap band but after reading about the problems with the band, I leaned towards choosing between the ds and the sleeve. Since I wasn't crazy about having malabsorption issues for life or the rerouting of my intestines along with talking it over with my dr, I went with the sleeve.

I went to a WLS seminar to learn about the options available and decided on gastric bypass. I already had severe GERD and other comorbidities, so gastric bypass was my decision.  My surgeon agreed with me based on my medical history.  He didn't lead me to a particular surgery.  About 2 years ago, I was leaning toward the gastric band, I changed my mind after learning about the complications and weight loss relative to the sleeve and RNY. 

I chose my surgery type, then chose a surgeon based on his experience in doing that procedure.

I chose the DS because it simply made the most sense to me. Like you, I couldn't imagine going through the risks, pain, and expense of surgery and wind up regaining a significant percentage of my weight back. The DS has the best long-term, maintained weight-loss stats, and I wanted long-term. I also chose the DS due to post-op quality of life issues---there were potential complications with the RNY that *I* did not want to deal with.

In the end, your surgeon, your PCP, any other doctors you have can advise you about how WLS will affect your life, but only YOU have to live with your choice. This is where talking to strangers on the internet comes in---here, you can talk frankly with people who've been living long-term with the various procedures, even some people who've lived with more than one of them. (Check out the Revision board.) Decide how YOU want to spend the rest of your life.

I chose my surgery by talking with everyone I knew who had any sort of WLS.  However, honestly, I only knew friends of friends who had band, a few people who were considering sleeves, no one who knew much about DS, and about 8 people personally close to me who had RNY, including my husband.  So, I was leaning toward RNY, but wasn't final.

I chose my Surgeon for his reputation and experience along with the hospital choice I would have with him. Luckily I live in a large city so I had a lot of choices.

Once I met with my Surgeon, he asked me for my preference on surgery before he would tell me his recommendation.  He agreed with me on RNY so that is what I had.