How Does It Work?

Think “banana.” That’s the size and shape your stomach will permanently be transformed into with Gastric Sleeve surgery. Most of your stomach will be trimmed away, which in turn will restrict the amount of food you can consume. The good news is your appetite will reflect the new size of your stomach and you won’t want to eat more than what’s acceptable. For most people, that will be about two to three ounces of food per meal. By removing most of the stomach, a serious reduction in the amount of ghrelin hormone (the appetite-producing hormone) will occur.

One of the main benefits of choosing a Sleeve Gastrectomy over some of the other weight loss surgery options is that your other digestive organs are not involved in this procedure. Since they are left intact, your small intestine will continue to absorb the nutrients, vitamins, minerals and water it needs, drastically reducing the possibility of malnutrition. Also, since this is less invasive procedure than some of the others, it can be performed on a wider range of patients, who previously were not good candidates for weight loss surgery. You have a BMI of 40 or more, (approximately 100 lbs. or more overweight) or a BMI of 35-40 with co-morbidities, in order to be considered for a Sleeve Gastrectomy.