Why Sleeve?

Thanks Melody2. Your post was informative and comforting at the same time. The slow weight loss, port, slippage and unavoidable need for another surgery is why I ruled the band out early on. Food quality of quantity has always been a challenge for me. I'm hoping this surgery will be just the tool I need to succeed this time around. Best wishes on your journey!!

im pre op went for my endoscope yesterday  and after talked to the dr (gastroenteritis) about the sleeve and he said that the newest findings are that the sleeve is working better than the rny , because most people have little or no hunger after it ,and he see's a lot more patients with problems after rny than with the sleeve ( my surgeon sends all his patients to this doctor foe there endoscope)

 I also did not want dumping or reactive hypoglycemia, I have bad knees and need to take nsaids which you can't take with rny 

also all the doctors I have seen say that the sleeve is a much safer surgery 

Hi MikeyMantle,

Thanks for the support! Best wishes on your journey. I'll be right here rooting for you!

Question: Were you awake for the endoscopy? I'm not sure I can tolerate that. I have a super bad gag reflex. Uh oh...

I had an endoscopy done about 3 weeks ago. They put me in a conscious sedation. I was in and out of it. Sometimes they spray throat numbing stuff in your mouth too. I didn't feel a thing tho.

Great. At least I know if I have to have that it won't be so bad. I'll be glad when I have a surgery date already.

I originally thought I'd get the lapband, but after research, decided that was not the best choice for me. RnY -that is what most of the people I know from our little town we previously lived in, had done. I'd guess friends and friends of friends, I know of about a dozen, all but a couple have regained, some not a lot, several have gained quite a bit back and one has even talked about getting 'Rose' surgery to 'tighten everything back up'. Here is a link that tells about it. http://www.palmyrasurgical.com/weight-loss-surgery-georgia/restorative-incisionless-obesity-surgery I was pretty sure I didn't want to do the bypass thing and after much research on VSG surgery, I knew if I was ever going to be successful, this would help me get there. Forced portion control, removal of all or at least a good part of the hunger hormone, little if any hunger afterwards. I am one of the lucky ones, at almost three years out, I still have no hunger, my 'new' hunger is an empty feeling, I can 'fill it' or I can ignore it if I need/want to. Having no hunger also makes it much easier to resist when I need or want to. I made the right choice for me. No regrets, not at all.

Hi Stacy,

Thanks for the link. I checked it out and once I realized exactly what the surgery is, I got scared. I know that the stomach can begin to stretch in either procedure. It just seems like if I know most of the stomach is gone, I'm limited to how much damage I could do. I don't plan on over eating again and stretching it though. I just always like to plan for the worse case scenario. I'm really excited about finally being able to control my hunger.

i had  semi out for the test , don't remember much of it but I decided to get a colonoscopy at the same time , firgired getting a sleeve would be a waste if I died of colon cancer , well everything came out ok, the prep was a ***** though

Well... I'm glad it was all worth it for you in the end!!

I actually just switched from bypass to sleeve last week. Initially, I felt the potential presence of dumping from RNY would help keep me on the straight and narrow, but i have pretty bad arthritis in one knee that the docs have said will inevitably need to be replaced in the future due to multiple surgeries. What if I couldn't take painkillers? I was also worried about reactive hypoglycemia which seems to be a really bad thing. It seemed that the potential for that was greater with RNY than sleeve. After talking to doc, he recommended the switch, saying I would be much less likely to be back in his office in 5 years complaining about low blood sugars.

Good luck!