Interested in VSG, but scared to do it so young.

There is a LOT of research on VSG, enough for most surgeons to consider it safe. The only major side-effect being seen is GERD; if you have any acid problems at all right now, you're better off having the RNY.

If you're paying out of pocket, you may want to consider having your surgery in Mexico, as the out-of-pocket costs are apparently much lower. There's a sub-forum here for surgery in Mexico, check it out and see if that might be an option.

I don't have acid problems (although unfortunately it runs in the family) but hopefully that'd be alright. As for Mexico, my parents absolutely refuse to let me do it there because they're scared it's sub-par medical care. I wanted to do that, but they're against it so it's out of the question. Thank you for the recommendation, though!

Looking at your profile, your BMI is 50 so if you are 5'7" tall, you would weigh 318 and 159 would give you a BMI in the healthy range. Meaning you need to lose 159 pounds (half your weight) to get to a healthy range. You know you are not likely to do that without surgery.

I think as others have said, you need to seek therapy in addition to getting weight loss surgery. Surgery is not magic. It will be fairly easy for the first year- the surgery will do most of the work. You MUST develop good healthy habits that will stick with you for a lifetime to have a chance to keep the weight off. Too many people have surgery and gain a lot of weight back. I think that is much more of a danger with young people who think they know everything.

You have your whole life ahead of you. Good luck!!

Thank you for your reply! I'm actually even shorter at about 5'5", so I'd have to be 149 to get into healthy range, and at 290 currently I'd have to lose 141 (ooh boy, got myself 18 pounds back from that estimate!) which is very, VERY unlikely without surgery. It may not even be highly likely with surgery, but I don't think that alone I could lose anywhere near as much as I could with a VSG.

I definitely am scared of the fact that I have (hopefully) 70 or more years ahead of me and this is something that is permanent, and that I'll relapse and go back to old habits. I hope that when I actually see results and get used to the diet and exercise that it becomes routine, and becomes the new normal, but it's definitely hard to erase the 20 years of eating whatever the hell I want. Therapy will definitely be crucial, and I will 100% seek it out (starting with my first appointment tomorrow).

Thank you again for your reply, and congrats on your success!