Hi Kellie!

Welcome to the NS board! You may not find many people on here with the DS as it's not performed in NS. I did meet one lady who had it done as her revision and last I heard she is doing very well. Right now NS is only doing the sleeve, but there are a lot of people who have had the bypass in the past or self-pay out of province.

Myself, I just had the sleeve as a revision from my old procedure of stomach stapling 20 yrs ago and am doing really well so far. I can't answer your question as to which one is better but I will say if you have a choice to which surgery, it's best to really do your homework to see which surgery is more suited to your needs. Some people need the malabsorbtion on top of restriction to help lose their weight. There's really not one procedure that does all. We still have to work with whatever procedure we get.

If you're not looking to go out of province to self-pay, you really have no choice but to go with the sleeve and I can say some people have had amazing results so far!

Best of luck and again, glad to have you join us!!!!
By the way, I'm in Beaver Bank if you ever need to chat!

Coreena

I was trying to explain this to a non sleever how it feels with a sleeve.

I'm just getting good now into the soft food/mushie stage and wow, it feels good!  But then again I'm comparing how it used to feel with a pouch and band before, but I really do like how this feels.

I explained it like this:
Instead of taking 1 or 2 small bites and the food falling down into the pit of abyss (like a large holding tank of emptiness), it feels more like a massage of the stomach wall.  I'm chewing and not swallowing until the pieces are smaller than the eraser of a pencil (that's how I had to before with the band), so it's not large chunks, but because of the swelling I can feel it go through until it hits bottom and then each piece adds up.  I am so aware of how it feels because I'm comparing and and listening/paying attention to what's happening.

So if my stomach is completely empty and then I eat, after the 1st or 2nd swallow the empty ache/gurgle is gone.  From there on in, I don't feel "starved" to push the food in quick and can take my time eating my meal.   Usually about 20+ min to eat a meal.  And I stop when I get my full signal (burp, hiccup or feel heaviness).  So far, so good.  Only had slight nausea the first couple times but that was just my stomach getting used to food again and went away within 5 minutes.

I know I may not feel the "massage" as much when the swelling goes down, but it does feel good to feel 1 or 2 bites filling up the sleeve instead of just floating in the abyss! 

Would you describe your sleeve sensation quite like this? 

 Hey Susan, 

OMG you must be getting so excited though!  After this long wait, you will finally begin a new life.  I am sure everything is going to be great!  And of course I wish nothing but the best for you!  Please make sure to tell us how this Thursday went okay? 

Thanks so much, 

Chris

 

 Thanks, yeah it's a lot of work to get organized and I am 100% committed to it all.  

Thanks so much for your support, it means more than you know!

Chris :)
 

Sounds like you are doing everything right

And the next step of the journey begins.

Very exciting! Best of luck