Anyone with >10 years since VSG ??

I am 6 years post op and recently dx with severe GERD as well as a hiatal hernia. No problems before this. I lost all my weight in 15 months. I have had some regain in the last 2 years but that is me not the surgery.

I met with my surgeon and he wants to do a revision to bypass. I am not thrilled. I don't drink coffee or anything caffeinated. I am now on a very bland diet.

The concern is if I don't do the bypass it could lead to possible cancer in my esophagus. I take 4 PPI's a day. A friend just had the same problem and had the revision. She is now doing well and is symptom free. They had begun to see changes in the cells of her esophagus.

There are risks of long term side effects with any of the WLS surgeries.

Do your research and hopefully you will not have any issues.

Wishing you all the best

Hi, I had the vsg in 2009 so I am 8.5 years out. I lost all of my excess weight and then some. I have maintained really well until about 2 years ago and have gained back about 15 of the 120 pounds I lost. Still happy with my sleeve and have no regrets. I had gerd before my vsg but my surgeon fixed a hiatal hernia during the vsg which we planned on. A few months after the vsg I no longer needed prilosec and still don't need it. I highly recommend the sleeve as its a less invasive procedure. GL with whatever you do. Diane S

P.S. while the sleeve is a "newish" procedure, my surgeon told me that people have had partial gastrectomies for at least 50 years for various reasons and do fine. So there is some history out there.

I've heard a lot of good things about VSG. I hah RNY because of my issues with GERD. If you have problems with GERD or diabetes, I would go with RNY, if not, VSG from my research is a good WLS. That's what I intended to do till I found out about Gerd issues.

I was sleeved in Dec 2011. I was 293, Now holding at 137. From a size 22/24 to 4/6. I have found that when I feel full if I try to eat more it is very uncomfortable. Over time it made me lose the desire to overeat. I don't know if all WLS patients experience the loss of desire to overeat but that is how it works for me.

Mine was 2011. Goal weight since 8 months post-op. I had a hiatel hernia that was repaired at the time of surgery. About years out the hernia returned with a vengeance so had to go back in. Had the gallbladder taken out at the same time, and that was due to the weight loss. I was allergic to the meds given to protect the gallbladder though, so that was a mitigating cir****tance. Gerd was only a problem when a hernia returned, and once repaired for the most part is not an issue. So far, absolutely the right choice. If the hernia becomes an issue again it will be a revision to rny. Hoping that is not going to happen.

it'll be 8 years since I had VSG and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat if I had to.

For almost 10 years prior to surgery I knew it was the only till to actually help me. I reached all options for years and this site and community were my home and saving grace for the couple years pre op when I finally had the insurance coverage to payfor it.

I never wanted the Lapband bc I didn't like the idea of having this foreign contraption in my body and MOSTLY bc the only time I had insurance in my life was with the job I working when I got the surgery. I've always been self pay and as a pharmacy tech who knows insurance, drug costs n all that jazz whenever I did the math it was always cheaper for me NOT TOO HAVE insurance than to have it...even with all my meds and 6 Dr visits a year.

Anyway, the band was a no go for me bc of that foreign material ordeal I had in my head, the horrible results and sideeffects I heard from so many on this site and elsewhere and most importantly, as stated, bc of my usual cost analysis. For the band to be effective-for those who don't have complications or get them later down the road I always saw the Lapband as a Cash cow operation. If you want to succeed you need to constantly keep up with appts to see your Dr fornot only progress but for port injections to either tighten or loosen the resistance to adjust your weight loss goals. Not to be crass but that's friggin expensive with or without insurance. Not sure how the billing breaks down here for everyone but if imagine it's at least a large copay for the Dr visit and another one or two copays just for the injection and whatnot.

My issue was I knew I wouldn't have insurance for long. I hated the job I was at and only stayed bc the company had an excellent plan through Aetna they negotiated for their employees. I knew it'd be my only chance to finally get it done.

Didn't want traditional gastric bypass either bc I didn't like the idea of messing with the digestive system like that. I understand the principle of the surgery but it just wasn't for me. It bugged my that if have a large part of my stomach unavailable yet just sitting in there and also if bypass a big chunk of the go tract-again it being left to just sit in there and do nothing. To me that freaked me out having these organs, rearranging and bypassing and then leaving the newly unnecessary parts just hanging in there doing good knows what.

The moment I read about VSG I knew it was for me. Minimal down time, great successes with the procedure from most everyone I spoke with and best of all for me was the right that once they create the sleeve they actually remove the rest of the stomach from the body. So you're not messing too much with mother nature and a bonus was the fact that theparts of the stomach removed were those reasonable for creating the hunger hormones signaling the brain to eat. How wonderful!

Anyway I was 420lbs when I had VSG. I took a month off work with my short term disability and vacation time. I could have returned in maybe a week or less to work but since I had the time n befits n I knew my only reason to keep the job was done I took the month off to recover n discover my new life.

I had a fast recovery and no complications whatsoever even to this day. In about 8 months I went from 420 to 250 and looked n felt great. (Btw I'm 6'3" n have a large frame so being 250 was not bad at all for me But still not goal.

I did end up losing insurance bc I left that job and didn't follow up with my surgeon beyond him removing my post op staples. It was Farr to expensive for visit and I didn't need it anyway.

Best of all my type 2diabetes vanished and I didn't need insulin or meds for it anymore. My blood pressure was normal which was another med out the window. My blood panel-after only 8months post op-showed me as a perfectly healthy guy. It's still insane to me how quickly I thrived with my sleeve. Also I did workout this entire time just FYI. I've always loved excersise and even at my highest weight I still worked out 5or6days a week so between the restricted eating and the excersise I couldn't be stopped.

But I was stopped. It can happen to anyone n couldn't believe I left it happen but a year post op I met a guy who I thought was great and we moved in together. It was a toxic relationship and I was sucked into my proudly poor eating habits and drinking alcohol on the daily. We were together for almost 2 years in which I ballooned back up to 400.

When we finally broke up I couldn't believe what is done. I worked so hard for that body n let it all go over a stupid guy. But I want going to have a pity party. I immediately got back on track and returned to my Keto way of life. I began working out again and within no time I was back down to was i was pre-dumbass.

Now, I'm done to 220 with 15% body fat andhave transformed my body and life. Still not at my goal but I love myself and my body for the first time ever. Ideally I'm looking to get down to 8 -10% body fat and add on more muscle. And I know I will.

VSG saved my life the first time. Then when things got tough on my journey I knew I had to the control and I saved my life the second time around. Setbacks can and do happen with every surgery but I took responsibility and moved on. Now I feel and look great and I wouldn't change anything if I could-even the relapse relationship weight gain bc there was a lesson I needed to learn there and I did.

No matter what you choose wls is only a tool. It's up to us to get our crap in order and deal with the reality of whatever situation we're in and what got us to that place where wls surgery was our only option. I have no doubt that if I never had the surgery I'd be dead by now. Not to be morbid but it's the truth.

I highly recommend VSG and don't regret a single thing. The best advice I can and do give is in the early stages post-op where you drop a ton of weight really quick bc it's the easy beginning part...take that time to not just adjust to your btw way of life or way of eating but to also put the spotlight on yourself and work out whatever it is in your life, mind, spirit that knocked you down in the first place. Work to find yourself again so you can rebuild that strong person inside who's been suppressed by food.

Trust me, the only way to permanent results is not just diet and excersise. It's about clarity and peace of mind with yourself. Empower yourself, accept yourself, forgive yourself and love yourself. If you can work through all those things then nothing will stand in your way.

Best of luck on your descion and if you have any specific questions I'm happy to answer.

Btw I do have one regret...or more complaint I guess. It may sound weird and morbid but I really wanted to keep the part of my stomach they removed. You know how they preserve organs in jars of formaldehyde. I just thought itd be cool to have and a definite reminder of all I went through. Unfortunately due to medical safety issuers they don't let you do that like they could have way back in the day. LoL. I still think it would have been cool ?