Question:
surgery

I was considering surgery but don't know if i should have the bypass or the sleave    — marybeth weaver (posted on September 26, 2009)

September 26, 2009
You have to weigh the different choices and speak with a surgeon to see which one he/she would recommend would be the best. Good luck
   — Nina15137

September 26, 2009
Both have their pros and cons...ultimately though, you have to do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions and decide which risks you are willing to take and changes you are ready to make. RNY has long-term vitamin deficiency problems and you must be willing to stay on top of labs every 6 mos to a year. AND take several vitamins daily for the rest of your life...The sleeve does not have the same vitamin troubles but the surgery is not reversible whereas the RNY can be reversed in cases where there are too many problems. Either way, your success with any of the WLsurgeries depends wholly on you making all the important changes to your diet and exercise lifestyle...because none of the surgeries are guarnteed to work without those changes. I had RNY and I have made the changes and have had success and vitamin problems as expected...I love my RNY...and if I were you making a choice now I'd certainly think about the Sleeve and learn all I could and talk to as many as far out as I could to learn what they experience. All the surgeries have risks and complications...but generally most do very well with thye usual minor problems. The sleeve is so new that long term info is not available. Rny is older and still does not have much long term info either...You will find many more RNYers than VSGers...so you'll have some mixed reviews from RNYers based on the masses of people who had that surgery...and VSGers are basically new and few...so dig deep and study hard...After all that, be certain.... and go for it! WLS has given so many of us back our lives...
   — .Anita R.

September 26, 2009
To me the BEST way to decide was talk to the surgeon who would do the procedure. They know best. I was asked by mine which one I want, I told him I did not know what was the right one for me. So I asked with his knowledge & experience & knowing a bit about me, which does he think is right... He said for me the R-N-Y is the one I need. So that is the one I'm getting. The surgeon may be your best bet to get the answer you seek. Good luck
   — SPIRIT2002

September 27, 2009
Do your research. Find a surgeon who does BOTH. Ask A LOT of questions here and with your surgeon. I had issues with my first surgeon since he hardly knew anything about the sleeve. He only performed RNY and banding. That being said he "pushed" me to have RNY. I went through all of my pre-op. Things (personal) happened a few weeks before I was to go through with RNY and then I decided against it. I never felt comfortable with the negatives of RNY. To me the negatives outweighed to positives. I started searching for surgeons who did both. My insurance still considered VSG (the sleeve) experimental (even though it has been approved as the first part of DS). I would need to pay out of pocket for VSG. It almost made me think of RNY again but I didn't feel comfortable with feeling pressured to do something because of what my insurace would pay for. I found an excellent program in Mexico. I paid less than half of what it would cost near me. No real hoops to jump through. Consider part of your research to look into endobariatrics.com. I found them through this site. I hope I didn't ramble too much. I cannot stress it enough to do your research.
   — BREmom