Gastric Sleeve

Hi everyone, Im 28 years old and preparing to get the gastric sleeve surgery. If anyone out there has had it I would like to talk to you about what to expect. Thank you

I hate to sound stupid....but what is a gastric sleeve?

It is where the doctor removed a good portion of the stomach without changing anything with the intestines like they do with the bypass. That's it in a nutshell

There is a vertical gastric sleeve forum here on OH and I am sure you would get loads of information there. I had the DS and the vertical gastric sleeve is the stomach portion of the surgery. The DS has been done in two parts for the ssmo for a long time -- with the sleeve being the first part. Then when the person had lost some weight and surgery would be less risky they would go in and do the intestinal portion of the DS. It has not been all that long that the gastric sleeve has been done as a stand alone procedure so there are no long term studies on maintaining the weight loss. It is a good procedure in that you retain your pyloric valve and there are no man made stomas or other connections. One of the great things about the procedure is that the portion of the stomach that is removed (the outer curvature) is where most of the gherlin is produced. Gherlin is the hormone (or is it an enzyme?) that produces hunger. Of course you will be eating less because you will have a tiny stomach -- but you will also not be as hungry. Red

Wow that is some great information. Thanks very much. I just got my date today. May 2nd, and I excited and nervous at the same time. Thanks for the information

Amanda- Good luck. I hope your surgery is successful and that you have an easy recovery. Red

Dang, Red! Couldn't have said it better. You rock!! Yes, grehlin is a hormone. Kristen

My friend had it last October and is doing well. She couldn't decide between the RNY and the sleeve and recently told me she's happy with her choice. Several people in our hospital's support group have had it too, it's getting real popular. LIke the other poster said, check out the forum for the sleeve, that should help a lot too! Good luck to you! PS - I had a complication immediately after my RNY relating to the "old" part of the stomach getting clogged,and I ended up back in surgery. Hindsight being 20/20, if I would have had the sleeve that wouldn't have happened as the "old" stomach is removed and of course there is no re-routing of stuff. In any case, I'm fine and have been at goal for a few months now, but it's something to consider if you're looking for a little less chance of complications! Take care now and good luck to you!

Sorry to hear about your complication and I'm glad it worked out. That must have been so scary for you. Yeah I hear the sleeve is just a whole lot less drastic and with my BMI being just under 40, bypass was not an option. When did you have the bypass? How much weight have you lost so far?