Gastric Bypass vs Sleeve?

Hello, my name is Mandy. I have done quite a bit of research on both the bypass and sleeve with my husband, and I have been leaning towards the bypass. I got to speak to my surgeon yesterday for the first time, after doing all my tests, and he says he likes doing the sleeve on people, but can do the bypass.

I am now trying to do further research. I am still leaning towards the bypass. But I was hoping to get some experiences from people who had the bypass.

My surgeon was warning me about ulcers being the biggest issue. While those come up in the research, they aren't usually on the cons list, so I was wondering how common have ulcers been with people who have had a bypass?

Why did you pick the bypass over the sleeve?

Thank you!

When I had surgery the only two options my surgeon offered were bypass and lap band. I was a definite no on the lap band and I decided to research other surgeons who actually did more than just those two surgeries. In researching the sleeve the number of people who had ulcers or heartburn that worsened after the surgery was alarming. I myself had heartburn and did not want it to get worse, even if the chance was small. The two main reasons I chose the gastric bypass was the longterm success rate and the goal of resolving gerd. In recent years sleeve patients have been the ones *****quire a revision due to worsened gerd or lack of weight loss/regain. This data was shared with me when my daughter decided to have surgery and she was looking at the sleeve. The dr. told us that they are seeing sleeve patients back in their office for a revision within about 3-4 yrs of original surgery due to those reasons.

I have lost over 140 lbs and kept it off since I hit my goal weight in 2011. I don't have any heartburn and I follow a low carb diet that consists of lean meats, vegetables, and fruit (low sugar) in moderation. I dump if I eat anything that has sugar - fats will still make me dump as well. If I had to choose again over any of the procedures, hands down, I would choose bypass.

Thank you so much for answering Kellet. And with research. I have been finding similar outcomes with the sleeve, which is why I have been leaning towards the Bypass. I spoke to my surgeon for the first time the other day, and got the impression that he prefers the sleeve because it is easier (only a 20 minute surgery vs. hour plus for bypass), not based on my personal information. He also wouldn't actually give me a straight up answer as to why he recommends the sleeve for me, besides that's the one he mainly does (he also does the bypass though). So I just wanted to find out more on my own, and make my own decision. Thank you again for the info!

MandyMac, it is great you are doing your own research. Several years ago, surgeons did in fact recommend the procedure best suited for you based on comorbidities and such. Now I think most of them just do what they feel is the "money maker" Don't get me wrong, there are still surgeons out there who do the right thing by going for the one that is best suited but you have to have done the research to know this. I think you are on the right path!!

I chose bypass for a couple of reasons:

1) I had GERD prior to surgery. They'll usually recommend GERD sufferers go with bypass since the sleeve can make that worse (not everyone - it's around 30%, as I recall - but I felt that was too big a risk for me to take). Bypass will often (but not always) improve if not outright cure GERD.

2) when I had my surgery six years ago, the sleeve was still kind of new (at least as a standalone surgery. It's been phase 1 of the DS for a number of years). It was just becoming popular and didn't have nearly as much research behind it as RNY did. I was a little afraid of it becoming "Lapband 2", although at this point it's been around long enough and is done often enough that I don't think I'd have that same concern. However, I'd still probably go with RNY if I had to make the decision today because of the GERD issue.

they're both good surgeries, though, and you'll find several success stories on here for both (and on the flipside, you'll also find failures for both - and a lot of people who are somewhere in the middle). I think your success really depends a lot more on how committed you are rather than which surgery you go with. I know a lot of surgeons like the sleeve because it's quicker and easier to do, but in my case I'd still want the RNY.

P.S. we do read about ulcers on here occasionally, but I don't see posts on those a lot. I know it happens to some people, but I'm not sure how common they are. They can usually treat those medically, though (usually a PPI and/or carafate)

Thank you for replying and telling me your reasons for choosing. I appreciate hearing experiences. And as per the "surgeons like the sleeve because it's quicker and easier to do", that is the impression I got from my surgeon as for why he recommends the sleeve. Which I didn't appreciate. I thought he would base it on my personal needs, due to my health information, not because its "quick and easy". Which is why I'm doing my own research, because he said in the end (reluctantly) it is my decision. :)

Also good to know about the ulcers!

Too many revisions on the sleeve for me. If you have EVER had heartburn get the RNY