Stupid Question Alert! Why Remove 80% Of Stomach, Why Not 65%

[DanaInNewOrleans 513]

This is what happens with the normal sized sleeve. No matter size you end up with, you are going to have issues in the first 1-2 months. You had major trauma to your stomach. It is swollen and needs to heal.

I had surgery 6/28. I am not even two months out, and I can pretty much eat anything I want in small portion. I do make an effort to get more Protein and less carbs. I keep my calories low and my Fluid intake high. These were things that I knew I should do before surgery, but I couldn't stick to it. After surgery, it is so much easier. The sleeve makes me more accountable for my actions, and for that, I'm grateful. If I get off track one day, it is so much easier to get back on track the next day instead of blowing it all together. You'll still be able to have plenty of dinners with your husband and family, but you'll probably never be the person who cleans her plate, plus an appetizer, plus a dessert. You'll eat a few bites of the appetizer, a portion of your dinner, and a few bites of dessert. I can't tell you the last time my SO and I were able to share a dessert and be satisfied until now. We are saving a ton of money dining out, and we both walk away from the table fully satisfied.

The day before my surgery, my SO asked the surgery why he had to reduce my stomach so drastically. He actually asked if they could remove half maybe three quarters. Dr. Kelly told him that they found that people were not as successful with larger sized stomachs that stretched out again. Now that I am a bit removed from surgery, my SO thinks the sleeve is a great choice for me. A lot of his fears about me being unable to eat properly have subsided. The hardest part is the first month when you are healing and adjusting.

As far as mushy foods, it isn't as gross as you would think. I simply went to cream Soups, thinly sliced deli meats and cheeses, eggs, chicken salad, finely ground hamburger meat, really thick shakes, or added Protein Powder to more normal foods. Every diet is different.

Thanks so much Sunny for the great insight. You've made me feel much better about the long term! As long as I don't have to exist on liquid and mushy food forever I'll be good. When I first started hunting around for info all I kept coming across was stuff like having to puree foods, even meats. Suggestions to eat baby food, etc..... it really did make me very apprehensive.... Thanks again Sunny!

[CoolBreeze 154]

Think of it this way ... holidays come around you'll be able to get up from table full, feeling satisfied and not "stuffed to the gills". Everybody feeling miserable and you feel well PROUD. You accomplished what you wanted to.

I know this holiday season will be a challenge for me b/c I could easily eat 2 plates of food and still have room for auntie's freshly baked goodies.

What motivates me is knowing that by these holidays I WILL be in "onederland" and that is more satisfying than that piece of freshly baked goodies.

I asked my dr the same questions about % of stomach removed. I wanted to know if there was a difference between bypass pouch & sleeve pouch. Not much except the separation from the stomach to make the pouch bring lower intestines up wrap around new pouch ect ect ... well after hearing all that I asked why leave all the stomach in there to do nothing but "hang around"? After he stopped laughing he really couldn't come up with an answer.

The sleeve is vertical. Bypass is circular. I reckon if you roll up the sleeve you'd get the bypass pouch. Personally, I had no problem choosing to be sleeved b/c I just didn't want all that stomach "hanging around" inside of me. The % left he said will increase but it will be up to me just how much of an increase it'll be.

Give yourself time ... and patience. It'll all work out for. Just think of the end result - A NEW YOU

CoolBreeze

[Raven21 121]

I just cannot imagine being the one to leave food on her plate. Can't wait!

[sassypants 674]

i watched this youtube clip and found it interesting with regards to size

[SunnyCox 245]

I just cannot imagine being the one to leave food on her plate. Can't wait!

I wrote on another thread that being the friend to leave food behind is one of the greatest feelings. I used to feel the slightest pang of jealousy when I would see my thin cousins leave half their food on the plate when we went out. I always finished my entire plate (not to mention 2-3 rolls from the bread basket) and was often looking at the dessert menu. Now, a little part of me thinks my friends are secretly jealous when I eat my child size portion off my plate and leave the rest! Whether they are or not, I'll never know. It is my secret fantasy on my night's out! hahah

The hardest part of eating great food for me is knowing when to stop. You can certainly over eat, and for me, it is just a bit more uncomfortable than over eating pre-sleeve. My head gets in the way, and I want just one more bite of something that I LOVE, and sometimes, I take it. Then, I realize that one little bite is going to make me uncomfortable, and I spit it out in my napkin. Before the sleeve, I could eat one more bite about 25 times once I was full.

Another great thing is that I can recognize when I am full. There is a very distinctive feeling that wasn't always present pre-sleeve.

[Liberated Sleeve 148]

My best friend asked me why i was doing something so drastic? I had lost weight in the past so I could do it again. (She weighs as much as I did) She said she would support me (and she has) but she was scared for me.

This was my answer "I had lost weight but never been able to maintain it and that taking 3 different medications for diabetes and 2 for high blood pressure had me at a point where I believed this drastic measure was necessary. I did alot of research and came to love the sleeve and the restriction it would give me. I picked a surgeon that I had compelte trust in. When I asked about the size I was completely comfortable with his answer about the stretchy portion. I believed that I had stuffed my face enough in my 50 years with everything I wanted and the size stomach he was leaving me would hold enough food to keep my nutrition levels up and satisfy my body's needs."

I am 5 1/2 months out and my best friend just asked me for my surgeon's name & number because as she told her husband...."She eats and drinks everything we do just in smaller quantities. Her skin looks healthy and her hair too. I want to do that too!"

LOL! All I can say is make sure in what you are reading and researching you understand the stage that the person is in when they are posting their comments!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my sleeve!!

[DanaInNewOrleans 513]

My best friend asked me why i was doing something so drastic? I had lost weight in the past so I could do it again. (She weighs as much as I did) She said she would support me (and she has) but she was scared for me.

This was my answer "I had lost weight but never been able to maintain it and that taking 3 different medications for diabetes and 2 for high blood pressure had me at a point where I believed this drastic measure was necessary. I did alot of research and came to love the sleeve and the restriction it would give me. I picked a surgeon that I had compelte trust in. When I asked about the size I was completely comfortable with his answer about the stretchy portion. I believed that I had stuffed my face enough in my 50 years with everything I wanted and the size stomach he was leaving me would hold enough food to keep my nutrition levels up and satisfy my body's needs."

I am 5 1/2 months out and my best friend just asked me for my surgeon's name & number because as she told her husband...."She eats and drinks everything we do just in smaller quantities. Her skin looks healthy and her hair too. I want to do that too!"

LOL! All I can say is make sure in what you are reading and researching you understand the stage that the person is in when they are posting their comments!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my sleeve!!

Hi,

I read a post on here the other day that summed up my life and feelings about doing this. I'm pre-op but would have never considered this just a few years ago. Fear of surgery I guess. I wish I could remember the posters name because it made an impact on me. Being fat has stolen my life. And I mean that literally. The EVERY choice I've made for 30 years has been influenced by fat. High School, college, career, hobbies, sports, dates, clothes, vacations, relationships...EVERYTHING. Every single thought I have is filtered through fat and self loathing. I go to sleep with thoughts of being fat. I worry if I die they will find my fat ass and the medics, coroner would have to lift my fat ass. I think about how humiliating that would be --- I can even be humiliated dead. I AM DONE WITH THAT. I am 49 years old -- I want to LIVE my life, not just exist and watch everybody else LIVING. Screw it! If I die during surgery, well, it was meant to be for some reason. I have a serenity about it, which is really amazing to me. If I could do this today I would. And if I'm successful (please God, let this work) I plan to use my 401k for plastic surgery. I want the last half of my life to make up for the first half of being a shell of who I really am.

I want to thank everyone on this board who takes the time to respond and help everyone else, even when they are past their crisis or struggles. This board is an amazing resource of hope and help!

[rio 2]

hi all,

i am very interested in this discussion on dealing with food post op,

i do have a very hectic social life and i am a bit concerned how i am going to deal with eating less food and not being able to drink at mealtimes etc.

also if you feel like being sick if you have eaten a bit too much, how do you deal with it?

i know its a silly question but are you sick immediately or do you have a chance to get away ?

i am having my op on 21st

[SunnyCox 245]

Being fat has stolen my life.

Great words to describe exactly how I feel. I've based a lot of decisions in all aspects of my life on whether my weight could be accommodated

[SunnyCox 245]

hi all,

i am very interested in this discussion on dealing with food post op,

i do have a very hectic social life and i am a bit concerned how i am going to deal with eating less food and not being able to drink at mealtimes etc.

also if you feel like being sick if you have eaten a bit too much, how do you deal with it?

i know its a silly question but are you sick immediately or do you have a chance to get away ?

i am having my op on 21st

I rarely cook at home even though I know I should do it more often. lunch is often provided at my job, and I have meetings, family and friends to go out most evenings of the week. I have had no problems adjusting. I bring shakes with me to work and eat more solid foods when I am with others. Drinking with meals isn't a big issue. Order Water and no one will notice if you drink it. I will often have one or two small sips with my dinner. It helps things go down easily. If you are talking about drinking alcohol, I don't have much advice. I've never been a big drinker.

About being sick after eating too much - I've never had an episode where I run to the bathroom. You can tell when you are eating too much, but it does come on a lot faster than it did pre-sleeve. When you feel it, it can often be too late. For me, it doesn't require a trip to the bathroom. I just know that I am going to be uncomfortably full for a while, and I don't like that feeling which causes me to avoid overeating. Most of the time, I just wait it out. This may be a little gross, but I have stuck my finger down my throat on a couple of occasions because I had too much. I didn't want to be miserable, so I got it over with quickly instead of waiting for it to pass. I've never vomited that I wasn't the one controlling it. I hear people getting what they call 'the slimies,' but this hasn't happened to me.

[sassypants 674]

hi all,

i am very interested in this discussion on dealing with food post op,

i do have a very hectic social life and i am a bit concerned how i am going to deal with eating less food and not being able to drink at mealtimes etc.

also if you feel like being sick if you have eaten a bit too much, how do you deal with it?

i know its a silly question but are you sick immediately or do you have a chance to get away ?

i am having my op on 21st

I have been sick a lot so lets seeeeeeeeee!

One way for me I will suddenly get like a heat rush and break out in a bit of a cold sweat and a odd feeling in like stomach diaphragm area and my mouth waters, I know I am gonna puke so I go bathroom this does happen in a matter of second the signs.

Another was that’s not happened in a while was when I was first on solids and trying meats there would be heavy pain in the same area and my mouth would start to Water like pre op when your gonna puke and it floods with spit so you know oh some time in the next 20 seconds your gonna be puking so you go to the bathroom.

The tried to eat to much and didn’t realize puking is more instant I find like I was eating a pear once and another time a nectarine not at the same time different days both of them were pretty instant thankfully I had a empty plastic jug on the side grabbed it and just puked it all back up in the jug.

I find I puke 2 different ways I can be silent not much effort its just like gagging and its coming up the other is deep heaving painful hardcore retching, but neither have acid or smell like puke!

Its pretty strange to puke a pear up and its just pear and smells like pear lol

That’s me and how I puke dunno if its exactly the same for other people but they are my signs of a ut-oh

[iggychic 1,405]

hi all' date='

i am very interested in this discussion on dealing with food post op,

i do have a very hectic social life and i am a bit concerned how i am going to deal with eating less food and not being able to drink at mealtimes etc.

also if you feel like being sick if you have eaten a bit too much, how do you deal with it?

i know its a silly question but are you sick immediately or do you have a chance to get away ?

i am having my op on 21st[/quote']

I have a very heavy social schedule as well. Mostly charity functions, dinners etc where I can't controll the menu. We are also serious wine collectors so I drink wine at social events and always have.

So like you I had once runs until I talked with an acquaintance who was sleeved a couple of years ago. She owns a huge winery...anyone would know the name....I only tell you this because the scale of her social events is outstanding...daily stuff pretty much and of course it involves wine at every event. She can eat pretty much everything but just eats a small amount, which is no big deal in any social world I've been in. She sips or spits as necessary depending on how much wine is involved in an event.

She went to their island on an extended vacation for her six weeks of recovery/liquid phase (wouldn't that be nice lol) but then afterwards she said they made a real effort to have things at home that she might encounter at an event and she basically practiced eating them prior to doing so in public. She does not vomit and is careful to listen to her body and aside from staying amazing looking while attending event after event, you'd never know she was sleeved. That was what convinced me that there is a real life after sleeve and I went ahead (I'm scheduled the 23rd).

Hope that helped! I'll see if I can get us keys to the island lol.

[rio 2]

yeah keys to the island would be good!

x

p.s thanks for your thoughts

[cmf1267 27]

... well after hearing all that I asked why leave all the stomach in there to do nothing but "hang around"?

CoolBreeze

I think the bigger stomach is actually attached to the small intestines close to where they attached the pouch - and it dumps the digestive juices directly into the small intestine which is where the majority of digestion takes place. So they can't remove it- because they need it to help digest the food in the small intestines. at least that's what is shown on the information videos on YouTube.