How Easy Is It to Stretch The Sleeve?

[hotterndonutgrease 0]

I am about 3.5 weeks out from surgery and am in the "soft food" stage. Tonight for dinner I had a piece of grilled fish. It was really big though. Probably 7-8 ounces. How is it possible I was able to eat this? I thought our sleeves were approximately 4 ounces. I am scared my sleeve is stretched already. Is this even possible?

I have lost around 45 pounds so far, about 17 of that since surgery. The rest was on my 4 week Liquid Protein diet.

[KellyL 173]

Have you been feeling restriction with other meats or eggs? Did you feel full or uncomfortable from eating 7-8 oz? I really don't think theres a way in 3.5 wks you could have stretched your sleeve, but it's possible your swelling has gone down in your sleeve giving you more room. I am 4 wks out, but I pretty much measure everything. I haven't really started on solid meat yet. Do you have any idea what size bougie you have?

[AutumnLily 77]

Some fish is not as dense as chicken or beef or pork. I can eat a fair size portion of Sole without feeling over stuffed. I can only eat 2-3 oz of dense Proteins like chicken and beef. Have not tried pork yet as it can be dry.

I doubt you stretched your sleeve. I am sure the swelling has gone down and there is more room.

[hotterndonutgrease 0]

Yes, I felt uncomfortably full after eating that. I didn't quite finish the whole thing because I was uncomfortable. I do feel restriction eating other thing. For Breakfast I had a half a cup of cottage cheese and then tried to have a little applesauce with it. Got one bite down and that was one bite too many.

I find myself doing that a lot....eating one bite too many. Need to work on that.

[hotterndonutgrease 0]

Have no idea what size bougie I have....or what a bougie even is!

[KellyL 173]

I try to measure, use very small plates/containers. And i think someone said our meat shouldnt be bigger than the palm of our hand.

The bougie is a tool the drs use to shape and size our sleeves during surgery.

[former_vbg 198]

Have no idea what size bougie I have....or what a bougie even is!

The standard seems to be a size 32 or 34, although I have heard of some surgeons using in the 40's. The size of the tool itself is very minimal, but the research I have seen shows that the higher the bougie, the stretching can increase exponentially. It's a moot issue now that you have had your surgery, but you might ask your Dr. how much he set your pouch to be able to hold.

[meggiep 57]

Are you sure about the weight of the fish? It might not have been as heavy as you think.

I weigh and measure everything carefully. For one thing, I would waste so much food if I didn;t- I know the size of my bougie and it is 32- and I can no way fit more than 2 ounces of anything in, no matter what I wish... I am at 5 weeks.

[ybnormal 21]

I weigh and measure everything as well and I'm at 20 days. I didn't at first because I couldn't eat more than a bite or two and then I was full. I still can't eat a full 2 ounces but I'm getting closer and as the swelling goes down I will be able to eat it. I would seriously weigh food at 2 ounces or measure it at 1/4 cup and DON'T eat past that, then you won't get that "UGH! one bite too many!" feeling. Why push it, ya know?

Renee`

[kellyw74 258]

I agree with Renee!

That is what my guidelines say to do. ALWAYS MEASURE, NEVER WEIGH!!!

I am suppose to eat 1/2 c right now three times a day. That is about 3oz at a time. I can NEVER get that much in at once and I am 5 weeks out yesterday! I do good to do 1/2 of that depending of what it is.

I stop when I feel satisfied, NOT full. That way I know I have not eaten too much.

Kelly

[Husky2Healthy 1]

I was sleeved with a 34 bogue, I will be 6 weeks out June 16th. I 'had' very little restriction problems until now that I have moved on to solids. I can eat a good 8 oz or blended food if I do not measure my food out. I have also adopted taking a good 3-4 minute break halfway through my 'meal' and closing my eyes and asking myself what I 'feel'. Do I feel tight? Do I feel hunger? Do I feel satified with WHAT I am eating? Then if I still want to eat I will finish my measured out portion. Plus the 3-4 mins gives me a chance to 'sense' what is going on inside.

But yes, I can put a lot of ounces away if I am not careful, but I am more concerned with messing my staples (still) than stretching my pouch. chicken if it is moist goes down really well, pork if it is braised and shredded goes down really well. Beef not so much. Blended eggs, no restriction. Soft scambled eggs i can not even finish half a cup.

Everyone is different, but I would suggest spending time 'reading' your body ad let it answer these questions for you. Your pouch will eventually stretch, but it will never be as big as it was before. But I could put on 10 lbs in less than a week with my size pouch if I filled it with the crap I use to eat.. Just remember, protien always first.

Best,

Steven

[NJMOMof2 17]

Personally, I don't think the size bougie matters. My dr used a size 40 and I can NOT eat more than a 1/2 cup of food. I know that fish is very light and not dense but my question is just because you CAN eat a 7 to 8 piece of fish....doesn't mean you SHOULD! Measure your food, eat the correct portion and see how long you stay full for. If you are staying full, that you know that you can control your portion.

[hotterndonutgrease 0]

Thanks everyone for your information and input.

Just because you can doesnt mean you should. I am going to remember that one.

[Rootman 1,101]

Well, better late than never as my mother used to say. The stomach is a stretchy thing and still retains SOME of it's elasticity after surgery. YES you can stretch the sleeve but even if you stretch it to +100% of it's size it will still only hold a small amount compared to what it used to hold. It will shrink back up just as easily. And you will be VERY uncomfortable stretching it out much at all. So don't worry about it, it'll still be small even stretched, if you are eating LESS of the RIGHT foods and losing weight it's working.

[ouroborous 519]

According to what I've read, while you can definitely stretch the sleeve to some extent, the part that gets cut out (the fundus, technically) is the really "stretchy" part. According to my doc (and folks on here), the remainder of the stomach is about on par with football leather in terms of how much you can stretch it -- very tough indeed!