MGB questions?

Hi I am new here. I having been researching the MGB and so far seem to like it best over the other surgeries I have looked into. I was wondering if I could here from some post-op MGBers here. I was especially curious about revisions. I had read some where on this forum that MGB has a high rate of people needing revision. I went to the revision forum and found only 2 posts about needing MGB revisions due to bile reflux and weight gain. I honestly only went to page 11 so there maybe more. I dont know what to think of it all at the moment. I would like to hear from as many MGBers as possible to get some sort of idea.  I notice that a lot of other WLS patients seem to be anti-MGB for lack of a better word, and everyone is pushing whatever surgery they had. I understand that if I had a surgery with great results and little complications I would suggest it to everyone too:) But as a pre-op WLS researcher I am drowning in all the agruments about different surgeries. I would love to have some clarity...lol.  I have been to Dr.R's yahoo page and find it difficult to navigate and difficult to find answers to specific topics. I also want to hear information outside of what is on his site. No matter how great the surgery probably is, I would like to get a opinion outside the bias of his site. I want to hear it all. SO if anyone here can give me tips, advice, MGB stories ect. I would be forever greatful. Even if you havent had the surgery but know of someone personally that has I would love to hear from all people.  Thanks so much and I am sorry I was so long winded. Juls 260lbs, 28yrs old, 5'3

my mom researched for almost 2 years before deciding on the MGB.  then my sister tried to have it but couldn't because of major scarring from previous abdominal surgeries, she had to have an open RNY.  i had the MGB 8/31/04.  my mom and i have had zero problems and zero weight gain (at least until my pregnancy) my sister has had numerous food issues and has now gone from a size 8 back up to a 14-16 and is afraid she is still gaining.  just personal experience here.

I agree the website is a mess.  That is one thing that REALLY bothered me when I was doing research.  I think it needs to be re-done. It would definitely lend to the credibility of the organization to have it organized and presented professionally. But despite all that, in my research, I found the MGB was the surgery for me. I had mine 11/15/06 and am now 5 months out and 5 lbs. from my goal.  Back when they first started performing the MGB, Dr. R. would bypass anywhere from 2-8 feet of intestine, depending on how much weight needed to be lost.  He told us in our clinic meeting prior to surgery, that since so many of his early patients who had short bypasses had returned for revision to a longer bypass, he now starts with 6 feet as a standard and evaluates up or down from there.  I only had 77 lbs. to lose, but he did 6 feet on me. I was expecting 3 feet. I also think some of the anti-MGB part comes from people just being uninformed.  I hear all the time people say that this is just like the old loop bypass surgery in the past that is banned now.  This is NOT the same thing! The amount of intestine that is bypassed remains in the body cavity and sure, it is not straight.  You can't have 33 feet of intestine be straight in your body.  But it is NOT the old loop bypass. Also, there is usually no problem with acid reflux because the connection is at the base of the new smaller stomach, not up top where they used to connect the old loop bypass.  I would urge people to not discredit the statistics of MGB just because Dr. R's group is the main group doing the surgery.  There are other doctors that do this surgery that are not affiliated with his group.  I'm sure they keep statistics too.   If you compare percentages of complications to RNY, the percentages are lower, not just because the sampling is lower based on fewer MGB's done than RNY's.  As always, be sure to research all options you are considering as no one option is right for everyone.