Why the sleeve?

[scarlet333 386]

Also wanted the lap band at first. Never even heard of the sleeve. But one of the technicians giving me an EKG had the band and showed me her "port". It may just be me and I am squeamish but it kind of wierded me out to feel it and kind of see it. The thought of living with that for the rest of my life was daunting. i also didn't like the idea of having to go for fills to get it to "your sweet spot" not to tight or too loose. What if I couldn't get it right and had to keep going. Inconvenient and expensive.

Some say the sleeve is too permanent. Well to me if I was to be sucessfull with the band then that meant it was permanent too. You are not supposed to have a follow-up surgery if it worked right (permanent). Its only when there are complications that it comes out and who wants that?

[vdub_tx 92]

I actaully didn't know the sleeve existed when I started looking into surgery about a year ago. I really felt that bypass was too drastic for me, even though it works for a lot of people. So I looked into the band, even though every single person I know in real life who has it has had serious problems. Then I found out about the sleeve and after a lot of reserarch felt it was the right option for me. When I went for my surgery consult my surgeon said that he was glad that I had decided against the band, both because I have more than 50 pounds to lose (which typically means less success with band) and because he's taking more out than he puts in these days.

I'm glad that I did my research and learned a lot about sleeve surgery though, because as I tell my family/friends about the upcoming surgery, I've had to explain it a lot! People just aren't as familiar with this surgery yet. It's such a personal decision, I think everyone has to choose what makes sense for their own situation. Good luck to you!

[angelface811 100]

I think the RNY and sleeve are both taking "drastic measures." There are still major malabsorption issues with both procedures. I have also done a lot of research on the two surgeries. I have had 2 of my specialty doctors tell me to "please go with the RNY" if I am going to have WLS . Their reasoning was both the same and they do not know each other. They told me the RNY is still the gold standard in WLS and while the sleeve is showing great promise it hasn't been around for long in the U.S. So they don't have long term research in yet. Whereas we do on the RNY. Both have their potential complications. I was told at the seminar that it looks like insurance companies will probably be dropping Lap-Band coverage because of the research coming in. So many erosions, slippage, poor weight loss results and conversion to other WLS. It seems the new trend is the sleeve which may turn out to be awesome we just don't have the research in. In addition, while the majority of the stomach is removed by the sleeve a small minority of people are not able to lose it all and convert to the RNY to lose the rest. Ideally with my own unique set of circumstances I only want to go under the knife once. I understand it may not go my way with complications being a reality, but that is what I am hoping for. Because of the nature of the RNY surgery you are more likely to feel full because of an increase in hormones like peptide YY, glucagon like peptide GLP-1. Ghrelin levels also decrease but are typically not permanent. There is so much more on both surgeries...best of luck to you. Just my own thoughts on the subject--

[Ashleigh606 3]

I also did a ton of research in regards to bypass and lap band. I had a problem with the bypass because they were bypassing the duodenal which is where most of your nutrients are absorbed. It didn't really make sense to have the lap band for me because I have had a friend where she kept having to go back and get it fixed because it either slipped or eroded. I don't have time to keep going back and forth with those kind of issues. With all the research I did the sleeve was the best option, even though there is little long time research the sleeve is showing really great results.