No one intentionally sets out to be obese. Not only do you feel uncomfortable in your own body, but obesity is a contributing factor to some health problems such as diabetes, heart ailments, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and depression. Your family doctor can refer you to a general surgeon in Victorville for weight loss surgery if you have a body mass of 30+ and have not been able to lose weight by dieting and exercising.
While there are a number of various Bariatric procedures, gastric sleeve surgery, also known as sleeve gastrectomy, has a high success rate in helping patients achieve and maintain significant weight loss. The gastric sleeve surgery can be performed as an open or laparoscopic operation. With an open procedure, you will have a scar after the operation. Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive operation that results in little or no scarring.
Operation Overview
You will be given a general anesthetic before the operation to ensure that you will be asleep and not have any pain. The surgeon will make a large incision for an open operation or a few small incisions for a laparoscopic operation. The surgeon will remove more than half of your stomach and insert a banana shaped vertical sleeve in the empty area. Surgical staples or sutures are used to close the surgery site. The entire procedure generally requires about 2 hours.
Recovery after Surgery
You will need to remain in the hospital for a few days. It is natural for you to experience some stomach pain and soreness at the incision site. Your surgeon will prescribe the appropriate pain medicine. To avoid dehydration, you’ll need to drink small amounts of water all day long. Your surgeon will instruct you on what foods to eat while your stomach is healing when you can return to work, when you can resume normal activities, what supplemental vitamins and minerals to take while losing weight, and a schedule of office visits to monitor your progress.
