A New Beginning

[steph74 1]

So I guess I'm starting my new journey today. I had the realize band put on in August of 2008. I had put on about 100lbs in a 2 year period from 2004 - 2006 after having knee surgery. I was really struggling and had high hopes for the band. After 4 years of problems I finally had it removed along with my gall bladder in October 2012. My doctor that removed the band was a different one than the one that put it in and he is wonderful. So I meet with him today to follow-up on my October surgery and to tell him that I have made the decision to move forward with VSG....eeeekkkk scary. After my experiences with the band I am very scared to have another surgery but I need help and I am a fighter so I will do what I need to in order to commit to my health. So one of the things that makes me a little nervous is that even though I really like my surgeon and he has done VSG's and is willing to do one with me the majority of his patients opt for the RNY. I feel really comfortable with him and don't want to go to another surgeon. Does anyone have any questions for me that I should ask him before moving forward? Thanks to everyone on this site - you all have helped me to make my decision.

[JennyBeth 127]

Good for you for making the decision to have the sleeve! I'm sure it is especially scary given the fact you had such high hopes for the band and that didn't work out so well. Unfortunately I hear more negative stories about the band than good. In all of my research I haven't heard too many negative stories about the sleeve. I am still pre-op, but feel very confident in the sleeve. There are definitely risks involved so it is good to educate yourself and go into this well informed. I think a lot of people still go for the bypass because it is still considered the "Gold Standard" of WLS. My surgeon pointed out that if there was 1 perfect surgery then they would only do 1 type of surgery. Both have their own advantages/disadvantages. I think you have to look at how much weight you want to lose and your lifestyle. I didn't want to deal with malabsorption issues and things being "re-routed" scared me more than the thought of having 85% of my stomach removed! Good luck to you!

[Karishero 57]

I completely agree with Jenny.. my surgeon has only done about 300 sleeves but he helped develop the band, he was on the teaching staff of the development of the sleeve and he is actually banded himself. I originally thought i would like Dr. Kim to do it out of Dallas because he has 3000 under his belt.. but after researching both of them use the same bougie size and technique for surgery.. this is probably because my surgeon was a teaching surgeon and even though currently he hasn't done a lot of sleeves his practice is actually moving forward to focus more on sleeves than bands due to the success rates. RYN generally is for Very high BMI's and in many cases those ppl actually have the sleeve done first to loose some of the weight so that the RYN can be preformed without as many complications. So as Jenny said just do your research on your surgeon and his practices and the procedure and as long as you feel comfortable with his answers then stick with him. if you are uneasy then you should follow your intuition and look elsewhere.