pros / cons of sleeve versus gastric bypass

Hey I have had the gastric bypass and I am doing good but my nephew is investigating surgeries and we ran across the sleeve which seems to be less invasive than the gastric bypass and appears to work just as well.  So just curious from those who have had the sleeve - what made you choose it and are you glad you did?  Is there much pain, recovery time? quicker or about the same weight loss speed, etc....  Any thoughts?  He is only 26 and something less invasive but that is still effective seems to be a good idea for him  Thanks for any advice or information you can share.

You have come to the right place to learn everything there is to know about the sleeve.  This is a great group of folks, and we love our sleeves!

I chose the sleeve because I didn't want a foreign object in my body (lap band) or my intestines rerouted (bypass).  I take lots of meds, and I was afraid of the malabsorption, too.

The recovery was a cinch -- I had a little discomfort from the surgeon fixing a hernia while he was in there, but otherwise no pain at all.  I took three weeks off from work because I had the vacation time, but I could have gone back much sooner to a sedentary job. 

The weight loss was steady, and I lost all my excess weight in less than a year -- 115 pounds.  (I have gained 20 back after an illness that had nothing to do with the weight loss surgery.  I started eating junk carbs and sugar again.  They are the devil!)

I have absolutely no regrets.  It has been a life-saving and life-changing surgery for me.  If I had done it when I was 26, I wouldn't have ruined my body by being morbidly obese for 30 years.  (I was 55 when I had the surgery.)  God bless your nephew.  I don't think he would regret choosing the sleeve!
--Dorothy

read my blog page on why  I did the sleeve and how well it worked. then go to website for lapsf.com which has a good chart comparing the procedures and pros and cons. A good information source. Studies show weight loss from rny and vsg to be about the same. Recovery is quick as its a much simpler procedure and doesn't have the malabsorbtion risks. i am glad I chose vsg.  Diane

I had the sleeve and was told by patients that the RNY is better for those who needed to lose more.  I was 203 lbs, and am 5'4", I am at 150 lbs; and am trying to get to 135.  So, I know it was a hour long surgery; recovery time was about 3 wks back to work; and pain miminal.  Overall, I have had to learn to stop eating before I feel too full; thanksgiving syndrome.  LOL  RNY you cannot take antiimmflammatory drugs, and a few other restrictions.  Good luck.

There are a few guys in this group who were Super Morbidly Obese and have had AMAZING success with the sleeve.

Ok, so if I can just think of a few reasons off the top of my head... I did not want a foreign object in my body (band) that could break or need to be replaced at some point... I had also read about A LOT of problems that band patients have that I didnt want to deal with. For some reason, those problems are not well publicized... I didnt want to do the RNY because I am pretty fond of my intestines and I wanted to keep them just where they are at. lol. I didnt want to have the malabsorption issues either. I was very active when I was younger in soccer and I had a bad motorcycle accident over 10 years ago, so its important to me to be able to take NSAIDS, which you cant do after RNY. I also liked the fact the part of your stomach that is removed with VSG is the part that produces Ghrelin, the hunger hormone. The only other thing that really sticks out in my mind is that I didnt want to have my reminent stomach left inside me. If I am not using it, I wanted it taken out. With the RNY there is no way to scope the reminent stomach to see whats going on in there. Scary!

I chose it for a variety of reasons.

One of the more important for me is that I have to take large doses of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories (NSAIDS) every day of my life.  They are prohibited with the bypass, but are no problem with the sleeve.

The sleeve is nothing but a fancy name for a partial gastrectomy, a surgery that has been done for well over 100 years for stomach cancer, severely bleeding ulcers, etc.  The long term effects of partial gastrectomies are very well known and well documented in the literature (mostly consisting of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, requiring that we take supplements).

Since there is no rearrangement of the intestines, there are none of the many problems that can occur with the bypass, like "dumping syndrome", etc.  There is also a disturbing amount of long term evidence of intestinal erosion occuring some 10-15 years down the road with the bypass, that can not happen with the sleeve.

I was 65 when I had my surgery done, and lost 195.5 pounds over 16 months (the idea that you only have 6 months to a year to get your weight off is bull manure). 

Your rate of weight loss does slow down as you lose weight, but that is a natural thing.  You don't require as many calories daily to operate a smaller body, so unless you keep diminishing your intake (which is NOT recommended), of course your rate of loss will slow down.

I researched, very extensively in University Medical Libraries and on-line, all forms of weight loss surgery for over 5 years before I had mine done.  I found the sleeve to be one of the most effective, with by far the least possible complications, of all forms.