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You are 100% right. I don't think I've seen a single person say they regret the surgery, except for a one or two oddballs who had completely bizarre complications. I need to just stick to the facts! I am in Az, but having surgery in Tijuana, Mx.

I'm pre-op, so no help to your question specifically, though I don't think there is any documented specific risk of using post-op. Just a note of caution though, it is STRONGLY recommended that you stop all use of THC in any form at least 2 weeks before surgery because it is well documented that cannabis use can interfere with the efficacy of anesthesia. Folks who use, very often need higher doses of meds to get and stay sedated. So if you aren't going to go cold turnkey at least 2 weeks in advance, you absolutely need to disclose to your surgeon and anesthesiologist when you go in, otherwise you are putting your literal life at risk. They won't care and won't report you (if not legal in your state), although they may delay your surgery depending on their pre-op requirements. But delaying and being safe is better than risking complications. Absolutely ZERO judgement, just want you to be informed and use accordingly.

So my surgery was supposed to be in August but got postponed because of a spike in COVID cases. So now it’s tomorrow. And suddenly I am second guessing myself. I’ve gone too far to back out now, but I am so worried I am making a mistake. I’m self pay and I keep worrying about complications. I guess this is probably normal but I am freaking out a bit.

Like buyer's remorse? 4 hours of preop clearance yesterday! All set to go in 7 days. Praying for no complications for any of us♡ Sent from my SM-G977U using BariatricPal mobile app

No regrets. Coming up on 6 weeks post op. No gerd from my vsg after the revision to bypass. Weight loss satisfactory. Equivalent to the sleeve. I just broke a one week stall, and dropped another 1.8 lbs. What is interesting is I had heard horror stories about "never trust a fart" lol and bowel problems. I almost decided against it but surgeon said I had to fix my gerd... But maybe cause I no longer have severe gerd, everything is literally normal. I feel no difference than before any of my WLS except I get full after a few bites. Having said that, I am early on and hope this positive trend of health continues. I can handle stalls and working to get the weight off but am always scared of leaks and other serious complications down the road. Sent from my SM-N986U using BariatricPal mobile app

In the early days of surgery you will not be able to eat much at one time. Take it slow. If you are having pain, vomiting or any other concerns you are best to talk to your bariatric team. Complications can occur and you want to rule them out. Just be patient and do not stress yourself out over it. Try to sip water through the day, and focus on getting in your protein, even if it just a few sips of a protein drink. You will make it. It will get easier.

I had lots of second thoughts. I was a lower BMI and I kept wondering if I should try one last time to lose the weight myself. But reality is I did just try one last time (I just didn’t know it was the last time) and I stalled and gained it all back as usual. Post surgery I didn’t have any regrets at all. Probably because I didn’t have a lot of pain of complications and I can eat everything I did before. Some people do have regrets immediately post op but that goes away the first month or so for most people.

So nice to meet you! I'm sure you will achieve great success with this surgery! The lap band was horrible for me. Can't wait to have it out. I'm sorry you had complications. Sent from my SM-G981U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am 46, live in WI. I also originally had the lapband and actually lost a lot of weight. I was down to 135 at one point. I had to have it removed almost 3 years ago due to complications and have almost gained all of my weight back. I will say, having it removed felt really great after having it for over 10 years.

Mine was $4400 total, $400 of which was for a hernia repair. Hers was about $8000-$9000. If I were to do it again I would go to the $4000 one, and if she were to do it again she would do the $8000 one 😆. The surgery itself was a success with zero complications for either of us. I lost 145lbs and am at a healthy BMI and weigh less than I did when I was 12 years old (I’m 46 now) and she has lost 20… yep. 20. But don’t let that be a deciding factor. She ate like a bird before, and ate healthy. The smaller stomach didn’t change that, we should have realized this… we are still trying to figure out what is up with her as there is some underlying issue. We are finding new things with each round of tests, NONE of which have anything to do with her surgery. So again, please don’t use her lack of weight loss as a factor in your decision, it is unique to her, her stomach was removed, her medical team was superb, her experience was flawless, her recovery was fast. Both of our facilities were clean, hers was better decorated and most definitely better suited to the procedure and English speaking patients. My doctor and his assistant were perfectly fluent in English but the hospital staff was not, so a lot of google translate was used by both sides. I’m really laid back and kind of enjoy the occasional adventure so none of that bothered me in the slightest. I never felt like I was at risk, and I recovered almost completely in just a few days.. it was just a little surreal being wheeled into an operating room while a phone robot voice was asking me medical questions in prep. My whole weight loss adventure has been very easy for me… but again I wouldn’t use that as a deciding factor either. I don’t imagine my results or hers would have been any different with any other doctor that performed the same operation. I guess the simplest way to answer this is…. Mine was like a new affordable car, hers was like a new luxury car. Both will get you to where you need to go reliably… what matters is how much you want to spend and what kind of ride are you comfortable with during the journey.  

RNY is still the gold standard for WLS, especially if one is diabetic, pre-diabetic, have GERD or reflux, or are super-sized. It is the more complicated surgery, but also has the best results, and it does not involve removing most of one's stomach. Some surgeons do only VSG, or prefer to do VSG because it's easier. I'm glad you found one who does RNY.

It’s okay to have some concerns. It’s a surgery you’ve never experienced before. You have nothing to compare it or life post surgery with. The reality is the complications are pretty low especially compared with other surgeries or just from being obese. Many are minor & are related to how you individually react & heal & they pass in time or are easily remedied. Yep, the hair loss can be a bit scary but it’s a short term side effect: 3-4 months usually. While your natural hair loss cycle is temporarily accelerated your natural new growth cycle remain unchanged. So while you’re losing more you’re still growing new hair - it just takes a couple of months for the new growth to get to a length you can notice it (likely as fluffy bits). I mean you don’t usually notice your new hair growing in but it is all the time. No one noticed my hair loss other than my hairdresser & my mum but she was looking for it. I’d so much rather temporarily lose some hair then still be obese - small price to pay really. Much like ending up with loose skin - loose skin wins over obesity every time. All the best & I hope you get your official approval soon.

4 years post VSG. No regrets. I was 310 lbs at 22 years old. I'm now ~230 lbs but at one point I was down to ~198 lbs. I didn't have any hair loss, but I have very thick hair anyway. I have PCOS so my hormones are messed up anyway too so I was on birth control for the extra estrogen, this could have helped prevent hair loss. My mom had the surgery (same doctor and procedure) at 51 about a year before I did. She has naturally thin hair and was post-menopausal. She didn't lose hair either. It really is just chance and your hormones (particularly cortisol and estrogen/testosterone ratios). You can talk to your doctor about your medical options to help lessen hair loss. But if you do have hair loss, I think you should just embrace it! It will only last a couple of months (usually) and then it will start growing back. But this could be your opportunity to do something to your hair that you've never done before, cut it super short, dye it as close to your skin color as possible can sometimes disguise hair loss, add hair accessories, etc. Neither of us had complications, she even had a hernia fixed for free at the same time! I was up and walking around within hours of waking up. My mom was walking laps the next day (she isn't that great with anesthesia). If I hadn't gotten the surgery I have no doubt I would have been recruited for "My 600 lb life" by now.

re: open vs laproscopic RNY - almost all RNY's are done laproscopically these days. Although I suppose there's a rare situation where one has to be done laproscopically, the only people I know who had open ones had them done many years ago. I went with RNY primarily because I had GERD. Also, when I had my surgery a few years ago, the sleeve was just becoming popular - it was rapidly replacing the lapband as the RNY alternative. I had a fear of it turning into "Lapband 2" a few years down the road, so I wanted the tried & true. RNY had been around for awhile and it had a lot of solid research behind it. However, VSG has been around long enough at this point that I wouldn't have that particular concern if I was making the decision today, but I would still go with the RNY because of my GERD issue. I'm still very happy with my decision. There are more potential complications with the RNY, but honestly, both surgeries are very safe, and major complications are rare.

zero regrets. I'd do it again in a heart beat, and I should have done it years ago. I sat on the decision for ten years, for the same reasons you are, but I'm so glad I finally decided to go through with it. It's very common for pre-ops and early post-ops to be terrified about hair loss, but most people who are a ways out will tell you that in the grand scheme of things, the hair loss phase was more-or-less just a temporary annoyance. Losing the excess weight FAR outweighs the temporary hair loss. Besides, for many of us, the hair loss isn't enough for others to notice (although WE notice it!). I really didn't lose all that much hair - so I know no one else noticed it. major complications aren't that common. Some of us have no complications at all - and for those who have them, most are minor. You're much more likely to develop complications from being obese than you are from weight loss surgery.

Do you have GERD? GERD is the biggest risk for sleeve - sometimes it gets worse after sleeve, and sometimes people who never had GERD develop it. There are more complications with RNY, but it's still pretty safe. If you take a lot of meds for your anxiety and depression, your doctor and surgeon may recommend sleeve to ensure you can absorb these medications properly; this is what my surgeon said and my psychopharmacologist agreed, although I got a second opinion with a different surgeon, and she didn't think an RNY would be a problem with the meds, but she still recommended sleeve because it's an easier surgery and she feels the weight loss is just as good. I has wanted RNY in the beginning, but with both surgeons pushing for sleeve, and the risks of higher complications with RNY, I chose to go with sleeve. I hope I don't end up with GERD (I had it for a while but it resolved with better eating).

I wouldn’t ask for input from only people who had regrets and/or canceled, because… well that’s all you’re going to hear about and you’ll definitely not go through with it (which is fine, it’s your choice of course). I’d ask “can everyone here who is at least a year post op give me a “would do it again” or “would not do it again” please” This forum is a great place. It really is. There are tons of helpful people, funny people, honest people. The downside to a forum like this is it’s much more common for someone who is having a problem to post a question looking for help or advice or just to vent. It vastly skews the perception of the number and severity of problems. The reality is for most people surgery works and works well at achieving sustained weight loss. Very few people statistically have what I would call a major complication. When compared to the statistics of complications (or co-morbidities) of being obese, it’s not even a fair contest. You are not alone in having worries and doubts though, not by a long shot. I had them too, many of us did. But I didn’t cancel and I most definitely do NOT regret having surgery. It was probably the best true free will choice I’ve ever made in my life… no, it definitely was. Being a guy who doesn’t care about his hair, I can’t share my advice about hair loss. It’s a thing that can happen. It didn’t happen to me, but again I wouldn’t have cared if I lost all my hair, I’d have done this again without a second thought. In fact, I would go so far as to say that… based on how GREAT I feel today, even if I had a major complication that required hospitalization post op, I would still go through with it knowing what I know now. I wish I did this years ago, but I didn’t. I feel like I lost some of the best years with myself, my kids, just in general… The following is a cheeze-ball comment but it’s true…. This new me… this is the me that was hiding inside a fat suit almost all of my life… sad, pretty lonely, afraid to come out and just enjoy life like I am now. I wish I met him when I was younger. I wish I was strong enough to do this on my own at a much younger age, but in the end I don’t care how this new me got here… I’m here and I’m not going back inside that fat suit ever again. I am 46 and feel like I’m about to turn 27. I wish you the best, no matter what you decide. But don’t only look for the negatives, because that’s what you’ll find. There’s a lot of us “hell yah I’d do this again!!” people out there, we’re just quiet about it in general compared to the people who do really need help getting through a tough spot.

My stats are very similar to yours - I was 54 at the time of surgery, I'm 5' 1" and my top weight was 250 pounds. I really wanted the bypass too, but it turned out it was medically contraindicated. I got a 2nd opinion and that doctor agreed it was too risky for me. So I had to go with the sleeve. I was super disappointed because I had read that bypass patients tend to lose more of their excess weight. I had the sleeve and it turned out to be really effective for me. I had no complications and I lost all my excess weight. The big difference is, there was an actual medical reason why I couldn't have the bypass. If you're a good candidate for either surgery, then you should be able to choose the one you want. The post-op experience is not exactly the same between the two surgeries and you're the one that has to live in that post-op body. So, maybe get a second opinion and see if there is any legitimate reason you shouldn't have the bypass. If you get the thumbs up, then you'll have to decide whether or not to find a new surgeon. Sorry you've hit this road bump - the good news is, either surgery can be effective, so whatever you decide will probably work out for you.

I'm wondering what in the world makes me think I can do this. What makes me think I can keep to the diet post op? I'm so lazy when it comes to cooking. I don't have a lot of spoons where that is concerned. I don't have room in my kitchen. I am not a good cook and I hate making anything vaguely complicated. I was ordering takeout two times a week until recently because I don't like cooking. Now I have to learn this whole new way of cooking and the mere thought stresses me out. I need cookbooks for idiots with no cooking skills, and I need more spoons. I hate cooking. I'm going to hate trying new recipes even more. I know, I know. If I think I can't, then I can't. But I'm really torturing myself over this right now. I don't want to fail. I don't want to mess it up, but let's face it. I have failed every diet lifestyle change I have ever embarked on, even though I told myself that the change HAD to be forever. I don't know what the hell my problem is, and why I can't do it, but I haven't been able to do it in 41 years, and I don't know what makes me think that this time will be different. I read about people experiencing regain and it scares me. I have been fat my entire life. I started dieting when I was eight. I'm particularly miserable right now on this liver shrink diet, and I don't know what to do about it. I know my diet won't consist of the same thing every single freaking day the way it does right now, nor will it be two shakes a day which leave me hungry or a salad that leaves me hungry. But it's reminiscent of every diet I've ever done, where I was hungry all the time, and eventually cracked. The smaller stomach will help with that. I am, however, worried about my own proclivities. Just a small cheat here, just another cheat there, and the next thing I know I've undone any good I've done with the surgery and gained some or all of it back. I need someone to lie to me and tell me I can do this. That I'm not going to be a huge failure at this the way I've been for my entire life with dieting lifestyle changes. You're not a failure until you give up, bla bla bla. Maybe it's time to give up. Just keep in my tiny world of work and home until I die young because that's what I deserve. I mean, why would I change the way I'm eating permanently? Eating garbage almost works. It almost fills that void, and if you have something that almost works, and maybe next time will be the time it works, why would you stop for something completely unknown? I'm utterly miserable on this diet every day come dinner time and for the rest of the evening. I don't want to be utterly miserable on the new way of eating forever, nor do I want to do the inevitable thing of falling off the wagon and regaining some or all of the weight. Maybe I'm just not meant to be a normal weight. I haven't been my entire life, what makes me think I can start now? I know, I'm feeling awfully sorry for myself at the moment. Not sure what to do about it. Or if anything can or should be done about it? Am I going through all of this and spending all of this money for nothing? Should I even bother? I'm not just down about it. I'm in a panic about failing. So yeah. Lie to me. Tell me everything is going to be ok, and I'm not a perpetual eff-up.

the sleeve is an easier, less complicated surgery and some surgeons are more comfortable doing that one. If you want bypass and she won't do it, you can always go to another surgeon. Yes - there's a greater risk of complications with a bypass, but the risk of major complications with either surgery is pretty low. I've been hanging around on bariatric surgery sites for around seven years, and yes - although some bypass patients need iron infusions because they don't absorb enough iron from oral tablets, I would say that's definitely not the majority. I went with bypass because it has a longer history and I had GERD. I've had no issues with it and have been very happy with my decision.

-It is not an unreasonable position for her to keep, as the bypass does indeed provide very similar weightloss and regain results to the sleeve but at a somewhat higher cost in potential problems, limitations in future medical care and increased fussiness on supplements. The bypass is overall a very good procedure that is mature technology - it has been around as a WLS for some 40+ years, and its basis dates back some 140 years, so it is a well known quantity, both good and bad. Her concern about ulcers is well founded, and that is something that one lives with, or at least the threat of them, with the bypass as it is intrinsic to it. One may never experience one, and most don't, but everyone is living to avoid them - it is the basis of the "no NSAID" policy that is common in the bariatric world as one needs to avoid any medications that promote stomach irritation and NSAIDs are the most common class of drugs that we encounter (but there are others that one may encounter through life.) Occasionally someone will come through with an ulcer problem that defies resolution, and their main course of action it to reverse the bypass. This is rare, but it happens. Marginal ulcers are to the bypass what GERD is to the sleeve - you can't fool mother nature and there will always be potential consequences to fooling around with her. One needs to balance what one gets from a treatment against what might possibly occur on downside. Iron infusions are also a fairly common need after bypass, as it malabsorbs minerals in particular, and while some can get away with simple oral iron supplements, many can't and need periodic infusions. This is rare with a sleeve as there is no particular malabsorption. Another factor that weighs on some is the "plan B" factor - what does one do if things don't work as expected - complications, inadequate weight loss or regain? While we don't like to think in terms of getting revisions, they are sometimes necessary, and the bypass is difficult to revise if it doesn't work right; as noted above in the case of intransigent ulcers, the usual is to reverse the bypass and put you back where you started from, and likely still needing help in weight control. The sleeve, on the other hand, can readily be revised to the bypass if needed - typically for intransigent GERD problems - or to a duodenal switch for continuing weight problems. Again, not something we like to think about, but the options are there. The bypass also presents some additional limitations in future medical treatment, as it leave one with a blind remnant stomach and upper intestine, which can't easily be scoped endoscopically as with the natural GI system or with a sleeve. Again, something that may never come up, but likely will sometime in your future life. A further note, your surgeon is in good company, as my doc rarely does bypasses as well, though his preference leans toward the duodenal switch as his primary, with VSG as a second choice. He does, however, do a fair amount of business revising problematic bypasses to the duodenal switch, and will do the odd bypass when it is specifically indicated for a patient, but that is fairly rare.

I was steered from the sleeve to the mini bypass by my dr. After meeting with a nutritionist this week and saw what all I will be doing daily with vitamins, minerals, supplements, shakes, B12 shots, etc, along with the complicated lists of veggies and other foods I can’t eat, I’m turned off with the mini bypass. Is it just as complicated with the sleeve and are there future medical issues that are different than with the mini bypass?

My mom had the gastric sleeve before I did and an unrelated problem came to light a little over 2 years after her surgery. She had a congenital defect of her colon where about a foot would become paralyzed and loop itself. The symptoms you're describing sound exactly the same. She had to have emergency exploratory surgery to finally fix it because for over 6 months all the doctors thought it was just a complication from the gastric sleeve procedure or because of the types of food she was eating. Neither of which was actually the case. She couldn't eat, she would throw everything up, her bowel was very irregular, and she had extreme abdominal pain. If that sounds familiar, I would suggest looking up "cecal volvulus". Before the surgery, she was eating larger portions which would mask the condition, but because she now eats much smaller portions, the defect in her colon became obvious.

I am taking 2 weeks off from work, but 4 weeks off from traveling for work (very frequent in my job). If I had taken more time, I would have needed to take short term disability and my pay would have been reduced for that time. I have talked to a lot of people that only needed one or two weeks. I know since I'll be working from home for an additional two weeks at least that I can take a short nap if I get tired. If I have to take more time due to a complication, I will just talk to HR and deal with that. My shrink the liver diet is just low carb, low fat, high protein, and lots of non-starchy veggies. No carbonation, no caffeine, and no alcohol. I think I am supposed to have a shake or yogurt in the morning for breakfast. I start that on the 30th of August.

I just turned 50 this month and my ONLY retreat is that I didn't do this sooner. I had my surgery right before my 49th birthday last year. If I had done this in my late 20s or early 30s when I weighed around what you do instead of waiting until I was almost 400 pounds, it would have prevented me from having the liver disease and other problems that led me to finally get surgery. I am also a very anxious person and always think the worst. It doesn't help that I'm an RN, so I always imagine every scenario that could go wrong. I just had to keep telling myself that statistics were in my favor and there was way more chance of things going right. There is always a risk of complications, but that risk is small. I'm so glad I took the risk and my life is a million times better now than it was last year. You are smart for doing it while you are young. You will hopefully prevent so many problems! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app