New to this forum

Hello everyone,

I've been meaning to join this site for AGES but finally got around to doing it today so I thought I'd introduce myself. Hmm...where to begin...well I'm 34(as my username would suggest) and have been happily married for 5 years now to my beautiful wife. She has 6 kids ages 21-12 so marrying her changed my life pretty much overnight but I wouldn't trade being a stepfather for anything. They are the reason that I've decided to get a gastric sleeve, I'm just waiting for insurance to sign off and then I'll get my surgery date. I have a number in mind(225) but I'm not sure it's reachable with the sleeve. I've struggled with my weight my entire life and after a rather frank discussion with my doctor, I decided to change my lifestyle. I am 451.7 pounds right now but I topped out at 509 in April of 2018. It feels amazing to have lost 58 pounds and I can't wait to get to my goal weight somewhere in the 200's.

Anyway, I've rambled enough so that's all for now.

It is possible to get to your goal with a sleeve. There are people who have lost that much weight with the sleeve. You will have to work harder than with a RNY because you will not have malabsorption. With RNY you get about 18 months where you body does not absorb most of the calories you take in and weight loss is pretty automatic.

But after the malabsorption goes away, then it is a matter of diet and exercise.

Some surgeons do the sleeve and then revise to a RNY is there is a problem with GERD or if there is not enough weight loss. Since you are so young, the sleeve might be the best option for you.

Congratulations on your weight loss and on making a decision for improved health. You have to be an awesome person to handle all of those stepkids.

I am looking forward to hearing more about your new adventure.

Ditto about th stepkidz .... but aren't kids lovely and homey and cozy .... tho a total pain in the a...

to me you sound like you need AT LEAST the temporary malabsorption of an RNY . If you choose the distal RNY it's almost like a DS with permanent malabsorption of fats .

How do you choose to eat ? Do you insist on fried foods or do you find them revolting ? Similar question regarding sugar ... please b honest it's hugely important .

You're loved here no matter what or how you eat .... we tot understand. (((())) hugs baby

Thanks white dove. My surgeon said I'd have equal success with a sleeve vs the bypass but he doesn't like doing bypass unless there are other factors that necessitate it. I'm just eager to get my date...stupid insurance companies lol. They require 10% weight loss starting at your first surgeon appointment which means the first 30 pounds I lost don't really count because they weren't at my surgeon's office.

Welcome to the forum! Are you by any chance a mathematician? (Wondering because of your username.)

yes I am lol glad you noticed.

I hate 2 say this ... but very often surgeons prefer the sleeve because it's far more profitable for them ( less risk operating room time recovery time in hospital) .

A lot of posters have been forced to undergo a revision to RNY because of GERD which is a huge problem with the sleeve.

The amount of weight you'd like to lose and permanently keep off basically means AT LEAST insisting on an RNY or possibly a distal RNY or even possibly a DS or SIPS .

Most surgeons expect nothing more than 60 percent of potential weight loss whatever the surgery . Please keep that in mind .

How you prefer to eat should guide you in choosing the right bariatric surgery option. ((())hugs no judgment We've ALL been there we truly understand and just want to help .

Regardless of expectations, it is possible to reach your goal with either surgery.

"How you prefer to eat" is largely irrelevant. RNY and VSG patients should follow pretty much the exact same diet in order to lose weight.

As others said - with 200 lbs to lose, RNY may offer better chance of doing that because it creates metabolic change. VSG- not as much. VSG- offers restriction but not malabsorption. For both surgeries - diet low in carbs, higher in proteins and some fat, can really help you losing weight.

In a meantime - read people posts on the main forum and on VSG forum. You can learn a lots out what to eat and how much post op.

Good luck.

Hello & Welcome to the forum!

It is possible to lose that much weight with the VSG but you'll have to do a bit more work to keep it off. Since RNY'rs have the malabsorption, that does go away in a couple of years, they get the "wakeup call" a bit later versus VSG'rs that get the call right away. No matter which one you choose you pretty much have to eat the same way with both.

You'll have to kinda get your act together quicker with the VSG. So look at the physical & mental reasons on why you got to the size that you are right now, & tackle that. It's not just what you eat, but why you're eating it. Mental stuff is a pita.

edited to add: It's malabsorption of calories that I'm talking about. Malabsorption of vitamins is life long, so you'll have to stay on top of your labs, for life.