Question:
Help! I need to decide between gastroplasty & gastric bypass (roux-en-y) by Monday!

I am torn between the two types of surgery. I like the gastroplasty because it is less invasive and it still allows your stomach to digest food like it always has. I like the gastric bypass because it seems to be more successful long term and it keeps your body in check. I need to let the dr. know by Monday which I want to do. Please, can anyone give me more reasons to like either one over the other? Thanks!    — Kelley B. (posted on July 25, 2002)

July 25, 2002
Research this site all weekend on "revisions" and check my profile as well. E-mail me if you have any questions. Specifically, I disagree with the implication "allows your stomach to digest food like it always has" gives. I puked daily for four years and could never eat meat other than a little ground beef with the gastroplasty (also called VBG). I have not puked from eating since my revision to an RNY 9 weeks ago. There are successes with VBG, but statistically, the RNY offers a higher percentage of weight loss, a longer "window of opportunity" to lose the weight without great effort (2 years vs. 6 months), better odds at keeping it off long term. If the only life line you had left was "phone a friend", and mine was the only number you knew, I would coach you (strongly) to choose the RNY. But since you asked the question, you owe it to yourself to really research this, as both have their pros and cons. Good luck!
   — Karen F.

July 25, 2002
Asking this type of question will pit posties against one another about which is better- I am pre-op and can only tell you about my decision. I need to lose approxiamtely 160lbs. so I need something that would guarantee a loss of the majority of what I wanted to lose. Now I am not fond of of having my insides switched around, but at the same time, I also want the most important aspect- long term loss. The idea of losing that much weight only to have it creep back up later would be too devastating to me. Honetly, I do not know alot about gastroplasty, so I can not speak of it. But I do know that RNY is considered "the gold standard". It's all a personal decision so do as much research as you can. Talk to others here but also read (and read and read) about the two and decide what is most important to you. Good luck Sweetie!!
   — karmiausnic

July 25, 2002
Four of us in our family have had the lap RNY with the same bariatric surgeon. When my daughter and I went for our initial consultation almost 3 years ago, we were open to "anything"....we simply knew that this obesity was quite literally killing us, and we were ready for surgery since we had tried absolutely everything else. At that time, our surgeon offered proximal RNY (no distal surgeries) and VBG...and now has added adjustable lap banding. He spent a great deal of time with us in the office, explaining both VBG and RNY. His opinion was that VBG can be a very successful surgery for those individuals who can maintain a dedicated commitment to "total behavior modification". The VBG limits the amount that you can eat, but does not change the fact that you can continue to eat high-calorie and high-fat/sugar-containing foods. He stated that there is an 80% "long-term failure rate" with VBG because most patients will eventually learn to "eat around the surgery". The desire for all those foods that got us "in trouble" in the first place is still there. In addition, there is the potential for the gastroplasty to "stretch" and allow patients to resume eating the quantities that they could eat pre-op. We chose the RNY because we knew that we had never been able to maintain any state of will-power, and were unlikely to do so in the future. We wanted a surgery that would always limit the quantity of food that we could eat...and we wanted a surgery that would also limit fats and sugar in our diets, since we were unable to do that for ourselves. The answer for us has been the RNY....we are all at goal, and happier/healthier/more energized than at any other time in our adult lives. One of us "dumps" on sugar only....two of us "dump" with sugar and fats"....and one of us doesn't experience "dumping syndrome" at all. RNY seems to effect folks differently in alot of cases, but the bottom line is that it has worked beautifully for us. Continue to research your options, and choose the one that most likely fits your own lifestyle. Best wishes!
   — Diana T.

July 25, 2002
I'm pre-op, so I hope you don't mind my putting my 2 cents in anyway. I went through the same dilemma, but as I continued to research and read about the different types of surgeries, I decided RNY was the best way for me, and the way I would suggest to anyone. I agree with the other posters that RNY has better long term effects. The extra risk far outweighs the better results. Once I got on this website, my decision was confirmed by observing the post-op stories of VGBers and RNYers. Good luck.
   — [Deactivated Member]

July 26, 2002
Well it all depends on whether you want to make a life-long commitment to being thin? Mant VGB's yes will loose weight, but often put it back on sometime down the road. RNY (especially if you are transected instead of just stapled) has the highest long term success.
   — Dell H.