Question:
ESPECIALLY SINCE I HAVE HAD RNY - PROXIMAL WITH TRANSECTION
I CAN'T BELIEVE.....TO COME ALL THIS WAY.....8 MONTHS.....132 LB. LOSS.....AND AFTER SURGERY IN MARCH.....I WANTED DIE. IN THE LAST 24 HOURS.....I HAVE ATE ALMOST LIKE A NORMAL PERSON.....AND NO HEARTBURN.....AND COULD EAT EVEN MORE.....THE SURGEON SAID TO GET AN UPPER GI.....I HAD RNY-PROXIMAL WITH TRANSECTION.....AND FOR 8 MONTHS.....HAVE ONLY BEEN ABLE TO EAT SMALL PORTIONS.....AND SOME OF THE FOODS THAT WERE GIVING ME PROBLEMS KEEPING DOWN.....LIKE BREAD AND MASHED POTATOES.....AND GOING DOWN LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS.....CAN ANYONE GIVE ME SOME FEEDBACK.....I'M WORRIED.....HOPEFULLY.....SOMEONE OUT THERE HAS HAD RNY WITH TRANSECTION.....AND MAY BE ABLE TO RELATE TO ME.....I AM WORRIED THAT I MAY NEED A REVISION.....HOW COULD I.....SMALL POUCH AND TRANSECTION.....I AM NOT SICK.....AND DON'T HAVE ANY HEARTBURN..... — Robert B. (posted on November 22, 2002)
November 21, 2002
Don't worry. It's not as bad as you think. I am almost 13 months out. This
all goes back to the "it's just a tool" thing. Right after
surgery, we are healing and out pouches can hold about one ounce. In
reality, if it stayed that way, we all probably wouldn't survive! The
pouches gradually heal and stretch, ending up at 5-8 oz. This is the goal
of our surgery. They start them so tiny allowing for the stretch.As far as
mashed potatoes,most people can eat lots of them right away. But, bread,
pasta, etc. usually only becomes possible after six months - because you
now have enough room to fit them. Chewed well enough, they get through the
pouch easily and you can graze on them all day, and yes possibly even gain.
Thus the tool. You now have more room, you need to learn how to fill the
pouch with good choices and not to graze. I also couldn't eat veggies the
first six months. Now I finally can. Now my meals are a small salad,
protein and then if I still have room, a pasta or bread. Usually, with the
bulkier foods in the pouch first, I can't really fit the easy carbs in. The
grazing is another story. We are all the same food obsessed people we
always were. The nibbling habits must be replaced. Take a walk, type on the
computer. Don't allow yourself to slide. At this point, we all tend to
slack off on the drinking. If you eat the pouch filling foods, wait an hour
and then spend the next several hours back to basics - drinking your
liquids, you will stay full until your next meal. Oh, and if you think your
pouch has really gotten so much bigger, try eating something really solid
like an apple as a between meal snack. I can only get down about a third of
one! When I fear that I will allow myself to backslide and slowly binge
myself back, I give myself a mental slap in the head. Did I got through all
of the pain of surgery to gain it back? No! I also come hear and read all
of the posts of the people who are desperately waiting for surgery and
remember that was me. And, my favorite, I go out and try on clothes and
marvel at my new size ten body! It's not easy, but you can make it. We are
here for you.
— Julie S.
November 22, 2002
Robert, it happens, as time passes, that our pouches stretch and we can eat
more. It is supposed to work that way, otherwise if we just ate some small
amounts forever, we would continue to lose rapidly and lose too much. Its
the bodies ways of adjusting. And it is also normal that some foods that
you could not eat early on, will eventually be OK for you, like you are
discovering with the bread and mashed potatoes. At 9 1/2 months post-op,
very little gives me trouble at this stage. But here is where we may have
to work at this a little. In the beginning, the tool does all the work for
us, after a while, we have to contribute to keep the weight loss going.
The basics, of course-lots of water, lots of protein, vitamins, low carb
and sugars-but eventually we have to pitch in by upping the protein and
water, and exercising and not indulging too much in foods that made us fat
in the first place. Doesn't mean you shouldn't eat pizza, but not every
day, for example. Bread is OK for you-whole grain, not white. When I
noticed I started to eat more, I started eating smaller but more frequent
meals. Any time I felt the slightest hungry, I eat. But small amounts,
until I am satisfied, not necessarily full. It works for me...try it.
And if you have had transection, you cannot have a staple line disruption,
that just occurs in folks that have not been transected. Relax, your
normal....
— Cindy R.
November 22, 2002
Hi Robert, Don't despair. It is probably just the natural stretch of the
pouch at 8 mos postop. I did have SLD but I wasn't transected. Now I am
because I had to go back and have it redone. There were no symptoms of SLD
when I had it other than I could eat twice as much and I never felt
satisfied. I mean never. And I did have a little heartburn too. I
disrupted at 6 mos post op and I had not experienced any heartburn unti
then. I quit losing weight but with lots of exercise managed to lose 10
lbs over 3 mos time. BUT if you are transected, I don't think you could
disrupt without getting very sick. Right? I have been hearing about
fistulas forming between the pouch and old stomach and food going through
that. BUT very little food can seem through from my understanding. BUT
there is a very interesting phenomenem (spelling?) that my surgeon confirms
does occur and that is hypertrophy. Hypertrophy is when our bodies over
compensate for the loss of the bypassed small intestines, duodenum, etc by
elongating the common channel and actually forming more villii (fingerlike
things that extend from the intestine that causes absorbtion) in order to
try to "help" us get more absorbtion. This is a common occurence
after many months postop. It is why we can't get away with eating certain
foods like we did at first without gaining. I was dismayed to learn about
this. How do you stop it from happening? By taking your vitamins and
supplements regularly and fooling the body into thinking it isn't missing
anything through malabsorbation. Our bodies are always trying to
"heal" itself and resume the normal status quo that we had before
surgery. So what better reason to take our vitamins religiously? If we
won't do it simply for better health, I bet we will do it to keep from
gaining! Human nature.....Good luck and ask your surgeon to do an upper
GI. You have to complain about some pain or nausea in order for him to
check it out. At least my doctor wouldn't do it just because I wanted to
make sure all was well. Good luck and let us know how you are doing. You
are probably just plateauing and will lose again soon. Believe it or not,
I plateaued for 3 months and I am now losing again. Three months at a
plateau is very frustrating. Thank goodness I am losing again. Whew.
-115 lbs and 40 more to go! Marilyn
— Mylou52
November 22, 2002
Are you positive that you are transected? Cut apart? If so, you might want
to check for a fistula--sort of a bridge between stomach A and stomach B.
The food can pass again, in other words. And then Marilyn said it all.
— vitalady
November 22, 2002
Thanks Michelle! I take that as a real compliment coming from someone with
your expertise and knowledge! Robert, why don't you do as I did and ask
for the surgical notes from your surgery? I wanted to read for myself the
part about "an endo GIA with a firing of 60 was used to transect that
communication (the staple line disruption) between the two parts of the
stomach". Man, when I read that I rejoiced! Sometimes patients
assume that they are transected and then later find out they are not. I
hope you are certain of this and if not, then you could have a disruption.
Good luck and I hope for the best for you. God bless,
— Mylou52
May 28, 2006
I too have gained back a lot of weight. My nutritionist told me that the
two most common traits in patients that gain back weight are drinking while
eating and drinking carbonated beverages. I am not a doctor and do not
know if this is scientifically proven but I can tell you that when I
started doing these things sure enough I began to gain and even binge more
often actually I should say graze more often. I am glad to see Michelle is
still around. She has been a wealth of info over the years. I need to
stay in touch with this website.
— igot2lose
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