Doctor Told Me I Wouldn't Be Happy With a Sleeve

If a surgeon is that adamant about the sleeve "not working" I wonder two things: 1) maybe he's not very good at creating sleeves and says this to scare patients away from it, ORd 2) the practice has a crappy program and lousy follow-up so patients are set up for failure.  

Either way I would be looking for another surgeon who has vast experience with sleeves and has patients with good success rates.  

my hobby and i have both lost over 100 lbs.   5 of my surgeon's patients got together once and figured out together we had lost 800 lbs!!  no my surgeon never told me such a thing and he helped me understand the choices.   If you feel like the sleeve is right for you, find another surgeon.  this one is not comfortable with the sleeve so find someone who is.   In the 5 years since i did this, i have been totally glad for it, never a regret, and I have seem zillions of people on this forum feel the same.   take your time and choose wisely.  good luck.  diane

I wish that the surgeon I chose did tell me that before the surgery...i had mine 11 days ago and I'm not too happy, I have no problem whatsoever and that is great ! how ever the restriction part and the appetite reducer is not there as it was suppose to for the simple reason that my new stomach isn't small enough..sooo your doctor may be right ! think of it and seek for a second opinion if you can 

Give it time, you're only 11 days out, nerves have been cut, you're probably still going thru the stages. You won't feel any kind of restriction right now, so you have to stay on plan. Believe me once you're healed up & onto dense protein, you'll feel that restriction big time! Also r u on a ppi? Acid mimics hunger.

Hello 1lastime, thanks for your post ! Yes I do take ppi as right after my surgery I had another upper GI due to an unstoppable taste to vomit ( sorry for saying ) my surgeon found an ulcer in the new line and did fix it by pulling a bit the staples on the ulcer, does that change the appetite impression ? I can tell since then that I have been feeling super good ! like no pain and no hurtburn at all, same for you guys ? 

I experienced this too. Remember that your vagus nerve is cut and not working right now- this is what sends you the full signal. Be sure to measure so you don't over do it since you cannot "tell" at the moment when you have enough. Like others mentioned, once you get to dense protein believe me you will know. I had myself convinced at the 2-3 week point that my sleeve was just not working as described, but even with my larger lossly sewn sleeve I have loads of restriction and cannot put much down at one time at all even a few years out. Hang in there!

I was your exact weight at consult. Then lost a little with the pre-surgery diet. I was 343 day of surgery. I am 220 now. So I have lost 123 with the sleeve and that was without doing my best. I could have lost even more if I had been more focused. My surgeon told me it depends on the person's determination. The surgery is only a tool. YOU have to do the work it can't do it all on its own even though in the beginning you will lose weight regardless. 

I do not regret my sleeve...that being said I sometimes think that I would have lost more and done better with gastric bypass...but that's just ME. I think this surgery is an awesome tool. Just make sure you realize that's what it is and if you know that and you follow the plan...then you will do great. Go with what YOU want because ultimately you are the one that will be living with it daily and no matter what surgery you have it will take work and changing your lifestyle completely. 

Thank you - you have given me some things to think about.  I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

"He said a year from now, I will be upset because I will only lose around 60-70 lbs. with the sleeve, and I will come to him for another surgery because I will still be obese."

Sounds like a bully to me. I'd find another surgeon. My dr informed me that typically vsg patients could expect to lose 60% of their excess weight. At 6 months, next week, I've just past that point. I've lost 64 lbs since surgery (95 lbs in total) and I'd like to lose another 20-28 lbs (still haven't set a goal weight). I know I've got a ways to go, but now I know this can happen.

This has been said many times but find another surgeon. I have lost 257lbs in 10 months and still losing. At full max potential I should have only been down to 303lbs but I have shot past that. It does work, it is probably HIS does not work.