What is Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy? Simply put, approximately 70% of the stomach is removed, stapled closed, forming a “sleeve”. The stomach will be about the size of an egg. Piece of cake! Oh, I know, no surgery is simple, there could be complications.
Another by-product of this procedure is the elimination of “grehlin”, a hormone that says you’re hungry.
What more can a fat person ask for: less stomach, less food in it and no appetite!
Kidding aside, this new bariatric procedure has some advantages that you can still be able to eat normally, just in smaller portions; elimination of the “always hungry” feeling. The disadvantages: This surgery is non reversible. I thought I could ask the surgeon to put my left-over stomach is a plastic baggie and I could freeze it, next to the pork chops for future use. But no such luck, no re-attachment. Therefore, I had to do some soul searching. What am I missing with a smaller stomach? Um, I guess I’ll loose at the hotdog contest at Coney Island and going to “all you can eat” buffets is a waste of money.
I still can gain lots of weight, if I chow down on hot fudge sundaes and chocolate ice cream sodas. You can always cheat the system!
Obviously, there is more to it. Here’s a few websites that I found useful, with more technical data on this procedure and other bariatric surgeries.
My next blog will be “Why I chose Sleeve Gastrectomy over Lap-Band”.
