Things To Expect During and After Gastric Sleeve

What to Expect During Your Gastric Sleeve Surgery: Robert Snow, DO, FACOS,  FASMBS: Bariatric Surgery

Natural weight loss methods like exercise, medications, and diet may prove ineffective in achieving a healthy weight. In that case, you may need to undergo weight loss surgery and one surgical procedure your surgeon may recommend is gastric sleeve Frisco. The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery reports that gastric sleeve, also known as sleeve gastrectomy, accounts for more than 55% of bariatric procedures annually.

Gastric sleeve surgery is a surgical weight loss procedure involving the reduction of your stomach size by almost 80%. Because your surgeon removes a large part of your stomach, it cannot hold lots of food and liquid, and you will feel fuller faster. Moreover, sleeve gastrectomy limits your hunger signals as there is a reduction in the production of a hunger hormone called ghrelin.

During gastric sleeve surgery

A few months or weeks before undergoing a gastric sleeve surgery, through consultation with your surgeon, you may be recommended to stop taking certain medications, quit smoking, and stick to a particular diet.

Your health provider will determine if you are healthy and an ideal candidate for gastric sleeve by examining your medical records and subjecting you to physical examinations and medical imaging. For instance, a medical scan may reveal if you have an abnormality in your gastrointestinal tract.

Before your doctor starts the surgical procedure, you will be put to sleep using general anesthesia. The surgeon then makes a few small incisions in your belly and inserts an instrument called a laparoscope, which has a tiny camera that captures and sends pictures of the inside of your stomach to a monitor for viewing.

The surgeon then inserts other medical instruments in the other incisions to isolate and remove a huge part of your stomach. As a result, the remaining portion of your stomach is shaped like a tube or sleeve.

You may need to stay in the hospital for a night or a few days to enable close monitoring of your recovery and quick dealing with surgery complications that may arise.

After gastric sleeve surgery

During the first few weeks after gastric sleeve surgery, you will be required only to eat liquid foods since they are easy to digest, store, and absorb and will not interfere with the healing of your stomach.

Because clear, liquid foods may not provide sufficient minerals and vitamins your body require for proper function; you may have to use supplements. You may also need to use medications that can relieve stomach acid.

Slowly transition from clear, liquid foods to solid foods. When you finally begin to eat solid foods, ensure you chew them properly before swallowing. Additionally, avoid eating foods packed with calories.

A weight loss surgery such as a gastric sleeve can help improve your cardiovascular health, reverse type 2 diabetes, provide relief against joint pain, relieve depression, and improve fertility.

For instance, since gastric sleeve surgery limits the quantity of food you eat, you will shed extra weight gradually. Without excessive weight, less pressure is exerted on your knees, hips, and ankles; thus, you benefit from joint pain relief.

Contact The Bariatric Experts today to schedule an appointment with a gastric sleeve surgery specialist to learn more about the surgical procedure.

Leave a Reply