Anthony

There are other surgical options besides RnY http://www.lapsf.com/weight-loss-surgeries.html

This is a VG: http://www.lapsf.com/weight-loss-surgeries.html

From my understanding of the matter, the stomach stretches and grows rather quickly after both procedures, which is why the VG makes the stomach in the 2-3oz range. This size would be impractical in the long run. From what I have been told, the stomach of an average VG patient should be anywhere between 4-16oz in the long run, depending on the person. The same thing happens with DS patients. Most VG patients who need additional weight loss can convert to RnY or DS easily.

Thankyou fabfatgrl! I keep forgetting that it is often reffered to as the vertical sleeve gastrectomy. Thanks again for your input

VG stands for Vertical Gastrectomy OR Vertical Gastroplasty, both of which are the same thing. IT IS NOT the same thing as Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG), which has been around for a long time and has a terrible track record regarding weight loss and side effects. Here is a picture of a VG: http://www.lapsf.com/weight-loss-surgeries.html

With the band I went from 308-240 in about a year. Gained back to 278 over about another year, this was after I had my band unfilled, since I couldn't deal with the pervasive and uncontrollable gas. With the VG I went from 278-218 in less than 4 months. And my skin is no looser than it was during my thinnest with the band.

Plain ol'd heartburn, but without a proton pump inhibitor it hurts pretty damn bad. Just think about it, the acid that produced is for a ~50oz stomach is now crammed into a 2-3oz stomach. I really hope this is temporary, as I hate taking drugs. Head hunger still exists if I take drugs that previously gave me head hunger, such as; antihistamines, lyrica, neurontin, (And presumably antidepressants). Luckily I no longer have to take most of these, as they were for nerve pain in my back. Although I have noticed a strong correlation between caffeine and head hunger. But coffee hurts my stomach/intestines now, so I don't even bother. Emotional eating can still exist, but I've felt so well overall that it hasn't really been an issue. One final point. Head hunger and emotional eating are now MUCH easier to deal with due to the significant decrease in physical hunger.

Please remember that you can always have a VG, which can then later be converted to DS if needed.

I had a VG (Vertical Gastrectomy). I am almost 4 months out and LOVING it.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=13592

I absolutely hate the idea of malabsorbtion. I had complications with my bad, but at least I could remove it. I am happy with my VG so far.

I'm in Riverside, Ca!

Minor update: 10 weeks postop: Pros: +Back pain is gone. (It was gone a couple days after having my band removed). +Gas is gone, despite consumption of 150g-200g of whey Protein per day. +Physical hunger is non existent. Head hunger can creep in if I take medications that made me hungry in the past (Antihistamines, lyrica or neurontin for nerve pain [which, coincidentally, I rarely have to take because of lack of back pain] (I'll add more later) Anthony,

I did have terrible gas with the Band. Now that I am bandless and have a VG, I have none. I still consume the same quantity of whey protein, which was supposedly the cuplrit of the gas.... It was not, the gas was indeed caused by the band.

If you dont want the malabsorbtion, consider the Vertical Gastrectomy. This is the procedure that I had on 3-1-06 http://www.lapsf.com/weight-loss-surgeries.html http://www.lapsf.com/vertical-gastrectomy-weight-loss-surgery.php It has been quite the recovery process compared to the band, but surpisingly it didnt hurt as much. I have no hunger and I KNOW that I'm going to finally get to goal with this.

If you have this problem, where is your port located? This little detail could be important.

Tomorrow I leave for San Francisco to get my band removed and revised to a VG (Vertical Gastrectomy). I will let you all know how it goes in a week or so when I get back.

I am back. I just wanted to let you know that I experienced less pain with the Removal and VG conversion than I did when I got my band put in. I can relate this to several factors in order of likelyhood: 1. I am in significantly better shape than I was in when I got my band. 2. My Nutrition is better, overall, than before the band. 3. I had a morphine button drip. As of now, I no longer experience physical hunger, which is awesome. I never experienced this effect when I got my band put in. Head hunger still exists, but so far, it's pretty easy to ignore. In a few weeks, I'll let everyone know how I'm doing.

I am quite sure thqat there is a substantial difference when a band is eroded/eroding. My mother had her band removed on friday morning, she was home 6 hours later and is basically unphased. Her band had slipped, but did not erode.

I was banded in 2001 as well - during the original FDA study period. And I was also the victim of a band leak as are many of our 5-years banded contemporaries. I had my port switched out nearly a year ago - and it was like a whole new band, especially with the newer lower profile access port. I havent done my research, but perhaps the lower profile port has a lesser volume in its' "chamber", thereby forcing more of the saline into the band's silicone relative to the volume of the fill. Just a possibility.

Jonathan: It sounds as if you are talking about the VBG (Vertical Banded Gastroplasty) rather than the VG (Vertical Gastrectomy). Am I correct? Also, you may find my complication story slightly interesting: http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=13592

Wow, it's really buggy. I guess it doesnt work with Safari or Firefox. :-

Wow, I didnt know it existed! Bump! The Mods might wanna pin this thread!

I believe the reason that they push it is because they believe (as do I), that it has fewer complications (both long term and short term) than RnY. There are always LONG term risks with foreign bodies being implanted in somebody, I mean LOOOONG term...20 years or more. Obviously, the band can be removed if you happen to develop problems. I'm not positive if the VG will provide less long term risk than the band, but I believe that it will definitely provide less long term complications than the RnY. Also, from what I've heard, the VG does cut hunger quite severely... Something that my band has never done. I guess I'll find out in the next few months (I'm having a VG on 3-1-06). The evidence does seem to suggest that there is greater long term weight loss with the VG versus the band, but it will take long term research to bare this out.

Everybody has their favorites. My favorites are Champion Nutrition whey stack (vanilla strawberry or chocolate ONLY...the other flavors have Splenda...yuck!) Optimum Nutrition Vanilla (But it gives me alot of gas) I have heard praise about nectar powders, but I have not tried them. My LEAST favorites: Anything Soy. Some people like it, but not me. Anything with Splenda, which is most of the products these days. I don't believe that it causes the problems that people claim, I just hate the taste. Anything with Stevia in it. Again, I dont like the taste. Any pure egg Protein. These are truly disgusting.