Vanishing Velez

At least in the hospitals near me, to start the process of weight loss surgery, all patients need to start with an informational session. This is usually a webinar (but can be in person) where a surgeon, nurse, or program manager walk potential patients through the basics of the weight loss surgery process.

I have been to 3 info sessions in the past 24 months. The first info session that I did was around January or February of 2022. This info session was through Yale New Haven Health. But then I got pregnant and all thoughts of weight loss surgery were on hold.

After I had Beatrix, I reached out again to Yale to see if I could just continue from where I left off, but they said that I needed to be 6 months postpartum before I could restart the process, and that at that point I would need to start over. So I waited the 6 months and then re did the information session. It turns out that there was a change to my insurance since the first info session, so I was informed that I would not be able to use Yale as my hospital, and instead would have to go to St Mary’s hospital in Waterbury. So off I go to a third information session. While the Yale sessions were 100% virtual, the St. Mary’s session was hybrid.

What You Learn

Now, know that I am not speaking for all hospitals. This is just my experience. Basically in the sessions I went to, there is a discussion surrounding the two main surgeries that are regularly performed in 2023: the gastric sleeve (VSG/sleeve gastrectomy) and the gastric bypass (Roux-en-Y).

Gastric Sleeve

The gastric sleeve is the less severe of the two procedures. It is performed laproscopically, and the recovery time ranges from 7-10 days. In this surgery, your surgeon will remove approximately 85% of your stomach, use staples to create a much smaller stomach, almost in the shape of a banana, and then remove the rest. Your stomach stays connected to your esophagus and intestine throughout the entire process.

Gastric Bypass

The gastric bypass option also creates a much smaller stomach pouch, but does it in a different way. Instead of removing from the side of your stomach to create a pouch, a large portion of the stomach and small intestine are separated from the remainder of the stomach. The surgeon then bypasses this section and reconnects what is left of the stomach further down the intestine.

Other surgical options

The Lap Band-this option is no longer used, and instead many doctors are removing them in favor of a gastric sleeve or bypass. The band can easily move, it does not last forever, and more.

The Duodenal Switch-being completely honest, I don’t understand this procedure that well. I do know it is the most severe and has the worst side effects. This surgery is a last resort option.

Pre and post operative care is discussed, including how long patients are usually in recovery, what a post operative diet looks like, how all patients have different preoperative requirements, etc. Along with this, they talk about preoperative requirements like nutrition visits and psych evaluations. They discuss side effects, expected weight loss, and lifestyle changes required as well.

In my info session at St. Mary’s hospital, a majority of the presentation was done by a medical assistant who specifically coordinates this program. She reviewed all the statistics and general information about the bariatric process. She also went over some nutrition basics as well as testimonials from previous patients. This section took about 35-40 minutes. Then, Dr. Shetty came in and discussed the different types of surgeries, recovery time, who would be good candidates, etc.

I don’t want to discuss too much more because, again, I’m sure every hospital is different. What I will say is that you should expect this info session to be about an hour. You should also expect a call within a few days asking if you want to continue with the process. It is perfectly OK to say that you need more time to think about it. That being said they might require you to attend another session if you wait too long.