Men who've had a VSG
Hey Fellas-
So ive been an OH member for a bit and i just stumbled upon the mens forum.... This is fantastic news!!!! Best kept secret on OH!!!
Anyhow, im working on convincing my girlfriend and parents that having a WLS is right for me. After much research im leaning towards a VSG. Im 28, am about 6'4" and weigh about 390. I started out looking at lap band, then my doc advised me to look at DS, now after doing the research ive settled on VSG. I would like to get down to the 240-260lbs range, it seem like a VSG would provide me with ample control to loose weight, while getting a procedure thats less complicated and minimally invasive.
I am looking for any suggestions from guys who have been in my same position and have had a VSG. My girlfriend/eventual wife to be is a nurse and refuses to let me get surgery out of country so i think im going to try and get my procedure from Dr. Mark Pleatman in the Detroit area. He seems to offer the best self pay price o've found to date ($11,300 not including travel and hotel) and gets good reviews from other patients.
Anyone else out there used Dr Pleatman???? Anyone out there find a Better self pay price in the USA???? And also is there anyone here that has had a VSG that wishes that they hadn't???
Alright guys thanks for the input...
Ryan
So ive been an OH member for a bit and i just stumbled upon the mens forum.... This is fantastic news!!!! Best kept secret on OH!!!
Anyhow, im working on convincing my girlfriend and parents that having a WLS is right for me. After much research im leaning towards a VSG. Im 28, am about 6'4" and weigh about 390. I started out looking at lap band, then my doc advised me to look at DS, now after doing the research ive settled on VSG. I would like to get down to the 240-260lbs range, it seem like a VSG would provide me with ample control to loose weight, while getting a procedure thats less complicated and minimally invasive.
I am looking for any suggestions from guys who have been in my same position and have had a VSG. My girlfriend/eventual wife to be is a nurse and refuses to let me get surgery out of country so i think im going to try and get my procedure from Dr. Mark Pleatman in the Detroit area. He seems to offer the best self pay price o've found to date ($11,300 not including travel and hotel) and gets good reviews from other patients.
Anyone else out there used Dr Pleatman???? Anyone out there find a Better self pay price in the USA???? And also is there anyone here that has had a VSG that wishes that they hadn't???
Alright guys thanks for the input...
Ryan
Ryan,
I chose the VSG because it is permanent...and generally as in my case only one surgery is required. I do not need the second stage. ...I think pretty much people are reaching their goals with just the VSG. Of course my insurance would only pay for an RNY....ah, no thanks...or the band, possibly, yeah...and have another surgery later to revise?? NO! For me the VSG was the answer. It did not take much time to get the weight off. All but 25 lbs was off in 13 months. I eat pretty healthy diet, just smaller portions. I am off all of my meds with the exception of Prevacid 1x daily. My blood work just came in last week, and ALL levels were in the normal range. Talk with your surgeon, he can best advise you of the correct procedure for you. Bottom line, any WLS is better than staying obese.
Good luck,
Kent
373 Highest weight
357 Surgery weight
180 Current weight
I chose the VSG because it is permanent...and generally as in my case only one surgery is required. I do not need the second stage. ...I think pretty much people are reaching their goals with just the VSG. Of course my insurance would only pay for an RNY....ah, no thanks...or the band, possibly, yeah...and have another surgery later to revise?? NO! For me the VSG was the answer. It did not take much time to get the weight off. All but 25 lbs was off in 13 months. I eat pretty healthy diet, just smaller portions. I am off all of my meds with the exception of Prevacid 1x daily. My blood work just came in last week, and ALL levels were in the normal range. Talk with your surgeon, he can best advise you of the correct procedure for you. Bottom line, any WLS is better than staying obese.
Good luck,
Kent
373 Highest weight
357 Surgery weight
180 Current weight
Sure, here goes-
Most every guy i have spoke with says that the DS was a great move for them, as well as most every guy with a VSG says the same thing with really similar results.
To me the DS seemed a little more drastic of a move than i want to make. My doc and i both feel that it isnt necessary for me to loose as much weight as some because i have almost no comorbidities at this point, unless you count mild weight related depression and trouble fitting on airplanes and in foreign cars LOL. I have a hugh bone stature like a NFL lineman. No matter how much weight i loose, i will still have wide shoulders, long legs, etc.
It seems like a DS might cause me to loose more weight than i want to, if that makes sense. at almost 6'4" 400 right now, i would be perfectly content weighing 230-250 as i have a lot of muscle mass under my extra layers. Most guys i talked to, even taller guys with a DS ended up under 200lbs because they kept loosing even after they had wished they would have "stalled out". With the changes in nutrient absorbtion you can never predict how your body will react. If i weighed under 220, Id look like a skeleton!!!
Also i just dont want to run the risk of having nutrient absorbtion issues, Bathroom issues, and the much longer adjustment and recovery period. I figure that if i really need to i can always have the intestinal rerouting later on, as the VSG is really the same as the first stage of a DS. That and of courst the almighty dollar!! A VSG is about $6-10k less than a DS
I hope i expained myself well, without being too wordy, Have you had a rough recovery or any major side effects??
Ryan
Well there is something to be said about malabsorbtion, it keeps the weight off long term. From what i've seen of restriction only surgeries (going back to the first bands) the long term results show that only about 30 percent of people are successful with restriction only. We can all argue that the bands today aren't the same or the VSG is "different" but the bottom line is this....if you are fat, and have been fat for most of your life, it's not due to a medical issue, it's due to an eating disorder. You are eating either because you have a ****** up relationship with food, or your metabolism is so screwed that you get hungry when you shouldn't be hungry.
Even with the proxmial RNY (which has limited restriction) after 2 years, the restriction lessens and it becomes much much more difficult to keep the weight off. The same is true with the VSG, after 2 years you basically will be able to eat normal sized meals, albeit smaller ones that you can eat now. Nothing will stop you from snacking in between meals, nothing will stop you from drinking soda, or other sugary drinks...so you'll basically be on a diet for the rest of your life. IF you can't do that now, will you be able to do it for the rest of your life?
I know, I know....the VSG reduces the amount of ghrelin in your body and that's the hunger hormone, so you won't want to eat as much.....well i'm here to tell you BULL **** DSers have the VSG as a stomach, and almost every single DSer I know 2 plus years out, gets hungry. Granted you have a few that do not, but for the most part hunger returns. Is the hunger the same as it was preop, in some ways but it's not gone. Plus again, the VSG doesn't do anythign to protect you from your own bad eating habits, which many times return post op.
Now am i saying get the DS, no....but i wouldn't be so quick to disregard malabsorbtion as evil. Plus the amount of malabsorbtion can be tailored, most DSers have 75 to 150 cm common channel, but some surgeons make their patients common channels over 200 cm. Again, the beauty of having a surgery tailored to your needs. (FYI as for cost Dr. Gagner in Miami is doing the DS for 18K total including hospital stay, he's a transplant from NYC and is one of hte best surgeons in the country).
As for recovery, sure the DS recovery is a bit longer, and the adjustment takes a bit longer, but whats an extra couple of months in the light of the rest of your life.
With all that said, if I had been a light weight (under 100 lbs to lose), who didn't have a long term weight problem, I would have opted for the VSG. Since I was a super big fat ass (492 lbs) and always was fat ass, and didn't want to be a fat ass again after weight loss surgery...because losing weight and the regaining it would certainly suck.......I opted for the DS. I am now 190 lbs, which is perfect for someone who is 6'1'' and has a small bone structure. I don't look like a skeleton.
Scott
Even with the proxmial RNY (which has limited restriction) after 2 years, the restriction lessens and it becomes much much more difficult to keep the weight off. The same is true with the VSG, after 2 years you basically will be able to eat normal sized meals, albeit smaller ones that you can eat now. Nothing will stop you from snacking in between meals, nothing will stop you from drinking soda, or other sugary drinks...so you'll basically be on a diet for the rest of your life. IF you can't do that now, will you be able to do it for the rest of your life?
I know, I know....the VSG reduces the amount of ghrelin in your body and that's the hunger hormone, so you won't want to eat as much.....well i'm here to tell you BULL **** DSers have the VSG as a stomach, and almost every single DSer I know 2 plus years out, gets hungry. Granted you have a few that do not, but for the most part hunger returns. Is the hunger the same as it was preop, in some ways but it's not gone. Plus again, the VSG doesn't do anythign to protect you from your own bad eating habits, which many times return post op.
Now am i saying get the DS, no....but i wouldn't be so quick to disregard malabsorbtion as evil. Plus the amount of malabsorbtion can be tailored, most DSers have 75 to 150 cm common channel, but some surgeons make their patients common channels over 200 cm. Again, the beauty of having a surgery tailored to your needs. (FYI as for cost Dr. Gagner in Miami is doing the DS for 18K total including hospital stay, he's a transplant from NYC and is one of hte best surgeons in the country).
As for recovery, sure the DS recovery is a bit longer, and the adjustment takes a bit longer, but whats an extra couple of months in the light of the rest of your life.
With all that said, if I had been a light weight (under 100 lbs to lose), who didn't have a long term weight problem, I would have opted for the VSG. Since I was a super big fat ass (492 lbs) and always was fat ass, and didn't want to be a fat ass again after weight loss surgery...because losing weight and the regaining it would certainly suck.......I opted for the DS. I am now 190 lbs, which is perfect for someone who is 6'1'' and has a small bone structure. I don't look like a skeleton.
Scott
hey ken, thanks for sharing, it looks like we are about the same size, wieght wise at highest weight, so you lost about 145lbs in the first 13 months???? the diet i can deal with, but like everyone else i have a busy life, and not much time for excercise... which is partially why im here to begin with... he he he. Did you excercise much during that 13 months??
HI I had my VSG done 2-1-08 I am 6'2' use to weigh 395 now I weigh 250. I love my sleeve. I too looked into the Lap-Band but the more found there was no way in hell I was going to have that. I did not want to be married to a doctor for the rest of my life going in for fills or taking out a fill, worry about slippage, worry abut it growning into you there was no way Lap-Band was for me. Found out about VSG where you snip it and forget it. That what I was looking for. No malnutrition like with DS or bypass, no rearranging intestines, the sleeve was it. You can eat food and not worry about if you are going to dump from it. Go and read the VSG board lots of good info there.
There is nothing wrong going out of this country to have it done. The place I went was great. You can hear horror stories from any hospital in this world there is not one that doesn't have one.
Any questions feel free to pm me.
There is nothing wrong going out of this country to have it done. The place I went was great. You can hear horror stories from any hospital in this world there is not one that doesn't have one.
Any questions feel free to pm me.
I decided to go with a VSG as well. Self-pay around here there was no way I was going to be able to do it in the time I wanted to. Plus I did a lot of reading around forums for people that went to a couple places in Mexico and had phenomenal service. With surgery and flying first class to and from it will cost me around 10k. The quote you seem to have doesn't sound to bad, but I would spend the extra time researching the doctor and talking to people that have gone to him.
I would have liked to use a local surgeon mostly cause of aftercare support. I'm not entirely sure what I need to do when I get done. I'm going to visit my PCP next week and see what suggestions they have.
One plus with the VSG is that it can be revised to a DS if need be. Hopefully mine wont come to that. I'm about the same as you but 5 inches shorter. Around 400lbs want to get around 250 maintain. If i go below, yay, if not, perfect. Who knows what is in store. I just can't freaking wait to be more active!
I would have liked to use a local surgeon mostly cause of aftercare support. I'm not entirely sure what I need to do when I get done. I'm going to visit my PCP next week and see what suggestions they have.
One plus with the VSG is that it can be revised to a DS if need be. Hopefully mine wont come to that. I'm about the same as you but 5 inches shorter. Around 400lbs want to get around 250 maintain. If i go below, yay, if not, perfect. Who knows what is in store. I just can't freaking wait to be more active!
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