CandieHearts
My VSG Decision
Jan 20, 2013
I have wanted to post this for a while and completely forgot and was reminded again when I got another email about why I did my VSG. I think it’s pretty accurate and I would still make the same decision to do it again.
Everyone wants to go to Heaven, No One wants to die.
When I was trying to decide if I should go through with the decision to have wls, someone said that too me and it just clicked and made sense. I know this can be a scary and nerve wrecking time when your trying to decide whats the best to do for you. To be honest coming to this site, asking for help and seeing myself as one of “those” people that needed WLS was very hard for me to come to terms with. I never felt like my weight was an issue until about last year when my doctor said that I should find out if I can Lap-Band. So I got a surgeon and asked him about it and he said that with my BMI at nearly 50 that many people with that high BMI don’t have as much success as with the VSG, which I never heard about until that appointment. So I started some research and choose the option with the least invasiveness and issues. I believe you lose weight a lot faster, which can cause really saggy skin afterwards as well, they all do, but I think if you lose it a little slower and build muscle hopefully it wont be as bad?? LoL I was told to expect to loose 2-3lbs per week where the RNY & Bypass is 3-5lbs per week. Honestly the 2-3lbs is working for me.
At first I thought this would be best because it wasn’t like losing my stomach forever or Re-doing my entire gastric system, but thinking about it, I would have to do the surgery again if I had the band removed. I decided against lap band because I read the lap band forum and started seeing so many people that had lap band and had issues with the banding, and having them removed and end up having anther procedure or having band issues being too tight or not tight enough as well as the weekly visits to my surgeon which is an hour away, which is too time consuming for my schedule. People have had stomach lining scaring and some ended up just having it removed
The Bypass and the RNY are mal absorptive surgeries meaning that food bypasses your intestine and you risk missing out on natural food vitamins and I am sure you have to take vitamins for the rest of your life.
The VSG freaked me out thinking I was taking out a part of my stomach out forever but it didn’t seem as invasive as doing a whole reconstruction of your gastro track, like the RNY and Bypass, also VSG had less instances of dumping, which is more frequent in RNY and bypass patients. RNY and Bypass have faster weight loss though so it really depends on you and your health, how fast you need to lose and how much you need to lose.
It’s been about 3 months since I have had the surgery and I am losing weight normally. My surgery went better than I expected, I didn’t need to have a JP Drain I was up walking the within 5 hours after being out of surgery. I will tell you, that it was not the easiest thing for 3 days after surgery, but that morphine drip was my best friend I don’t think I let it go the entire time I was there. You’re supposed to fast before surgery so I didn’t get anything to eat or drink for over 24 hours until after they do what’s called a leak test. Where they have you drink this liquid that’s so nasty tasting so they can see if your insides are working like they should. I didn’t have a whole lot of nausea afterwards. At about 2 weeks I was pretty much back on my feet, driving, shopping out and about whatever. Stomach wise I was still drinking shakes and on pureed foods, Now that I am 3 months out, looking back it was a small blip in time to heal for only 2 weeks. Three months out Its hard to remember that I am a bariatric patient, lol Just remember that this is a life decision, they fixed my body not my head. So I still struggle with cravings and I don’t follow the recommended diet to a hard core, but I am human. I do listen to my body, and I am careful what I eat and not to over eat and I work out 4-5 times a week now, and I am happy, my old clothes fit, everyone is seeing that I have dropped 75lbs and It was one of the best decisions I ever made and I would do it again.
Good Luck with your decision, Keep In Touch!! I would like to know what you decide and if you ever need any advice or support I’m just an email away.
Andie
