Bypass VS VSG
Good afternoon everyone. I am new to OH (as of this morning) i started my journey in mid October and have a meeting with my surgeon mid February for a second consult, he is leaning toward the VSG, i am leaning toward the bypass. i am 36, i have been heavy my whole life and my twin daughters were born on November 11 which is a major reason for a big change. I have done a lot of research on both but i would like to hear first hand....which surgery did you go with and why?
Howdy from East Texas! 
Good that you are doing your research. You can't do enough. WLS is like using a saw - measure twice - cut once. 
You ask a loaded question and the answers will be like dirty socks and skivvies. Personally I'm an RNY, nine years post op in April 17. Went from 331 to 183 this AM. My lowest was 165 when I had my gall bladder out 18 months after surgery. I don't not like the 183. For the longest I was steady between 170-175 but it has since crept upwards. Why? Old habits creeping back in. I'm a chocoholic! Plan for next year is to keep real deal chocolate out of the house. SF is still acceptable. If you don't know too much SF candy can give you the ****s since the ingredients include baby laxatives. That is kind of an aversion therapy to eating too much of it.
RNY has restriction but comes with malabsorption issues.
Sleeves have less restriction with minimal malabsorption.
DS you have less restriction like a sleeve but the malabsorption.
Bands give restriction only but may cause issues of their own.
They all have their pros and cons. Think about your lifestyle and how much work you are willing to do. You are going to have to put in some work! For WLS, regardless of type, to work your HEAD has to be ready for it to work! Like giving up ANY bad habit your head has to be right for you to be a success! No bull**** - if anybody says you are taking the "easy way" to lose weight they are DEAD WRONG and don't know **** from Shinola! This is not easy! The decision you make to have your innards rearranged this year you have to live with till you are not living!
Never, and I mean NEVER, trust a fart!! 
Thanks for the Response! I really appreciate it. I haven't done much looking at the DS and I had an ex that did the lap band (in mexico) and had many issues with it, infections, loosening of the band, she ended up having it removed as her stomach grew around it and it got severely infected. anyway, back to me LOL. like I said, I am 36, still pretty young, my highest was 449 October 29. I am now 421 with another 30 or so to go before they will do the surgery. i am looking to have an initial large weight loss so i can start exercising again, i want to partake in our local marathon (a charitable 5k walk/run) i have no vision of running in it but want to walk it at least this year. (labor day weekend.) my wife is on board with whatever i decide and she wants to learn as much as possible as well to help me out and be able to cook for US. i guess i am looking for maximum results with a moderate to high level of exercise and fairly strict nutrition.
It has the best long term statistics for weight loss maintenance.
At over 400 lbs with a life long history of obesity, I could have not succeeded in keeping the weight off without malabsorbtion. You will eventually be able to out eat any restriction that WLS provides. Can you stay on a diet for the rest of your life? I couldn't.....but that is me. I like to eat and wanted to have a luge free of dieting, so I had the DS.
Welcome to the club!
This website is so helpful and inspirational, I hope you find it as helpful as I have.
I had VSG in October and I also was going back between the bypass and the sleeve. I chose the sleeve because it did not include changing the path of my intestines, and I also thought the removing the stomach part made more sense than leaving it in.
It is working for me, but it has not been a breeze. My head still tells me that I want to eat sometimes, but my stomach tells me enough! My big issue was that I ate way too much in one sitting. My favorite restaurant was the Sushi Buffet. So this sleeve was perfect for me, as it just restricts how much you can eat. Now I still eat what I want, but I just can't eat much, so it is working. My biggest issue is still wanting to much on stuff sitting in front of the tv, so I try to avoid the tv when I can. If you graze all day, you are not going to lose weight, and the sleeve will not stop you from eating small meals all day long. Also, you can't just eat junk food. If you eat milkshakes all day, again, you are not going to be successful.
For me the key is to stay with high protein meals, and at least one protein shake, usually in the morning. I stopped drinking the shakes for a while but I noticed that my weight loss slowed down, so I am back on the shakes this week, and it has been a good week!
I don't know how your co-morbidities are, but for me, I had them all. At 51 years old, I already had 2 heart attacks, have 4 stents in my heart, have diabetes, high blood pressure, the works. The diabetes was leaning me toward the bypass, as that can cure type 2 diabetes instantly, but I went with the sleeve anyway, and my blood sugar has been pretty much under control the whole time, already getting off of 3 medications.
Now the bad parts: the first week after the surgery can be hell. The night after the surgery was the worst night of my life, as my gas pain kept me up all night. I still have not had a solid bowel movement, and when I gotta go, I gotta go now! So that part sucks. If you can live with that, and realize the surgery is a tool and not a magic pill, then you will be successful! It is life changing. Just don't let it go to your head! lol
Good luck and ask questions here. Everyone is so helpful and knowledgeable. Nothing beats experience!
Thanks Jammur,
I'm dealing with high blood pressure been on meds for 15 or so years, SEVERE sleep apnea (I did the math and for a few years until I went for a sleep study I was getting about 3 1/2 solid minutes of sleep a night...) I have been on a CPAP for 3 years now. I am having pain in my back, hips, knees, ankles, and feet... I have family history of heart disease on both sides, diabetes, cancer, lung disease.
I had always thought (up until September) that my weight was something I could control, I just had to start exercising..... tomorrow, well we all know that turns into tomorrow, and well my birthday is this month, so I will start next month, or the holidays. to quote a song by one of my favorite bands CCR, "someday never comes" so the ball started rolling when I realized it is almost too late. one of my good friends had the Bypass in april and I ran into him in june, WOW he looked like he was really losing some weight... I asked him what he was doing for a diet. "eating less and drinking water".... hmmmmm, well I took it for his word and he called me a week later and we discussed what he had done and how he did it.. I was so relieved to hear that news, that there was something that can be done, that I don't have to live like this forever.
my biggest problem now is that I am 3 1/2 hours away from the hospital (I live in a little town in the upper peninsula of Michigan) so I am having to go to all these appointments and making 2 trips a month. but I have resolved myself to the fact that it will ALL be worth it in the end. I don't want to be the dad tha****ches his kids play, I want to be the dad that goes down the slide at the park with them! I hope to hear more from you on your progress, and sincerely... thank you
Hey Don
Where in the UP are you? I went to Michigan tech in Houghton for my degree. I went back four weeks after my surgery on a recruiting trip. I found the area restaurants terribly unfriendly for weight loss in general. You'll have your work cut out for you, but you can do it for sure.
A couple things:
1) As far as which surgery to get, that's intensely personal. You'll need to weigh all the pro's and cons. I selected the RnY because of Diabetes mainly, as well as a poor understanding of the VSG procedure at the time. There are many success stories with all the procedures, but you should also check the post op maintenance requirements for each. I committed to a lifetime of lots of vitamins, and have the side effect of flatulence that could be weaponized to defeat ISIS. On a positive note, on my day of surgery, I stopped taking 5 different meds, and have never looked back. My A1c has been normal as has my blood glucos. Additionally, cholesterol and triglycerides are perfect.
2) Start walking NOW. Tonight. Even if you can't move far or much, start getting in the habit. I have the luxury of living near the Mall of America and started walking indoors in January 2014.
3) Any of these surgeries are a tool. Only a tool. They are not a magic bullet and will not give you sustained results unless you work at it. For me, I log into Myfitnesspal every day. I'm not perfect by any means, but I'm about 85-90% when it comes to logging in and tracking. My weight gain is directly proportional to my ignoring MFP. I've logged in 1080 days in a row so far. Next as I said above, MOVE. MOVE. MOVE. I work out 5 - 7 days a week one way or another. Sometimes cardio and sometimes heavy weights, but I do something.
4) Make sure you're 100% bought into the process. There's no going back. Walking your twin daughters down the isle on their wedding day would be a hell of a motivation.
5) Lastly, you don't need to be honest with anyone but yourself. But for heavens sake, be brutally honest with yourself. This doesn't mean beat yourself up when you screw up (and you will), it means knowing when your not following the plan and getting back on track.
Best of luck to you and let us know how it goes!
I'm new to posting here, but thought I would share my experience, which is only in the research phase as of now. I'm scheduled for a VSG on February 1. The facility I'm at (UCLA COMET) only does RNY and VSG. My surgeon strongly directed me in the direction of the VSG because of the fact that I had a blood clot in March 2015, and the VSG is a marginally faster procedure to perform. Since I've had one blood clot, I'm at higher risk for another. And - the longer in surgery, the higher the risk. All about minimizing the possibility of another clot forming.
Even before his assessment, I was thinking the the sleeve was the right way to go for me. My BMI is slightly below 40, and I have pretty severe sleep apnea as well. I really like that the procedure removes part of the stomach that releases the hormone ghrelin that can make you hungry. Overall, I prefer the restrictive vs malabsorptive mechanism.
Keep doing your research and work with your doctor to decide what is best for you. Best of luck on this journey!
at first i wanted RNY because of the fast weightloss and restriction. But after about 4 months of research and watching live surgery of both. I changed my mind to VSG i was never at ease with the malabsorbtion of RNY even though there are lots of people who develop little to no complications i didnt want to take the risk. I have no other health problems other than being obese. And i didnt want to develop any due to malabsorbtion. Vsg is less restricted and some people gain there weight back which is why i feel like it may not be for everyone.
