A Crossroads:The Sleeve or Roux and Y???
It appears that maintenance after VSG (only as I've read, as I'm no where near that stage) is much like maintenance in normies.. Control the amount of carbs you intake (#1), and overall- keep calories in a range for your own metabolism, and it appears fine. I see no one on the maintenance board eating celery sticks complaining about not being able to eat a varied, tasty, and "normal" meal with occasional treats..
Folks generally report their restriction is constant from about the 6-12mo maturation period onwards.. no huge stretching happening long term (if the sleeve was made correctly, more fundus left behind = larger full size later.
Exercise is great for fitness, but overall- it adds very little to weight loss or maintenance (unless you get to an athlete-level routine..) In fact, it generally ups the appetite as the body seeks balance, more output = calls for more input.
Folks generally report their restriction is constant from about the 6-12mo maturation period onwards.. no huge stretching happening long term (if the sleeve was made correctly, more fundus left behind = larger full size later.
Exercise is great for fitness, but overall- it adds very little to weight loss or maintenance (unless you get to an athlete-level routine..) In fact, it generally ups the appetite as the body seeks balance, more output = calls for more input.
Hmmmm. Ok, I'm ten weeks out from a DS. This weekend, I was at 2 very public, high interaction function. Lots of eating, etc etc.
Saturday, I ate roast beef, ceaser salad, fruit (cantaloupe, watermelon), salsa and corn tortillas chips, a couple of bites of wedding cake with a couple of tiny spoons of vanilla ice cream. Sunday, roast beef, cheese, about a third of of a really yummy tea biscuit with butter, more ceaser salad, fruit pieces, and then the buggers brought out home made oatmeal cookies, along with other deserts!!! Ya know what, I ate a cookie too. Found a small one, ate about half of it in little bites and gave my husband the other half. I munched on a bit more cheese later, and a couple more pieces of cantaloupe. I like being a grazer, suits my lifestyle.
Result: Driving home Sunday, (which took approx 35 minutes of country roads)... I had one noxious fart ... happened once I got home hours after I ingested the tea biscuit and cookie.
Seriously, I did worry about public functions before going into my DS, but I take my magnese/calcium and my proferrin and have zero issues with the potty.
Saturday, I ate roast beef, ceaser salad, fruit (cantaloupe, watermelon), salsa and corn tortillas chips, a couple of bites of wedding cake with a couple of tiny spoons of vanilla ice cream. Sunday, roast beef, cheese, about a third of of a really yummy tea biscuit with butter, more ceaser salad, fruit pieces, and then the buggers brought out home made oatmeal cookies, along with other deserts!!! Ya know what, I ate a cookie too. Found a small one, ate about half of it in little bites and gave my husband the other half. I munched on a bit more cheese later, and a couple more pieces of cantaloupe. I like being a grazer, suits my lifestyle.
Result: Driving home Sunday, (which took approx 35 minutes of country roads)... I had one noxious fart ... happened once I got home hours after I ingested the tea biscuit and cookie.
Seriously, I did worry about public functions before going into my DS, but I take my magnese/calcium and my proferrin and have zero issues with the potty.
My sister had an RNY and I think has been very happy with it. She has put some weight back on (maybe 20#) over the past 5 years but is currently maintaining.
I had the sleeve 2 yrs ago and am very happy with it. I eat what I want in terms of protein, fat and veggies. I love cheese in my veggie salads, mayo in my tuna salad. Don't do cream in my coffee because it tends to make me nauseaus. The only thing that gives me problems and seems to put weight on is carbs. I find that even fruit will do it, but not as fast as grain based carbs -- even brown rice and whole grain muffins give me trouble. They also make it incredibly difficult to stop :(
If I "cheat", it's usually with fruit -- which will stop weight loss in its tracks, but won't give me cravings for more.
One "con" I see to the sleeve is that the volume you can eat is limited -- which I don't consider a con. It's the reason I had the surgery. I was not only sick and tired of being fat, i was sick and tired of eating all the damn time. It was like I couldn't get anything in life done because I was always thinking about food, acquiring food, eating food and planning for my next feed. It was truly an addictive way of living, and i am so grateful that surgery has given me some level of sanity around that.
The other "con" -- which is true for WLS in general, is that it didn't fix my emotional need to soothe myself with food. That has continued to be an ongoing issue for me. When I get angry or frustrated, I find myself standing in the pantry to see what's there that can make the feeling go away. Meditation has been helpful in managing feelings and being able to ride them out.
I can eat more now than the first year, but I am still satisfied with what I consider "normal" portions. Research suggests that people (and animals) who eat a fairly low volume, low cal diet tend to live longer. Something about free radicals, inflammation, etc. I like being able to eat low volume. For that reason and because I think it is just saner overall -- and easier on planet earth. I don't eat a lot of animal protein and rely a lot on protein shakes, tofu and other vegetable protein. I do eat eggs and dairy - occasionally fish or turkey. I eat a LOT of green veggies (collards, kale, spinach, zuccini, etc.) The last time I had my labs done, they appeared to be fine It's time for another round. I do take vitamins once a day, but I don't stress if I forget or just feel like I can't tolerate them that day. I hate taking pills (one of the reasons I didn't consider a malabsorptive surgery).
I had the sleeve 2 yrs ago and am very happy with it. I eat what I want in terms of protein, fat and veggies. I love cheese in my veggie salads, mayo in my tuna salad. Don't do cream in my coffee because it tends to make me nauseaus. The only thing that gives me problems and seems to put weight on is carbs. I find that even fruit will do it, but not as fast as grain based carbs -- even brown rice and whole grain muffins give me trouble. They also make it incredibly difficult to stop :(
If I "cheat", it's usually with fruit -- which will stop weight loss in its tracks, but won't give me cravings for more.
One "con" I see to the sleeve is that the volume you can eat is limited -- which I don't consider a con. It's the reason I had the surgery. I was not only sick and tired of being fat, i was sick and tired of eating all the damn time. It was like I couldn't get anything in life done because I was always thinking about food, acquiring food, eating food and planning for my next feed. It was truly an addictive way of living, and i am so grateful that surgery has given me some level of sanity around that.
The other "con" -- which is true for WLS in general, is that it didn't fix my emotional need to soothe myself with food. That has continued to be an ongoing issue for me. When I get angry or frustrated, I find myself standing in the pantry to see what's there that can make the feeling go away. Meditation has been helpful in managing feelings and being able to ride them out.
I can eat more now than the first year, but I am still satisfied with what I consider "normal" portions. Research suggests that people (and animals) who eat a fairly low volume, low cal diet tend to live longer. Something about free radicals, inflammation, etc. I like being able to eat low volume. For that reason and because I think it is just saner overall -- and easier on planet earth. I don't eat a lot of animal protein and rely a lot on protein shakes, tofu and other vegetable protein. I do eat eggs and dairy - occasionally fish or turkey. I eat a LOT of green veggies (collards, kale, spinach, zuccini, etc.) The last time I had my labs done, they appeared to be fine It's time for another round. I do take vitamins once a day, but I don't stress if I forget or just feel like I can't tolerate them that day. I hate taking pills (one of the reasons I didn't consider a malabsorptive surgery).
I'm 5.5 years out from my DS so it's a little longer term picture for you. I got to goal in a year, got preggo at about 16 months, had a healthy baby boy, lost all my pregnancy weight. I did gain about 10 lbs in my third year. I EAT! 3000 cal is avarage for me (I guess I'm a pig who wears a size 8!) but, if I'm busy it will be much less and when I've had rally busy weeks I loose weight. I will most likely loose 10-20 lbs once I'm working again, I stay home with the kids and will be going back to work once the little guy is in school.
I crap once in the am unless I REALLY pig out, like chips, cookes, patsa and ice cream then I might go at night. Those foods in mass quantity will make me fart stinky. Whatever, in general I have less gas than pe-op and certainly less than my normie DH.
I take me vitamins religiously but, do have some iron probems. I believe this is attributed to having a baby and plastic sugery in just over a year.
No one would guess I've had weightloss surgery by how I eat. Life is pretty great and I maintain well being a PIG! LOL
I really wish there as less misinformation out there, my heart goes out to people who fail with WLS. I've got three friends who had RNY 6-9 years ago. Two of them have gained most if not all their weight back and the third has to starve herself in order to keep her regain to 20 lbs. NOT my idea of living!
Good luck!
I crap once in the am unless I REALLY pig out, like chips, cookes, patsa and ice cream then I might go at night. Those foods in mass quantity will make me fart stinky. Whatever, in general I have less gas than pe-op and certainly less than my normie DH.
I take me vitamins religiously but, do have some iron probems. I believe this is attributed to having a baby and plastic sugery in just over a year.
No one would guess I've had weightloss surgery by how I eat. Life is pretty great and I maintain well being a PIG! LOL
I really wish there as less misinformation out there, my heart goes out to people who fail with WLS. I've got three friends who had RNY 6-9 years ago. Two of them have gained most if not all their weight back and the third has to starve herself in order to keep her regain to 20 lbs. NOT my idea of living!
Good luck!
I had RNY 10 yrs ago (next week) and I love it. I would do it again in a heartbeat in order to feel this good. I've maintained my weight los**** goal at about 11 months out, and feel fantastic.
I know many rny post ops who feel the same. The sleeve is a good option and the DS also. Do your research. For me the RNY was a perfect fit. I have weight loss, am able to maintain it easily,
can still eat anything I ate pre op-within reason, and I've healthy and active. Check out the other boards. The Sleeve has good results and long term numbers are good. The DS is also a good choice for weight loss and maintenance. Research, ask questions and talk to those that have had each procedure. I don't have any cons-no complications, I don't dump, my bloodwork has always come back excellent and I'm happy as heck I had this done. Still have wow moments this far out and am grateful every day I had this done.
Jen 9+ yrs post op.
I know many rny post ops who feel the same. The sleeve is a good option and the DS also. Do your research. For me the RNY was a perfect fit. I have weight loss, am able to maintain it easily,
can still eat anything I ate pre op-within reason, and I've healthy and active. Check out the other boards. The Sleeve has good results and long term numbers are good. The DS is also a good choice for weight loss and maintenance. Research, ask questions and talk to those that have had each procedure. I don't have any cons-no complications, I don't dump, my bloodwork has always come back excellent and I'm happy as heck I had this done. Still have wow moments this far out and am grateful every day I had this done.
Jen 9+ yrs post op.
Along with your own research please get your surgeon's opinion as well. I chose a surgeon (at Kaiser) that specifically does both VSG and RNY. I had pretty much decided I wanted to go with the VSG as the RNY seemed much to drastic to me. After speaking to my surgeon and discussing the specific co-morbidities that I was hoping to alleviate, he offered to do the VSG but strongly recommended the RNY - for my situation. I went ahead with the RNY and have not had any specific problems or issues. Would the VSG have helped my issues, possibly, but I also listened to the reasoning that my surgeon had as well. It is a very personal decision and I would not want to tell you one way or the other is better, but I would like to encourage you to continue on your fact finding mission and determine what you can and can't live with.
Best of luck to you!
-Angela
Best of luck to you!
-Angela
Amy Farrah Fowler
on 8/29/11 6:53 am
on 8/29/11 6:53 am
While I agree with the doing your own research part, I think surgeons are one of the worst sources to help you figure out surgery type, unless they happen to do all 4.
They rarely have accurate information on surgerys they don't perform, and DO have financial interest in you getting whatever it is that they do.
It would be like going to the Ford dealer and asking them if they think you should go over to the Lexus dealer and buy your car there.
They rarely have accurate information on surgerys they don't perform, and DO have financial interest in you getting whatever it is that they do.
It would be like going to the Ford dealer and asking them if they think you should go over to the Lexus dealer and buy your car there.
On August 29, 2011 at 3:14 PM Pacific Time, cabin111 wrote:
I didn't read what others wrote...always a real headache. Both the sleeve and RNY will get you where you want to go...
Amy
VSG on 2/1/12 with Dr. Halmi
VSG on 2/1/12 with Dr. Halmi
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