i noticed on pictures that the bypass stomach looks super small and the sleeve looks way bigger and longer. anyone have any insight on the size of our new tummy?

I have also wondered the same thing...

The RNY pouch tends to be around an ounce in nominal capacity (give or take half an ounce or so, depending upon the surgeon and patient) while sleeves can be anywhere from two to six or so ounces, though our stand alone sleeves tend to be in the 2-3 ounce range while DS sleeves on the larger side since they are paired with the malabsorption component. My sleeve started at about 2.5 ounces at surgery, while my wife's DS sleeve was about 4 ounces. Some docs like to make tighter sleeves while others prefer somewhat larger ones (it is thought that smaller sleeves may yield better regain resistance, but be more prone to reflux problems than larger sleeves, but that is still somewhat speculative until more longer term data is collected.) Then there are patient variations - a doc may make the same size sleeve (with or without the same sized bougie) but a patient may have a larger stomach to start with that will end up being a longer sleeved stomach overall, so therefore larger capacity - same diameter tube but longer.

The pictures that are often shown can be deceiving as they are usually only intended to represent what the procedure does rather than be accurate in their scale.

what the heck is a ds sleeve and i thought there was only one gastric sleeve

There is really only one sleeve.

DS (duodenal switch) is a malabsorption procedure that can be performed in combination with the sleeve.

It basicly bypasses part of your intestine. Thus making the 2 procedures together somewhat similar to gastric bypass

My doctor always explained it as, our stomach is now about the size and shape of a banana.

The gastric bypass pouch IS smaller. They call it the size of a "shot glass". Ours is a banana shape. Yes, our can hold more food that first year after surgery. HOWEVER--I know bypass people in real life. Once they are about a year out--they can eat about the same or MORE than sleevers can at the same point. Their pouches and/or stomas seem to stretch more than ours over time--that first year it's just really tiny.

One prime example: I know a lady who was sleeved and her daughter had bypass. The lady is 3 years post op sleeve and her daughter is about 2 and a half years post op bypass. She said that her daughter can eat almost 4 times as much food in a sitting as she can. I really believe because the fundus is removed during surgery (the stretchy part of the stomach) that our sleeve capacity will stand the test of time vs. a gastric bypass pouch.

This is just my theory. I know there are some gastric bypass people who don't eat much years down the road but I've known quite a few and they can eat a lot. So don't let that "shot glass" stomach fool you. I think some of it has to do with their "stoma" or "man made" food passage. Their stoma seems to stretch and allow more food. We sleevers have a pyloric valve which is the natural "food passage" tool that we are born with--so to speak. It seems to work much better and not allow for stretch like their stomas. As a matter of fact--studies have been coming out showing that some gastric bypass doctors are trying to find new ways to keep the pyloric valve in tact for weight loss surgery patients because the stoma stretching is so common in Roux en Y patients.

There is really only one sleeve.

DS (duodenal switch) is a malabsorption procedure that can be performed in combination with the sleeve.

It basicly bypasses part of your intestine. Thus making the 2 procedures together somewhat similar to gastric bypass

Basically correct - I made the distinction in the post to reflect that most DS surgeons will make their sleeves somewhat larger when they do a DS than they do when they make a stand alone VSG, so the DS folks will have somewhat more stomach capacity than we do, but with the malabsorption to compensate calorically.

im sorry im confused all i know is vsg. i dont think i have that ds. i will ask my dr tomorrow

im sorry im confused all i know is vsg. i dont think i have that ds. i will ask my dr tomorrow

You would know if you had a DS.