Sleeve vs Rny

 Hi I am weighing out the pros and cons of sleeve vs Rny. For those of you who have a sleeve -why did you choose that surgery vs the Rny?  What do you say to the lack of research long term on the sleeve?
Thank you to any comments you may have

P

Hi there
I had an RNY with Dr Karmali actually and it was the best decision I have ever made. The lack of long term research on the VSG really turned me off of it.

In the Calgary program we are only given the option between the lap-band of the gastic sleeve.
I was hoping that we would have the option for the RNY, but since I was not, if given the approval for surgery I will be hoping for the sleeve.

There is lots of research when it comes to the sleeve but some people just don't realize it. The sleeve has been around in Europe since the 1970's, it is the first part of the procedure call a Duodenal switch. It was used as a stomach re sectioning to help the patients lose weight that were morbidly obese and then they would resection the bowel in a second part surgery later down the road. Usually these patients would weight in as heavy weights. It is still being used all around the world but here in Canada doctors have only specialized in the procedure for the past 5 or so years.
I have the sleeve and have done amazing with it. I have no malabsorption and if I had chosen the by-pass I would.  I did countless hours of research over the net and here on OH and in the end all statistics for me lean me towards the sleeve. The band in my own personal opinion is a joke. It is a hugh set up for failure. So many people have gone through the weight wise clinic that had the band done and had to go back and get revisions to either the sleeve or by-pass. I am hoping in the future to have children and I can do that with lower rise cause I have a sleeve.
In the end all I can say is do your research and do what's right for you.

Kee.

 Hi Keelan,
I see Birch in the near future and had the same question about the band vs. the sleeve. I also did lots of resear*****luding reading Sharma's blog for a few years now.
I am seeing too much in the way of negitive postings about the band.
Starting to think that I might regret a band and should go with a sleeve.
A friend with the RNY is suffering with malnutrian so that scares me a bit.
What was your surgical experience like? I assume there is an overnight stay with the sleeve? but not the band?
What is your biggest peice of advise to me considering the options? 
What is your advise about the post surgical adjustments?
like trying to eat toast and not drink? eek how do you get it down ?:)
Thanks for your response!

With the band you have an over night stay, usually see Dr. Birch or his intern the next morning. With the sleeve it's usually a 3 day process or longer if you have any complications. I stayed 5 days due to some post op vomiting. I'm a vomit-er and I pre-warned them and unfortunately I'm allergic to the post op nausea meds so that posed a problem for me. Had issues staying hydrated even with an i.v. due to vomiting.
My experience was good. I went into surgery with a smile on my face and woke up telling my cousin who was with me that I had no regrets and to date I still don't. I recovered at home by myself with was a little challenging but I managed. I slept a lot in the
first 2 weeks and when I wasn't sleeping I walked and sipped fluids.
When it comes to options please please do your research it's very important to know all the pros and cons with each procedure. You have to chose what will work with your life style and it does depend on the amount of weight you have to lose. At the clinic they will go over stats with you. Rny being the best procedure for those who have great amounts of weight to lose.
For adjusting you should be doing all the things the clinic recommends, give up pop, track all your meals and emotions. Rid your house of all your trigger foods.Start now with the habit of not having a drink with your meal. They tell you 30-60 minutes before and after a meal. My sleeve sometimes doesn't allow me to drink for a while longer depending on what I eat. It's a trial and error thing.Try to stay active for your physical and mental health. Buy tools like smaller plates, baby spoon and fork, these help lots after surgery when you have to eat slower and smaller portions. I never ate things like toast for the first maybe 6-8 months and when I started back I used the Weigh****cher style bread that is thin and smaller slices. It worked fine for me. I've been fortunate that most foods I try have been ok. Pork is probably the only one that bothers me and I didn't even try stea****il I was over a year out..
Good Luck on your journey.

 Thanks Keelan, very helpful. Funny you mentioned toast.. tried it without drinking (coffee) anthe peanut butter and toast did not want to go down. Funny I was envisioning dipping it in greek yogart to lubricate it for the trip down LOL. 
Good to know about the vomiting I wondered about that urge immediately after surgery and with future flu's. Thankfully I tolerate the anti-nausea drugs well.
So how long before you were back at work? 3 weeks?
Thanks again, hopefully one day get to meet you in the wating room :) Nice to see there are some more intellectual types in the (obese) crowd.

I was off work for 8 weeks after surgery but due to a family emergency my doctor extended my medical leave to cover that as well so I was off a total of 12 weeks. I worked in the health care field at the time so I was responsible for transfers and lifting so I got extra time off and to be honest I was glad. I didn't feel like myself for about 7 weeks and my energy was low due to the low calorie intake. Everyone is different but I say take as much time as you can take. Being a new sleeve patient come with a lot of new learning.
I'm pretty much discharged from the clinic now. Mostly phone follow ups. I've exceeded their expectations for weight loss and don't really need to be there anymore.

Kee.

 Thank you. Tell me about malabsorption and long term affects - aside from the obvious. I see the sleeve has also been done for years with cancer patients. Where did you come across the research in Europe?  I feel Dr Karmali did not pick one or the other for me but he did seem to lean toward the bypass - it is the gold star, lack of research on the sleeve...
Thanks for any help

When you have by pass they do reroute the bowels and the bowel are where you absorb the nutrients from your food therefore with the rerouting you don't tend to absorb all the nutrients from the food you eat which leads to malabsorption.
The sleeve as you have started has also been done for cancer patients. All my research was done here on the net and through OH, I corresponded with lots of people about their journeys and picked their brains. For myself there wasn't an option for by-pass. By the time I got approved for surgery I was considered a light weight and given the option of either sleeve or lap-band. In the end the doctor's will not choose your surgery but will suggest what they think may help long term, you have to make the ultimate decision.

Kee.