As some of you may already know, I’m in the process of having Bariatric Surgery. And a part of this process I have to work with my surgical team to decide which form of Bariatric Surgery is for me.
So here are my options:
- GASTRIC BAND – which is an adjustable lap band which is put around the top of the stomach to slow digestion. This band is inflated/deflated with silicone gel to further restrict the amount of food to be eaten.
- GASTRIC BALLOON – which is an inflatable device which is placed within the stomach, which obviously makes you feel full.
- GASTRIC SLEEVE – this is a surgical procedure where the stomach is cut down and removed, leaving only 15% from its original size.
- GASTRIC BYPASS – again a surgical procedure which can be reversed. The stomach is divided into a small upper pouch which is then connected lower down into the small intestine.
However because I’m having my procedure via the National Health Service (NHS) I am limited to 3 choices.
So what do I choose? Well personally for me I know what I don’t want to have, and that’s the Gastric Band. I don’t like the idea of having a foreign object in my body, I don’t want a port under my skin which would be used for inflation/deflation and I don’t want to keep having to have it adjusted. So for me, I definitely don’t want that.
So that leaves me with either a Sleeve or Bypass. And to be honest I keep going back and forwards between the two in my mind. If I’m honest I would take the advice from the surgical team when I meet them in a few weeks as they will likely have a preference based on my pre existing medical conditions.
However if I had to make choice right now for arguments sake, I’d like the Sleeve, it doesn’t seem quite so invasive and would leave me with 15% of my stomach rather than a pouch and have the rest of my stomach still hanging around.
So hopefully I’ll be able to report to you in the next few weeks just what myself and the surgical team have agreed on.
Being a BARIATRIC babe.. 