Surgery choices- sleeve vs RNY

[dancingqueene 182]

I have been weighing option for surgery for a long time now. I'm one to do a LOT of research before making any decisions although I knew I would do a bypass surgery of some sort. Did anyone else weight heavily on the sleeve vs RNY before making a final decision? I have surgery this fall and I have to make a final decision by the end of Aug. I have several friends who have had the RNY but I don't know anyone personally who has had the sleeve.

[mishi 72]

I'm doing the RNY but have a couple friends who have done the sleeve and are very happy. Both have pros and cons. For me I took a good hard look at my medical issues, my relationship with food, and my support system, and chose what looked like would give me the best chance of living a healthy life post op.

[checkmeowt 27]

I think the choice between RNY depends on your comorbodities and current medical conditions - reflux, pcos, etc.

Also, the sleeve does give you more leeway after surgery, so depending on your relationship with food and ability to cut things out of your diet without the incentive of the RNY intolerances, that might be a factor.

[losing_the_band 133]

I'm having a revision from lap-band to another form of bariatric surgery in two weeks, and I chose RNY instead of the sleeve. My reasons were:

• The sleeve can cause major acid reflux. I'd already suffered from severe, uncontrollable acid reflux with the band, and didn't want to even risk it again. It's truly miserable, and can cause a lot of lasting damage to your esophagus, vocal cords, and teeth.

• The sleeve is a purely restrictive procedure, whereas RNY combines restriction with malabsorbtion. Having PCOS, and having had one purely restrictive procedure already, I know that I need more than just restriction. I may have been able to work the sleeve if I'd been able to have it as my original procedure, but the lap-band completely ruined my already slow metabolism. I know in my heart that I would not be successful with the sleeve, and having had the band and a replacement band when the original slipped, I simply don't want to have to do this again.

• After my experience with the lap-band, I simply am not going to again trust a procedure that is as new as the sleeve, with no long-term results available. It's had great results when performed as part of the DS, but as a stand-alone procedure, it simply doesn't have many long-term statistics available. After trusting the hype once with the lap-band, I'm not willing to do it again. When I got my band, it was being touted as the next big thing in WLS, with projected long-term stats that matched or exceeded those of the RNY. Then, after a few years, the real stats started coming in, and they aren't good.

• I truly believe that the majority of morbidly obese people don't just have a problem with overeating. I think many, if not most, have underlying metabolic issues. Unfortunately, the sleeve does nothing to address those.

Edited August 10, 2015 by losing_the_band