Gastric Sleeve Surgery


What does an actual sleeve gastrectomy surgery look like? A sleeve gastrectomy is performed laparoscopically, using multiple small incisions and instruments. During the procedure, a large portion of the stomach is divided vertically and removed. The remaining stomach – now reduced to about 25% of its original size – is shaped like a banana and resembles a tube or sleeve. This helps reduce the amount of food you can eat and reduce your appetite.

If you are interested in having sleeve surgery or discussing which weight loss option is best for you, please contact our office to make an appointment.

The main difference between a lap band and a sleeve gastrectomy lies in their mechanism of action. A lap band is strictly a portion control only operation, as opposed to a sleeve gastrectomy that’s more of a portion control than appetite suppression operation. There’s some subtle differences between the complication rates, as well as the weight loss, and that’s something that we can talk about in person.

I’d love to meet with you personally and talk about your weight loss surgery options. Please contact one of our patient care advocates today.

Unfortunately, we happen to see people on a weekly basis that have been unsuccessful with the prior LAP-BAND, so the question becomes “Are there some other options for me and why was I unsuccessful in the first place?” The answer to the first of those is absolutely, there are a myriad of options. The second one is going to be the most important in the details because it’s going to be integral to your success in the end.

I’d love to meet with you personally and talk about your weight loss surgery options. Please contact one of our patient care advocates today.

What is my post-op diet after weight-loss surgery? Well, obviously within the first two to three weeks, it’s going to consist of mainly liquids. Beyond about four to six weeks, the reality is most people are eating anything they want, simply less portions. In some cases they may be eating different types of food to comply with their post-op diet requirements.

I’d love to meet with you personally and talk about your weight-loss surgery options. Please contact one of our patient-care advocates today.

When can I go back to work after having weight loss surgery? For most people, the answer is about 1 week. Obviously that’s occupation dependent; people that have the desk job will be back much quicker, than say, a fireman or a police officer. For the majority of people, however, they are resuming normal daily activities within about a week.

I’d love to meet with you personally and talk about your weight loss surgery options. Please contact one of our patient care advocates today.

The Sleeve Gastrectomy does reduce hunger. One mechanism of action is that we remove the part of the stomach that secretes a hormone known as ghrelin which is responsible for your appetite. By removing that we actually see a profound impact in loss of appetite in our patients. I’d love to meet with you personally and talk about your weight loss surgery options. Please contact one of our patient care advocates today.

There are side effects to LAP-BAND surgery. Some of these may include things such as nausea, vomiting, infection, erosion, obstructive symptoms. The main thing to understand is that those are not normal. They are not things you’re expected to deal with. If you’re experiencing anything of that nature it requires further investigation.

I’d love to meet with you personally and talk about your weight loss surgery options. Please contact one of our patient care advocates today.

I’m frequently asked, what is bariatric surgery? The answer to that is quite simple. It’s a medical terminology for weight loss surgery. It does not separate out any of the different types of surgery, it’s the generic term for weight loss surgery.

I’d love to meet with you personally and talk about your weight loss surgery options. Please contact one of our patient care advocates today.

Historically a gastric bypass has generally been deemed non-reversible. The reality is that we can reverse gastric bypasses, and we do reverse gastric bypasses. Typical setting in which that would be the case would be things where patients have lost too much weight. More likely, that patient’s have developed a diagnosis of cancer, and now, they are malnourished and required more nutritional input.

I’d love to meet with you personally and talk about your weight loss surgery options. Please contact one of our patient care advocates today.