Change of plans..

[sassyfrass23 525]

I originally posted this in the pre op forum but decided post op may be more fitting for what I am seeking.

I went into my appointment this afternoon with my mind made up on the sleeve. After talking with my surgeon, he strongly suggested bypass instead due to PCOS, pre-diabetes, HUGE list of heart attacks/disease in family, etc. I've always viewed the bypass as more invasive and never thought I qualified (denial at its finest) until today. I'm on board, and not anymore nervous than I already was. I guess I just feel a little less prepared...or knowledgeable for the lack of better terms, since my research these past few months has been solely on the sleeve. So, I'm looking for some experiences and advice from anyone who is willing to share! Especially from those who considered both surgeries and chose bypass in the end.

[Niki15 198]

I was going for the sleeve as well but my surgeon recomended the bypass due to my eating habits and loving sweets my surgery was 8/4/15 including the preop liquid diet I am down 76 pounds and feel great .. HW 363 Sw340 Cw 287

[dhrguru 1,238]

Hi! Changing your mind, or having a surgeon help you reconsider once you've decided makes it especially tough to realign your thinking. Kudos to your surgeon for looking at the full picture and recommending what's in your best interest.

I'm six months post op rny. I know you feel it's more invasive, but really wls in and of itself is invasive. Once you successfully get past the surgery and recuperation you'll see that the procedure is detailed but life afterwards is pretty normal. Don't get me wrong, it's an adjustment, but you have to adjust for any surgery! But I'm working at it everyday and succeeding... Surgery seems like the smaller part of the battle now.

What are your concerns specifically?

[sassyfrass23 525]

I was going for the sleeve as well but my surgeon recomended the bypass due to my eating habits and loving sweets my surgery was 8/4/15 including the preop liquid diet I am down 76 pounds and feel great .. HW 363 Sw340 Cw 287

That's awesome news! Congratulations on your progress thus far. I too believe the surgery will benefit me due to my eating habits and love for sweets as well.

[bugsy72 117]

At first I was thinking band, but after reading the negative reports on it, i was Roux-N-Y all the way! I have diabetes and it will be GONE. I have a nasty sweet tooth and the RNY will be a wonderful tool to help me with that compulsion. It IS considered the "gold standard" of bariatric surgery; it's been done the longest of all of the surgeries. Don't worry sassyfrass23! It will be ok!

[sassyfrass23 525]

Hi! Changing your mind, or having a surgeon help you reconsider once you've decided makes it especially tough to realign your thinking. Kudos to your surgeon for looking at the full picture and recommending what's in your best interest.

I'm six months post op rny. I know you feel it's more invasive, but really wls in and of itself is invasive. Once you successfully get past the surgery and recuperation you'll see that the procedure is detailed but life afterwards is pretty normal. Don't get me wrong, it's an adjustment, but you have to adjust for any surgery! But I'm working at it everyday and succeeding... Surgery seems like the smaller part of the battle now.

What are your concerns specifically?

Thanks for your response! Honestly- when I compare RNY to the sleeve, there's not a huge difference in severity. If anything- I feel more at ease not having 85% of an organ completely removed from my body. My biggest concern about RNY was pregnancy. I suffer from infertility which is caused by my PCOS- but my surgeon reassured me today that pregnancy is still safe after 18 months and nothing for me to fret over. The rerouting of my intestines is a little nerve wracking as well. He also said the recovery times were the same. How long were you out of work? I was originally anticipating 2 weeks for the sleeve. My employer is a gem and has been incredibly supportive of my journey so far, but I would hate to tell him I need more time off. BUT- I'm 27 years old and I need to get my life together before it's too late. When discussing my family medical history with my surgeon today, he was absolutely flabbergasted at the amount of heart disease. My father alone had 3 heart attacks which required 5 bypasses with his last one. He basically told me that with my genetics, I've been set up for failure. Lol. I laugh- but it's really not funny. It scares the heck out of me..

[sassyfrass23 525]

At first I was thinking band, but after reading the negative reports on it, i was Roux-N-Y all the way! I have diabetes and it will be GONE. I have a nasty sweet tooth and the RNY will be a wonderful tool to help me with that compulsion. It IS considered the "gold standard" of bariatric surgery; it's been done the longest of all of the surgeries. Don't worry sassyfrass23! It will be ok!

Thank you bugsy!! When is your surgery? I've read how patients literally walk out of the hospital without having to take some of there meds anymore. If I can get off metformin, I will be one happy lady. No matter how long I take it, my tummy does not do well with it.

[bugsy72 117]

Hi Sassyfrass...my surgery is DECEMBER 1! MERRY CHRISTMAS to ME!

I am what I call a "mild diabetic." I still eat what I want, rarely take my blood sugar levels. My A1C was around 6.5 or so. I know the diabetes will be gone when i leave the hospital. In fact, my primary care physician said i could stop the metformin when i start the prediet, because I will be eating under 1000 calories a day, and i wil have low blood sugar if i take my two metformin tablets per day. So woooohooooo!

I also have sleep apnea, and i can't wait to get rid of that stupid cpap machine! I just started on that a year ago. I hate it. But I must admit, it does help me sleep better.

When I went to the meeting with the surgeon today, I was excited, and when i left, even more excited! I can't imagine losing 30-40 pounds in the first few weeks, and much more than that in the next few months. I can't even envision myself. I'm at 302 as of today. I will be thrilled to get into "one-der-land!" So I'm shooting for 185 or so. Wow. The last time I weighed that was in high school.

Good luck! You're going to do fine!

[leanne1126 84]

Hi there! I had my bypass May 1st and initially the sleeve was what I wanted. My surgeon did the same and recommended the bypass. I'm happy with my decision for bypass and agree with the other comments and responses. I'm down 111 since I started my diet last fall and 82 since surgery may 1st. Good luck!!

[heather5565 959]

Hi! Changing your mind, or having a surgeon help you reconsider once you've decided makes it especially tough to realign your thinking. Kudos to your surgeon for looking at the full picture and recommending what's in your best interest.

I'm six months post op rny. I know you feel it's more invasive, but really wls in and of itself is invasive. Once you successfully get past the surgery and recuperation you'll see that the procedure is detailed but life afterwards is pretty normal. Don't get me wrong, it's an adjustment, but you have to adjust for any surgery! But I'm working at it everyday and succeeding... Surgery seems like the smaller part of the battle now.

GREAT ANSWER

[Djmohr 6,965]

Hi there!

I had originally decided to go with the sleeve only to find out that the bypass was the best solution for me given I had diabetes and severe Gerd as well as several other Comorbitities.

Once I got on board with having bypass, I was all in. And 13 months later I am down 130lbs, no longer have diabetes, no longer have Gerd or any type of heartburn, no longer have sleep apnea, no longer have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or stage 3 kidney disease. All of these issues were resolved almost immediately after I began the pre op diet and by the time I was out of the hospital.

I am 14lbs from a optimal weight for my height, .7 from a healthy BMI.

I have not had any complications, don't suffer from dumping syndrome and have been beyond happy with my decision to have bypass.

I don't think you will be sorry and have heard extraordinary stories with women who have had fertility issues pre surgery and ended up getting pregnant by accident within months post op. Please be careful not to do that as your body really does need time to settle in to its new digestive process and it would not be initially healthy for either you or your unborn child. Everything will come together for you following this surgery.

Congratulations on making the decision to get healthy!

[cassie32104 70]

I was going for the sleeve...until I found out I was diabetic. I am 1 week post op and have not taken diabetes medication since the day before surgery.

[soonergirl619 120]

Hi! Changing your mind, or having a surgeon help you reconsider once you've decided makes it especially tough to realign your thinking. Kudos to your surgeon for looking at the full picture and recommending what's in your best interest.

I'm six months post op rny. I know you feel it's more invasive, but really wls in and of itself is invasive. Once you successfully get past the surgery and recuperation you'll see that the procedure is detailed but life afterwards is pretty normal. Don't get me wrong, it's an adjustment, but you have to adjust for any surgery! But I'm working at it everyday and succeeding... Surgery seems like the smaller part of the battle now.

What are your concerns specifically?

Thanks for your response! Honestly- when I compare RNY to the sleeve, there's not a huge difference in severity. If anything- I feel more at ease not having 85% of an organ completely removed from my body. My biggest concern about RNY was pregnancy. I suffer from infertility which is caused by my PCOS- but my surgeon reassured me today that pregnancy is still safe after 18 months and nothing for me to fret over. The rerouting of my intestines is a little nerve wracking as well. He also said the recovery times were the same. How long were you out of work? I was originally anticipating 2 weeks for the sleeve. My employer is a gem and has been incredibly supportive of my journey so far, but I would hate to tell him I need more time off. BUT- I'm 27 years old and I need to get my life together before it's too late. When discussing my family medical history with my surgeon today, he was absolutely flabbergasted at the amount of heart disease. My father alone had 3 heart attacks which required 5 bypasses with his last one. He basically told me that with my genetics, I've been set up for failure. Lol. I laugh- but it's really not funny. It scares the heck out of me..

I am 1 month post-op and I am very happy with my decision. I am down 30lbs! I researched for months before deciding to go with the RNY. Not going to lie, you are sore like after any surgery but I was back to work after 2 weeks. Good luck to you! Let us know when you are scheduled.

[leanne1126 84]

One other thing to keep in mind is that you are not guaranteed to unable to have sweets. I'm 6 months out have not yet dumped and as @Djmhor mention also, she doesn't dump. It can be tempting to have the sweets knowing that it's not an issue. Try to stick to the diet and keep your goals in mind :-)

[beachgal2935 596]

@sassyfrass23 First of all Congrats on making this life changing decision at such a young age! Being 54, I wish I'd have done this 25 years ago. So here goes my story ...

I had surgery at mayo and went in wanting the sleeve and after hearing both sides of the story, opted for RNY. You see, I too have a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type II diabetes. I had gestational diabetes when pregnant with my son and then diagnosed with type II only a year later. I'd been a type II diabetic for 10+ years and because I'd "gotten busy with life" and not been taking care of myself, I had a stroke at age 52. At that point my A1C was 11.2 and my blood pressure was 195/112! When I was told RNY would give me an 85% chance of sending my diabetes into remission, I needed to hear no more. That's the route I chose and off all my meds I came immediately after surgery. That included my high blood pressure meds as well.

Mayo doesn't do the band surgery anymore because their research found that merely restricting calories did not prove to last long term. While they do perform the sleeve procedure, they fear it may have the same results in the long term. The sleeve procedure has only been around 10 years so the research isn't there like RNY which has been around 50+ years.

In an aftercare meeting it broke my heart to hear one of the men, who had the sleeve only 2 months ago, say that he told his fellow firefighters to just cook like they always do and he'd just eat smaller portions. He went on to explain all the "unhealthy" foods they normally prepare - yuck! Last month he even stated he ate half of a Subway sandwich and felt no discomfort. Was so proud he only eaten half. I winced. This surgery is a tool to give us a once in a lifetime chance to change our food choices, not to just eat less of the crap we ate before we had it. They remind us each month at our meetings "This isn't brain surgery, it's gut surgery!" Once our cravings come back, in a year or so, then what?! If you haven't made those life changing choices, you'll gradually increase your portions, begin snacking and you will regain the weight. So many people do!!!!

I encourage you to make the best decision for YOU! I see so many people, on here especially, do a "revision" from band to RNY or "sleeve" to RNY and for me I wanted it to be One and Done! FYI - I had RNY at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday and was home at 6 p.m. the next day. Took 2 pain pills as a precaution the day after and then I was done. Felt wonderful from that point on. I've never had dumping syndrome but I follow my Mayo eating plan and am so happy that at less than 7 months post-op, I've lost 90 lbs. Not bad for an old gal! Best of Luck to you

P.S. Take "Before" pics. They weren't easy for me to do but glad I did because it's nice to look back and remember where I started. Here's a pic at my HW 285 SW 257 6monthW 175