THE SLEEVE

I'm sorry, I had to read your post several times to try to understand the point you are making. I'm still unclear. It seems you are trying to say Gastric Sleeve Surgery is drastic and unneeded for most people.

Please try to make your posts more clear. People here are not fond of weight loss surgery when it is not absolutely medically necessary. A badly written post can get responses going in all directions very quickly.

I recently did the sleeve. At my highest BMI, the actuarial data showed that I clearly was at a greater risk from my weight than I would be from the surgery. So I had the surgery. I'm still in the honeymoon period, where the weight is coming off easily, but I gotta say -- it was totally worth it for me. I have lost large amounts of weight to diet and exercise before, but it's always been a grueling effort that I could not maintain for more than a few months. This has been the easiest weight loss of my life. (And yes, I'm doing a proper diet and exercising regularly. The sleeve is a tool that is helping me succeed, it is not my entire strategy.)

If you don't understand it and it freaks you out, it's not an option for you. Simples.

kaymae226 wrote: »

I'm new to the message boards, not to MFP.... I'm here to lose 60 lbs that I put back on after keeping 160 lbs off for almost 10 years...
I have seen sooo many people who are 100 lbs overweight getting THE SLEEVE done.. now after curiosity got the best of me, I researched this "miracle tool"....
at best patient can expect to lose 55 percent of EXCESS weight. and regain is very likely after the first year... so why would someone get EIGHTY FIVE PERCENT of the stomach removed to lose 55 lbs and then have a regain of 10 percent of that IF they continue to diet... oh yeah, after the first month of shakes, soft foods, you do have to diet... I just don't get it....
not judging those who had it, I'm truly trying to understand. I understand WLS for those who get the RNY, my son had it... he is pretty sick, nutritional defiency and all, but he's down to his goal weight and so I guess that is good...
but even that surgery you have to watch what you eat...
sigh...
just thinking 85% of an essential organ is mind blowing.

On a personal level, I can definitely see what you're saying. Even at my heaviest, it was never the option for me. I wasn't the slightest bit interested for the very reasons you mentioned.

On a general level though, I think you're underestimating the desperation some people have. They know they have a bad relationship with food, but they feel entirely powerless to change it. Or, they try to change, but see their body getting bigger despite their efforts and begin to panic. This option grants some people the control (or at least sense of control) they need to change their lifestyles effectively.

The people who are the most successful with this proceedure (in my own experience) are the people who have it done knowing it's a tool. It's the thing that's going to help them keep from getting bigger while they re-learn how to eat and how to treat food. These people are likely the ones that are going to educate themselves about the new reality they're stepping into - that overeating will make them sick for a while, that the surgery will be a major procedure that will involve its own risks and recovery period, and that this is not a magical solution to their problems.

I think the lack of success comes when a patient assumes this will solve their food problems, so they don't have to eat differently, don't have to go to counseling, and don't need to change their lives. The sleeve will do it for them. My only experience with this has been a lady who got her stomach stapled and assumed it meant she could eat what she wanted. At first, the procedure made her so sick, she was able to abstain from eating harmful quantities. A year later, however, and those sick symptoms began to diminish - and she started really eating again. One day at McDonald's, she sat down with me and ate a quarter-pounder, a Big Mac, a large fry, and a shake. The last time I'd seen her, a small salad had made her throw up, so I asked "are you going to be okay with that?" She replied, "Oh yeah. I can eat whatever I want now and it's great!" Needless to say, her weight loss didn't stick.

So - and I apologize if I'm missing the point you were trying to make - but I think if it's done right, the sleeve can be a valid solution. I just think we tend to notice the failures because so many people think it's going to be a cure-all instead of just another tool in an arsenal.