Stretch Sleeve Out

[dominique 34]

Has anyone heard whether it is possible for us to stretch out our sleeves? I've heard both ways.

[Lissa 2,631]

I've heard both ways, too. My surgeon told me that it's all but impossible to stretch it back to the size it was before surgery. However, he was careful to add that we CAN beat the sleeve, just like any other WLS. If we eat junk food and sliders, the sleeve will not keep us from doing that. It will just push it on through and we can and will gain weight. Since sweets were one of my problems before surgery, I have to keep an eye on that.

I've posted before about avoiding crunchy cheetos. I just don't bring them home, so I'm not tempted to eat them. I can have pretzels or reglular chips here and not think about them, but the cheetos sit in the pantry screaming for me to eat them. So, they get to stay at the store.

[KellyL 173]

I've seen it questioned and discussed and various peoples surgeons opinions on it, but I don't know what the truth is. I have seen Dr's say both ways too. I just try to under eat my sleeve and hope i keep the restriction forever. We naturally have a little more room as the swelling goes down between 4-6 wks. But after that, I don't know how much or how easy it would stretch.

[Shelly-NO-Belly 15]

Same here- I have heard it both ways. I guess my goal is to keep it at it's small size. Just like when we had 100% of our stomachs- eating less made it shrink back down...My surgeon told me essentially, that's the same deal. I just try to keep in my head- even after I will have healed- that any over-eating I do will cause the staples to come out and I'll have a leak...I'm hoping to keep that mentality even 9 years post-op LOL I'm going on 2 weeks post-op now, so I'm still learning.

[peacequeen 434]

I've heard it both ways too. I just posted the same question "Is it true?"...sorry I didn't see your post first.

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

my surgeon told me that area where the staple line is, is also used for the RnY and that has been known to stretch. He also stated that he has patients coming back in to have their staple line restapled because of stretching. IDK if it's accurate, so I'm trying to under eat my sleeve and eat healthy.

[TexasT 99]

As someone that's been at goal for long time now, I can say that your stomach will most certainly stretch out over time. Of course, it will never get back to it's original state, but I can eat MUCH more now than I could the first year post-op. I happen to be glad I can eat more now, because it has helped me to stop losing and try to maintain. I would probably be shocked if I saw the size of my stomach now compared to just after surgery. But that's OK. I know the sleeve still works and I'm very happy with my decision to do it.

And if you do eat WAY too much and stretch the sleeve you'll feel VERY uncomfortable and will vow to not do it again - just your body's way of teaching you a lesson. If you listen to it and try to not keep pushing the limits, then it will continue to work for you.