This to consider before going with the Sleeve

[Bino 44]

The last year and a half have been filled with one medical issue after another. I'm a year out from having the sleeve.

I started with having the band removed...ended up having a freak reaction to the anesthesia and one week spent in the cardiac unit.

After a few months of having my heart monitored, I had the sleeve done. No complications. Except that in my own rush to get on the road to better health, I didn't ask any questions about whether the sleeve is right for me or if I should go with the bypass.

My insurance changed at the beginning of the year, so I had to switch doctors. My new doc wanted me to go through a bunch of tests. He wanted to know exactly where I stood since he didn't do the surgery and, after nine months of only losing 23 pounds (the first two months), my old doc just said I needed to go back on two Protein Drinks a day and up my Water to 94 oz.

1. Endoscopy showed that I have a small pouch at the top of my sleeve (consistent with having a lab band previously). Not unusual. It also showed that I have Barrett's Esophagus. Unfortunately, this is severely aggravated by GERD and mine is aggravated by the little pouch.

2. My blood work showed I was severely low on Iron...my old doc missed this in my blood work.

3. I also have a sugar issue...not diabetic yet...but definitely an intolerance issue.

Forward to this week, after a huge host of tests, and it boils down to I should have had a bypass rather than a sleeve.

The point of me typing all this... don't take any shortcuts. Get an Endoscopy and updated blood work right before you make a choice about which surgery is going to work best for you. Each one has it benefits and drawbacks, just make sure which is right for you.

[Proud2BMe 1,016]

Well, I'm not so sure it's that cut and dry. But if you feel that you should have had the bypass you can always revise to one. I personally recommend a bypass for people who fail with the sleeve. However, they are both pretty much the same in the long-haul. The average weight loss for the sleeve is 60% and for the bypass is 70%, not much difference at the end.