Is the blind stomach physically separated?

I haven't posted for a long time.. Now 13 months out.. and I've lost 150 pounds.
Life couldn't be better. I have such amazing energy, I'm actually looking thin,, not just "NOT FAT" but actually thin,, and I am still loosing.. about 1/4 to 1/2 pound per week..
I haven't had any complications or complaints until about about 8 weeks ago when I had a week of horrible stomach pain after eating..
I had an ultrasound done and it showed that I have several gall stones. This is supposed to be pretty common with rapid weight loss.
One more single episode of severe stomach pain at Easter.. nothing since.

Today I met with the surgeon for my consult to have my gall bladder removed.. My pain (when I had it is right in the middle of my stomach just above my belly button) NOT typical of gall bladder pain.

Since my pain is not at all typical, the surgeon thinks it could be a complication of the Gastric Bypass surgery,, At first  I thought he said he wanted me to diet.. Huh.. WTF!!.. he had an accent and I have trouble understanding accents.. What he was saying was that they will get me to drink some dye.. and xray me or ultrasound me to see if the RNY surgery is all working fine.. I guess I'm still thinking like a fat person.. when I hear dye it.. I compute  DIET!!

Although I was expecting to get a surgery date for gall bladder removal this is not a bad thing.. If there is a twist in my intestines, or some scar tissue or a narrowing of the intestine etc.. Better to have that addressed first.

Now my question.. Doc says that it is possible for the staples to come loose and the food to move from the new tiny stomach to the blind stomach.. He actually stated that this happens in 25% of the people.. NOTE.. this is not a gastic bypass specialist.. (although he has performed this surgery)   I told him that I was under the impression that my blind stomach was actually separated from my new pouch although I did understand staples were used..

I'm looking through my info and it is not definitive. I sorta thought the old "stomach stapling" procedure just stapled off part of your stomach,, but with the new RNY procedure the blind stomach is physically separated..  Does anyone know for sure..
I had my surgery at St. Joes in Hamilton with Doctor Hong, but I'm assuming most surgeons in Ontario use the same procedure..

Does anyone know for sure if the blind stomach is physically separated.. or is it just separated by a row of staples?  Now I'm curious!!

John

John, I'd call your surgeon to be sure. But I think you are right - he is describing the old way of doing RNY - and one of the big reasons people with old GB come back for a revision to the new way...

My surgeons diagram certainly showed it completely separated.

I watched several RNY WLS video's online before my surgery so I was clear as to what was being done to me and yes, it is a complete separation from the new pouch.

John, if you have the "stomach" for i****ch the video on youtube, its kind of fascinating. but yes, the pouch is completely separate from the old stomach.

I believe what that guy was talking about is stomach stapling...not RNY....

Kinda scary that he's a surgeon and isn't up to date on something like that.

Hi John

Nice to see you posting. The others are correct, the stomach is totally on it's own. Like Erica said, I think he is talking about the old stomach stapling.

Good luck with the gall bladder thing

Keep us posted on everything

 Nice to see you John, have been wondering where you've been?  I miss your funny posts. But am so happy you are out and living your life.
Hope you get all this sorted out and are feeling 100% again.
I had my Gall Bladder out 15 years ago and it was no trouble at all.

Char

I might be wrong here but the surgeon could be correct... When we have our stomachs separated you have to sew up or staple the line of separation on the new blind stomach and also at the point where the new tiny one joins the intestines (cant think of the correct term w/o more coffee). I do know that they use a gun that my surgeon specifcally said was loaded with staples to achieve this process.

But... yes do call your gastric by pass surgeon and talk to them to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Hope you feel better soon.

Lorie

The tool that is used to separate your stomach from your pouch "Endo GIA Universal Stapler" cuts down the middle and staples on either side.
Edited to add that some of the images show just a line of staples but I think that's old...

Yes it is physically separated.

But here is the thing that he is talking about.

There are many people who have developed at some time a hole in their pouch.  The body is really good at healing itself, and it is not uncommon that the body make a passageway from the actual pouch to the new stomach. I've known 2 people who have had this condition. It's called a gastric  fistula.  You can google the term. I'm sure that this is what he is referring to.

Dawn