The Surgery

A lot of people have never heard of a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (or VSG). Also called "the sleeve", "sleeve gastrectomy", and a variety of other names. A gastrectomy in general is removing a portion of the stomach. These have been done for quite a long time and are used a lot in stomach cancer patients. This is the only one of the surgeries currently done that actually REMOVES a large part of your stomach, as opposed to just stitching off a portion and leaving the rest there. Here's a graphic of what is done:

About 85% of the stomach is removed. There is nothing else done such as rerouting of the intestines. An older type of gastric bypass is done called Duodenal Switch which is this type of stomach surgery plus the intestinal bypass. This is rarely done now... now, usually gastric bypass is the rou-en-y type.

For me, this was the right surgery. Purely restrictive. No malabsorbtion issues, no device in the body to maintain and worry about. Everything just felt right to me.

You can learn more about this surgery through these helpful links:

What is a Sleeve Gastrectomy?

Comparison of Surgery Types

Post-Op Questions & Answers

Vertical Sleeve Talk Forums