Vertical Sleeve....a disappointment???

Hello! My name is Bekki. I'm 18 and looking into the Vertical Sleeve surgery. I've done my homework on all surgeries and I feel like this is the best option for me at this stage of my life. That being said, I haven't read about people with many disappointments from this surgery. So I'm curious to know if there is anyone out there that regrets having the VSG. Is there anyone that has not had satisfactory results from this procedure? Please give me any details you can.

The only people that regret having the sleeve done, are those that simply refuse to follow their program.  Then they blame the sleeve for their own choice to fail.

No weight loss surgery is magic.  There are no secrets to losing weight after wls.  You have to make the choice to change your lifestyle permanently, to eat healthy portions, to exercise regularly, etc.

Some people are so messed up psychologically that they can't commit to anything.  They just go from plan to plan, failing at everything.  The refuse to get the therapy they need to discover WHY they are trying to kill themselves slowly. 

I know of people that have had repeated weight loss surgeries, and failed at all of them.  They had a band, and failed. They wento to a sleeve and failed.  Then they went to a Duedonal Switch and also failed.  They refuse to eat properly, they refuse to exercise and they blame everyone but themselves.

I get tired of their whining.  "Oh I just can't exercise."  "I can't stop myself from eating a whole pie at one sitting."   Bull Manure!

I have significant pain every moment of every day.  I was shot in the left hip in 1965, and have significant pain from that.  I have extensive arthritis, and I have two significant compression fractures in my spine.  I have to take a minimum of 6 hydrocodone 10/500 every day of my life just to make it through the day. 

I am also 66 years old.

I walk, 3 miles at a time, 3 days a week.  I have lost 160.5 pounds in 13 months and I am still losing with my sleeve.  I still measure each and every portion of food, and I will be doing that so long as I am capable of doing so.

If I can do this, there is simply no excuse for any of your younger folks not being able to do it. 

If you want it badly enough, you will do whatever it takes. 

Stop making excuses, accept the fact that YOU and YOU alone are responsible for what you do with your life, and get with the program!

I will give no more excuses. Thank you so much for your post.

OldMedic I just saw this post. You are an inspiration!

I am looking for questions to ask at my next appt. I am tentatively scheduled for VSG surgery Oct.29, 2018 pending cardiac stress echo.

You are right on spot with your comments.

Thanks so much,

Susan

Ignore the old maniac guy, he's a true fool. The main reason you're not hearing about many disappointments with VSG is because it hasn't been around long enough to show the regain rate & when people post about it not working, they get bashed by dip****s like old maniac about not dieting & exercising enough. Diet & exercise don't work for about 97% of us. With your BMI, I would seriously consider the DS.

I have been supre morbidly obese my entire life..... tried every diet...failed, hated myself.

Was sleeved 7 months ago. I'm now 120.8 pounds down and just 40 pounds off goal.....and i now truly believe i can acieve my goal. I lose about a pound every 2nd day......

my issue was unmanagable hunger...therefore intense cravings and over eating....lead to obesity, and subsequent imobility and then isolation..... it was a never ending revolving door to my slow miserable death quite frankly.

At 7 monthhs, no hunger still, no cravings, food is still enjoyable, i can't and don't feel the need to over eat though i still eat to a fullish sensation...food is like medicine...i get in what i'm meant to to stay healthy. I never feel hungry..... i still enjoy little treats here and there but it's not my whole life like before and i feel so much better, and more energised for it.

The best thing i ever did.... ever was get sleeved.

I want to tell anyone who has suffered as I did that there is an asnwer.... WLS...... all different kinds... but this one worked for me.... I love it.

Good luck making your decision. I hope your journey to recovery and maintenance is as amazingly enjoyable as my own.

cheers

chey

My only regret... waiting until i had this much to loose, and i was this age..... if i had known years ago. sheesh

Make sure you read through this post:
www.obesityhelp.com/forums/failed_wls_second_time_around/406 2009/VSG-Stretched-Pouch/

Her experience, unfortunately, if fairly typical for VSG patients.  Weight gain & re-emergence of co-morbs come on fast & furious usually around 3-4 years.

Your decision now is for the LONG-term, don't go for a quick fix.  So many think the VSG will just get them to where they need to be, and then through diet / exercise / willpower, they will be able to keep themselves there..... it never worked for them prior to the VSG, so it is pretty delusional thinking.

Kimberley is simply wrong, wrong, wrong.  She is another dedicated D/S patient, trying to knock all other forms of surgery.

If you want the truth about the Duodenal Switch, go to Google.  Type in the following:  Problems with the Duodenal Switch

You will find literally hundreds of articles, most written by surgeons that do the D/S, about the myriad of problems that happen with that surgery. 

I don't knock anyone elses choice of surgery, that is their choice. 

Success or failure, in the vast majority of cases, is up to the individual, regardless of the form of surgery they have had.  [NOTE:  this is NOT the case with the various forms of bands, because they are notorious for slipping, for eroding the stomach and for other complications that have absolutely nothing to do with the patients compliance.]

If the individual really follows their dietary plan, does a reasonable amount of exercise, etc., they will lose weight.  They may lose slowly, they may not keep up with the Jones's, but they WILL lose their weight.

And, if the vast majority of patients stick with a reasonable diet after they have lost their excess weight, the do NOT regain that weight.

You can regain weight with ANY form of wls, including the D/S.  If you eat too much, eat all the wrong foods, stop exercising, or any combination of all 3, you will likely regain weight regardless of your surgery.

I am a 66 year old couch potato.  I HATE exercise.  I have lost 162.5 pounds since my surgery 14 months ago, and I am still losing at a steady pace.  I now weigh 7 pounds LESS than I did when I was discharged from the Army, over 40 years ago.  If I can do this (and it really has been pretty easy) then there is absolutely no reason why any and all of you can't do it too.

It took me 5 years of "dieting" to lose 51.5 pounds, and 15 of them were in the 10 days of pre-op liquid diet.  I walk for exercise, and that is ALL of the exercise that I do.  I walk, 2-3 miles at a time, 3 days a week.  I get no other exercise, other than daily movement.

As I say, if a person as big as I was (and I was huge at 412 pounds) can peel off this much weight without it being hard, then so can you.

               Kimberley is NOT wrong, and YOU have yet to PROVE her wrong with actual facts and/or data.... or Jill, Diana, Mary, Sue, Nicolle, Lori, or any other DSer that has asked you to cite facts and you simply refuse to.  Because your FACTS don't exist.  Until you do so, you lying sack of wanted-the-DS-couldn't-get-the-VA-to-pay-for-it bitter old man, you will continue to have no credibility.

Kimberly, that post is actually not at all 'typical'..... it's her second WLF (so i'd suggest there are other unresolved factors there), and i read a new thread every week at 4-5 years out with staggeringly easy maintenance and zero or minimal weight gain.

I'd suggest that this would be a typical reason for the occasional 'regain' patient occuring though.

This sleeve is a long term program..... there is no 'finished, I made it' destination. It's a lifetime of work to first lose, and then maintain your results (as it should be).....and a little bit more work because we don't suffer malabsorption as a way of losing and maintaining weight loss.......