Things to Consider Before Getting a Gastric Sleeve Surgery

Gastric sleeve surgery is performed to decrease the size of your stomach as well as to remove the stomach cells producing the hunger-regulating hormone to reduce your appetite and thus reduce the overall food intake. It’s shown tremendous results in treating obesity which is linked to serious chronic illnesses, and even death. Here are some of the most important things for you to consider before getting gastric sleeve surgery.

What Is a Gastric Sleeve Surgery

Gastric sleeve surgery is a procedure which is performed by bariatric surgeons in hospitals or specialized surgical centers. It’s performed under general anesthesia on either adults or adolescents and lasts from one to two hours. In a sleeve gastrectomy, the bariatric surgeon removes 80% of the stomach to create a much smaller stomach. This newly shaped stomach is tubular and about the size of an average banana. After the size of the stomach has been reduced, the patients will feel full for several hours after eating just a small portion of food, which is the main purpose of this procedure – to reduce the overall intake of food. Furthermore, during a gastric sleeve surgery, the stomach cells which produce the hunger hormone ghrelin are also removed, which helps patients experience a further decrease in appetite and thus reduce the overall food intake too. The surgery is usually performed laparoscopically to ensure minimum scarring with this minimally invasive technique.

Preparation Can Be Tough

The first thing you should be certain of before a gastric sleeve surgery is if you’re truly ready. Aside from the obvious reasons why, some additional reasons why you should be sure is because you will have to persuade everyone around you from your family, your physicians, and your insurance carrier. To even be considered for the surgery your doctor needs to recommend you for it. After that, you need to give detailed insight into your weight and attempt to lose weight for six months. Once your physicians agree, your insurance provider will have to authorize the payment for the surgery. Furthermore, once the technical details are ironed out, you should focus on planning and building support. This means to make plans for an extended recovery and focus on building a support system of trusted family members, friends, and professionals on your team of surgeons and caregivers.

The Risks of Surgery Are Low If You Otherwise Have No Treatment

Even though there are some risks accompanied with a gastric sleeve surgery, as with any other surgery, they are extremely low compared with not doing anything at all. The risks of serious complications during gastric sleeve surgery have been reduced to only 4% because the procedure has been improved over years, which is nothing compared to the risks of staying obese. Obesity carries many potential chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and even death (yes, that serious) which are far more serious than a low-risk procedure. To witness this statement, there are many patients worldwide that report feeling better after the surgery, more active, and take far less medication to treat the complications that obesity carries. This highly improved quality of life is the main reason that almost all of the patients who have undergone this surgery have said if they could go back in time, they would choose to do it again.

Recovery

Once you wake up after the surgery, it’s normal to feel groggy and nauseous, even vomiting is common as these are common results from waking up from general anesthesia. This can easily be taken care of by having a nurse provide you with painkillers and anti-nausea medications to help ease these symptoms. Soon after your symptoms subside you will be moved from the ICU to the hospital room (usually after a few hours) where you will be expected to stay for two more nights. This is the standard time of admission so the nurses and doctors can closely monitor you for complications such as infection and bleeding. You will also be encouraged to start walking as soon as possible to avoid blood clots from appearing in your legs. You will be discharged home once you are tolerating a diet consisting of clear liquids and show no symptoms of complications. Some instructions to have in mind once you go home are to see a nutritionist regularly, take your time to recover fully, and avoid strenuous activity for up to two months after the surgery.

You must consider these important things before you even consider a gastric sleeve surgery. Above all, you should look for trusted clinics or private hospitals that have shown great results and have experience in gastric sleeve surgery.