Gastric surgery

[needadvicethankyouplease]

I am going down the private route. I want to have gastric surgery, not a bypass. Can anyone share their experiences, successes, failures etc please.

I've not had my first appointment as I'm still at the fact finding stage. I think a band or sleeve will be what I have.

Thanks for any helpful info and advice.

Just wondering if anyone can offer advice please?

Don have a band - the failure/complication rate a few years down the line is incredibly highs I'd go for a sleeve, if you have more than 10 stone to lose, I'd go for a bypass. Just my opinions 👍🏻

@FabulouslyElegantTits thank you. I'm not having a bypass, I don't need to lose that much. I'll look into a sleeve though. Ideally I'd like a few real life experiences as I don't know anybody who has had the surgery except someone who had a bypass.

I had a band, It's very difficult to work with, I would eat a small amount (unable to eat any more) and then be hungry again half an hour later. I lost a fair amount but then it snapped, I had it repaired but it never worked after that and eroded into my oesophagus so I had it removed. I now have no sense of 'fullness' as the band skewed that for me!

I had a sleeve, have lost 4 stone in 4 months.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/3684307-Weight-loss-surgery

A thread I started just before my op last year.

I had a sleeve done about 18 months ago, I've lost over 60kg. It was a pretty easy recovery, although I did move too much in the first week or so and opened up 4/5 of the incision sites

@GinaCarbonara where did you have your surgery?

I had it with a clinic called Tonic, they have clinics over the country. I had my actual surgery in Derby, but my clinic appointments in London where I live.

The clinic have amazing aftercare, dieticians and exercise coaches, a bariatric nurse etc. And my surgeon is incredible, I couldn't have asked for better. Would definitely recommend. It's a little pricier than other places but you definitely get what you pay for. They also have finance options.

I had such a good experience and result my sister had the same op with same surgeon 3 months after me and has also done incredibly well

@GinaCarbonara thanks, do you mind me asking what you paid?

£11.5k, that includes 2 years of aftercare and all clinic appointments. I think it's slightly less if your BMI isn't as high as mine was. The private hospital was lovely, my room was absolutely enormous.

I had a bypass a year ago. My surgeon gave me the choice of bypass or sleeve. The long term success rate is higher with a bypass than a gastric sleeve. The bypass op is slightly riskier but since I was healthy apart from my weight, I went for the bypass.

Why do you not want a bypass?

@BrennieGirl the only lady I know who has had one has suffered a lot since having hers and to me is underweight now so I guess that's clouding my judgement.

I decided against a bypass for a few reasons;

I only had 5 stone to lose to get me to a healthy bmi.
There is more of a risk of malabsorption with the bypass
If having bypass needed b12 injection every 3 months (with sleeve, only need a b12 if your levels drop below the normal range, my b12 has been fine, so not needed the injections).
I don’t have a sweet tooth, so the dumping side effect would have made no difference to me.
The complication and mortality rate is higher for a bypass.

I had a sleeve in 2013 and lost 13st in a year. Beat thing I ever did as I subsequently safely conceived carried and delivered three children in which I always thought I could never have. Do your research about the various procedures, risks and outcomes and go for it. I wish I done it when I was younger.

Hi I had a sleeve last April. Best thing ever! Lost 8 stone so far and feel great. Had blood test at 6 months all good there too. I do take a selection of vitamins too.
I went with healthier weight in London. 10k 24/7 support.