sept 9th 2009

In cahoots with the cohen

Apparently the gastric banding is not such a current procedure anymore. The newish thing is called tube or sleeve gastrectomy..which basically involves removal of 2/3’s of the stomach, leaving a 200ml tube. Sounds pretty drastic huh?

Looking into the pros and cons. its not reversible…but there’s no maintainence, once it’s done it’s done. No top ups, no adjustments. food doesn’t get stuck in the band so you don’t have to avoid certain foods, and the stomach just feels full instead of vomiting up food that wont fit. Patients have also lost more weight, and quicker…instead of 30-50% of excess weight with the band…its 50-70% of excess weight with the tube. As with all surgery there is a risk, there have been 2 cases of bleeding which was fixed with surgery. Same recovery time as the banding. So the real downer is that it’s permanent.

And I have been looking for a permanent solution…

Also there’s the question of having a baby, with the band you can have it loosened if you need to increase your intake. Would I be able to eat enough when I decide to get pregnant? This is probably my main concern.

If anyone is interested in the sleeve/tube procedure, just youtube “mercy cohen sleeve” and the video should come up.