What is a Gastric Sleeve?

December 14, 2011 my life changed forever. For the better. Early that morning, I arrived at Lexington Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina with my parents. Shortly after I checked in, I was called back for preparation for surgery. Only one parent could go back while I changed, so my mother came with me. My dad waited out in the waiting room for my friend Karen to arrive. (Karen has been my own personal guide, support system, and angel through this process. She had the bypass done 5 years ago). After I changed into the gigantic gown (that wouldn't be needed after some time!), they brought my father in... and with him came Karen. I saw her and burst into tears. I was scared, excited, anxious, happy, and overwhelmed. I was about to go in for a Sleeve Gastrectomy, more commonly known as a Gastric Sleeve.

Although the Gastric Sleeve has been performed for many, many years in Europe, it is still not that well known here in the US. I had indeed read about it, but was under the impression that it was more of a first step for people who were extremely morbidly obese or were in poor health. Not so much! When I visited the surgeon for a consult, he asked which procedure I was thinking of having done. I told him the Roux-n-y, as that is the most common procedure, and I felt my best chance. He had asked if I wanted the band, and I responded in the negative stating that I felt it would be too easy to slip back into old habits with that. He was happy to hear that. He told me that the band is ineffective, and that recently, people were starting to have problems with them and needing them removed. When I finished explaining why I wanted the Roux-en-y, he stated that he felt I should have the Sleeve. I was shocked. I asked him why and if there results were comparable to those of the bypass. Because I was not diabetic, he felt the bypass was unnecessary. For some reason, immediately following bypass surgery, diabetes just disappears. No one knows why, it just does! Anyway, I was under 300 lbs., I didn't have diabetes, and was in fairly good health, so the Sleeve would be a great option. And he informed me that the results are indeed comparable to the bypass.

But what exactly is the Gastric Sleeve? It's an interesting procedure, and it is irreversible. Once you have been put under anesthesia, the doctors will put a tube down your throat. Once in your throat, they inflate a little balloon to measure how wide your esophagus is. This is important, because they are going to staple your stomach into a pouch that is the same width. This is the only surgery where any part of your stomach is removed. Once they have stapled off your new stomach pouch, they completely remove the rest of your stomach. This ends up being about 85% of your stomach that is removed. It is called a Sleeve because that is what the new pouch looks like... a sleeve on a shirt. It really looks banana like, but who would want a Gastric Banana?! Yech.

Also, most patients also have hernias. My surgeon did not mention suspecting a hernia, but I know that many patients either go in knowing they have one or most likely have one. They did discover a hernia when they went in, a rather small hiatal hernia, and it was easily repaired. It's easy enough, and does not take much extra time.

I will write another post about the hospital stay another day. I think it's good to know what to expect going in, and I'm glad I had that knowledge! But, if you have any questions, please write me and ask!