The Sleeve, And RnY, and Regain

First off, please note that I am 2 1/2 years POST OP, and not looking to revise or interested in any type of surgery war discussion.  I just have a quick (maybe ) question.

My sis-in-law got the sleeve. She is beyond thrilled with it.  I got the RnY. I too am beyond thrilled with the results.  The other day, we were talking about regain.  I know that statistically, SOME Rny's have a "bounceback" or "rebound" gain as their malabsorption wears off.  I also know that if they work on it and use their "tool" (hate that phrase) they can many times get the weight back off.  It all seems to depend on their lifestyle and it's a personal decision I guess.

Our question, because even as a sleever, she didn't know the answer either; What are the statistics on regain for those with the sleeve?  ARE there any long term stats yet for the sleeve?

Again, definately not trying to establish which is the supposedly "better" surgery here.  Just trying to understand the regain stats on the sleeve vs the RnY.

Thanks for any input you may have=)

According to a DS surgeon (and sleeve of course), the average VSGer will regain aprox 40 pounds by the 5 year mark.

Is that true of the DS and the VSG, or just the VSG? I'm wondering how the DS malabsorption factor impacts regain?

The expected regain with DS after 5 years is a typical post honeymoon bounce back of 10-20 pounds. This is according to Dr. Keshishian and Dr. Baltasar.

THAT is exactly what I was looking for.  A number.  Thanks Yehuda!

(eta, weird, I thought, and my screen shows, that I posted this under your sleeve reply.  sorry for any confusion- it looks like it's showing up under your DS reply now?!)

Sorry, but according to the latest Sleeve statistics, there is very litte or no regain with the Sleeve. Perhaps there was with the older (larger) sleeves, but not with the latest and smaller ones, unless you REALLY TRY.
Don't forget that the first part of a DS is a Sleeve (though somewhat larger).

Dr. Baltasar recently did a study which showed that the initial sleeve size does not make a difference in long term maintanence.

This topic was discussed at a recent support group meeting, There are over 30 years of history behind the RNY, and only a couple of years behind the sleeve. So there are likely no long rage states on the sleeve surgery.  We had some sleeve patients in our support groups, and their wt loss is significant, but long range maybe not as much as rny.  Bounceback from any surgery is normally based on the post op not following protocol anymore.  It's difficult to have 2-4 ounce meals.  There are 2 sisters in one of my support groups. On had a sleeve 18 months ago and has lost about 85 pounds. Here sister had the RNY some 12 months ago, and already lost over 100 pounds.  Life style modifications are needed for any wt loss surgery success. DAVE

I'm not mad but I do want to point out that if malabsorption decreases (which we know it does) then your statement that bouncebak is based on not following protocol is a bunch of bunk.

A person can completely follow the eating plan and when the malabsorption stops or decreases they will gain weight. 

It would be really nice to not have to read a post in every thread that blames the patient for every regain.

~Becky

If you regain, how is it not your fault? How is the surgery to blame? Malabsorption starts to decrease immediately after surgery, not all of a sudden a couple of years down the road. There are many people here who never regain, because they constantly monitor how they are doing, and make adjustments. If you start to regain, it is because you start to eat more, and perhaps move less. The surgery does not stop working.

I exclude the band of course. It's a miracle that it ever works, and it will eventually fail.