Questions for VSG!

Wondering what you decided? I too had Geri from lap and...horrible took dexilant twice a day,however, band removed healed for three months no Geri...had sleeve done in September n no herd,heartburn etc at all...so I am happy I did the sleeve...it worked for me. ? Your dr would be the one to have suggested what he thinks would best suit you...go with your gut feeling...if you want the big n he is ok with it I wouldn't be afraid to do it. Let me know what you decide n how it goes.

I will let you know what I decide after talking to the doctor.

Thanks for the advice.

Cleveland Clinic lists GERD and as a contraindication for the VSG. They will do the RNY instead as it cures the issue.

I had severe GERD for 25 years. RNY cured it. I LOVE my RNY. I don't understand why you fear having RNY. If you keep up with your lab work and take your vitamins there is no problem. All surgeries require you to eat properly after surgery. Only 30% of RNY patients dump. We are ALL supposed to eat as if we would dump and avoid simple carbs and sugar... even VSG patients. The food plans are the same with both surgeries, high protein, low carb, small portions. Both surgeries recommend that you avoid taking NSAIDs. The actual amount of weight lost is comparable between the surgeries. You can get complications with any of the surgeries.

Taking Omeprozole (or any PPI acid reducer) for the rest of your life can deplete your magnesium levels and cause premature bone loss. If you are taking increased doses of a PPI, you should have more frequent DEXA scans and increase your magnesium supplementation. Osteoperosis is a real problem with long term PPI consumption. I was on very high doses for a long time (before my RNY cured my GERD) and did not know about the magnesuim depletion. I now have Osteopenia and significant bone loss in my left hip.

Edited to add: You should spend some time reading back posts on the revisions board. There are many folks who have had VSG and revised to RNY because the GERD became impossible to control with meds. I would have the surgery that is known to cure the problem of GERD rather than risk having to get two surgeries.... and remember... most insurance will only cover one WLS per lifetime.

Thanks for the advice. I have never been treated for GERD or acid reflex I was very surprised they said I do. The only time heartburn acts up on me is when I overeat. So hopefully after surgery will get better.

Thank you for the information. I will look into more on the RNY. I think the reason of not wanting that WLS was from friends that had it done. The side effects they had.

But I do trust my dr. So will do the one she thinks is best for me.

I find it amusing that people become so set against RNY. They look at diagrams of your stomach and intestine and decide it's too radical. Is a VSG with a staple line 15 inches long any less radical?

If you got RNY instead of VSG, you'd never, ever be able to tell the difference. People that have the two surgeries feel exactly the same afterward, eat the same, live the same. The requirements for vitamins and supplements, labwork, etc, are all the same. The warning against NSAIDS is now the same. The surgical risks and outcomes are pretty much indistinguishable. Making a decision based on a diagram and silly anecdotes just seems absurd to me.

One of the valid reasons for choosing which surgery is GERD. People get accustomed to it, just like we got accustomed to living morbidly obese. But it really isn't a minor thing. Reflux is a major cause of esophogeal cancer. Having to face the possibility of developing lifelong reflux and taking meds every day was a deal-breaker for me. One of the reasons I had this surgery was to get away from the damn meds.

I met two people in the support groups I attended before surgery that had VSG and developed horrible reflux after. Both said they were advised to get RNY, but stuck with the sleeve. Both ended up revising to RNY because of reflux. It disappeared for both right after the revision, and they were both beyond ecstatic.

There was no way I was going to risk two surgeries. I wanted it done once, for good, and be done with it. It didn't matter if I didn't like the looks of the RNY diagram.

I was going to respond that esophageal cancer is incredibly serious, so I'm glad you brought it up, Grim.

OP, GERD might seem like a minor inconvenience, but you really need to get more information. I believe the five year survival rate for those diagnosed with esophageal cancer is around 40%. I, too, wanted a VSG, but my surgeon was reputable and refused to perform it on me based on my history of GERD.

You were unclear as to why you are so deadset against RNY. Keep in mind that, yes, some people can manage their GERD with a PPI, but long term use of PPIs also have consequences. For many folks, RNY eliminates GERD and the use of a PPI. Seems like a win win to me.

Thank you for your response Jen. After talking to a few people on the RNY site they have me convinced that it is not as bad as a few of my friends made it sound. I am still waiting to meet up with dr. I am hoping she will agree with the RYN. I did not even know that I had GERD till my endescopy.

Will keeping you posted on what dr.. says.

Thanks again .

I agree Grim with almost all of your points made-

-Rny is more invasive than Vsg, but I get your gist that both are "radical" so perhaps that is a mute point.

-Many of the sleeve patients do resolve their Gerd during the procedure due to a hiatel hernia being repaired (this was the case with me_

-It unfortunately did use to be that a doc would say Nsaids was Ok with Vsg. Not true like you mentioned- my use of Nsaids in an attempt to salvage a revision surgury by reducing the inflammation that was promoting the scarring problem did crap to help with scarring but did trigger stomach/acid issues. If folks are reading this thread and had your doc say Nsaids are Ok with Vsg, in my personal experience it is not worth it!

-Rny and Vsg folks cannot eat the same way. My brother in law is a Rny patient, and we have clear differences in some of the food that I can eat and he can't due directly to the variance in our surgeries. One could certianly argue, however, that he is better off because the crap on my list that is not on his amounts to food that we shouldn't eat. Pasta, sweets, are the two he misses the most. He also struggles with higher fat food, and his biggest issue is food getting stuck. No idea why that is an issue for him as I am not well versed in the anatomical differences between the surgeries.

I do like your point (a lot) that a Gerd patient going Vsg may need a revision to Rny. I didn't look at it that way prior to surgury, but that should be a factor to consider. One simply cannot assume that the Gerd will improve, but may be better off assuming it may get worse via Vsg.