Guest guest Posted October 28, 2002 Report Share Posted October 28, 2002 In a message dated 10/28/2002 4:51:04 PM Pacific Standard Time, jjweir30@... writes: > How do we know if we are distal or proximal? My surgeon takes our > BMI and multiplies it times three. That is how many centimeters of > the intestine he bypasses. My BMI was 51 so that is 153 cm. If you > are still with me, divide by 2 1/2 to get inches. That means I had > over 60 inches bypassed. Is that distal? > Surgeons measure it differently. My surgeon measured it as the length of your common channel. Mine is 40-50 and I don't have a clue as to how much was bypass just how much is LEFT for the absorption. I know he now does them 60 inch common channels for distals, but 7 years ago it was either 40 or 50. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 28, 2002 Report Share Posted October 28, 2002 Nope, that's medial. My surgeon does something similar; I am 125 cm bypassed with a starting BMI of 55... Now at 22.8. :-) Moseley Open RNY 09/17/01 310/133 distal? How do we know if we are distal or proximal? My surgeon takes our BMI and multiplies it times three. That is how many centimeters of the intestine he bypasses. My BMI was 51 so that is 153 cm. If you are still with me, divide by 2 1/2 to get inches. That means I had over 60 inches bypassed. Is that distal? Thanks, Jean 3/29/01 -140 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 28, 2002 Report Share Posted October 28, 2002 Jean, I'm 165 cm bypassed. People on the list have told me I'm proximal. My surgeon say's I'm medial, but he's not sure what difference it makes...LOL.... I've been told by others that I'm distal. Who knows.... I'm almost underweight for my height (6'4 " and 197 lbs) I wear a size 32 in jeans, some 30's and small shirts.......I don't give a shit if I'm proximal or distal I love whatever it is....LOL.... Randy rlogle@... www.geocities.com/rogle32/ AIM: rlogleeln Open RNY: Sept. 26, 2001: 199 lbs gone. Daddy to Doogun, Jasper, and Zoe. Lord, Please help me to become the Person my Dog's think I am. distal? > How do we know if we are distal or proximal? My surgeon takes our > BMI and multiplies it times three. That is how many centimeters of > the intestine he bypasses. My BMI was 51 so that is 153 cm. If you > are still with me, divide by 2 1/2 to get inches. That means I had > over 60 inches bypassed. Is that distal? > > Thanks, > Jean > 3/29/01 > -140 > > > Homepage: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG > > Unsubscribe: mailto:Graduate-OSSG-unsubscribe > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2002 Report Share Posted October 29, 2002 I am hesitant to post about something so technical on the medical side of this surgery. I am a 75cm (according to surgeon's notes) proximal. He seems to do a " one size fits all " technique. I was curious about this before surgery and that specifically was one of the questions I asked. The answer (on recollection of 2.5 years) was vague and or I did not grasp what he said. The more important question, I know now, would have been " exactly what portion of the stomach do you use to form the pouch? " I found later that he uses the greater curvature or the right upper section formed with horizontal staples and the small intestine connects therein. On x-ray with contrast it is difficult for me to even determine the precise location of the pouch because it all looks about the same dimension, i.e., pouch, small intestine. Would that I could have had a pouch formed with the left side which, according to what I can determine, has less tendency to stretch. I have been told that all his patients got an " Edsel " pouch, BUT it was a very good Edsel! I think that is true in my case. I have not had any difficulty at all since surgery either with vomiting, food aversions (other than mild dumping) and at this point finally think I am learning how use and protect what he gave me to work with. I have no choice. I have also been told there is no " revising " to my pouch as the blood supply was compromised in the initial pouch formation and revision could lead to major problems if not catastrophic. On lengths for bypass I have been told, and read, that lengths of intestine vary from individual to individual. We do not all have the same dimensions. That would seem to make the issue of how much was bypassed and the effect of that bypass difficult to assess in terms of weight loss from person to person. That and the fact that we all have varied body shapes, genes structure of emotional ties to food just makes the whole issue of comparison from person to person a fruitless endeavor at best. The most functional measure of comparison seems to be the length of common channel as some surgeons do. I have no idea, absolutely none, what that might be in my case. I have also read in some research that being proximal,(usually associated with 150cm or less) medial, distal is not a reliable indicator or predictor of excess body weight reduction OR maintenance of a stable weight. The studies all show that over a period of years there is regain of excess body weight to some degree, but rarely is there a return to the excess body weight on the day of surgery. I try and not compare, but it is difficult not to. When someone posts that they are in midrange of BMI healthy values, I sometimes wonder " why can I not do that? " Truth is that I, like , dipped down from close to 300 to 184 or so for about a wink of a butterfly's eye, then bounced to 190, then a big gain (sloppy maintenance habits and fault all mine) to 220 or a little better, now (with better choices) back to about 200. My body just does not seem to want to go below that and resists any attempts. I am happy with this. I am happy to have the chance to write to this group this morning. I think my efforts to change the way I perceive life, opportunities to succeed rather than fail, and simple gratitude for so many things given that I never expected, are far more productive than obsessing about the flickering numbers on a digital scale. When I can focus on gratitude the fear tends to leave me. That makes me feel quiet and in harmony. That is a wholly unexpected gift that I never expected when I had surgery for longevity. In my case, it is abundantly clear that had I not had surgery when I did I would not have been here to appreciate and feel grateful for anything. Dan Slone Surgery 5/2/2000 Jean, I'm 165 cm bypassed. People on the list have told me I'm proximal. My surgeon say's I'm medial, but he's not sure what difference it makes...LOL.... I've been told by others that I'm distal. Who knows.... I'm almost underweight for my height (6'4 " and 197 lbs) I wear a size 32 in jeans, some 30's and small shirts.......I don't give a shit if I'm proximal or distal I love whatever it is....LOL.... Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2002 Report Share Posted October 29, 2002 I am hesitant to post about something so technical on the medical side of this surgery. I am a 75cm (according to surgeon's notes) proximal. He seems to do a " one size fits all " technique. I was curious about this before surgery and that specifically was one of the questions I asked. The answer (on recollection of 2.5 years) was vague and or I did not grasp what he said. The more important question, I know now, would have been " exactly what portion of the stomach do you use to form the pouch? " I found later that he uses the greater curvature or the right upper section formed with horizontal staples and the small intestine connects therein. On x-ray with contrast it is difficult for me to even determine the precise location of the pouch because it all looks about the same dimension, i.e., pouch, small intestine. Would that I could have had a pouch formed with the left side which, according to what I can determine, has less tendency to stretch. I have been told that all his patients got an " Edsel " pouch, BUT it was a very good Edsel! I think that is true in my case. I have not had any difficulty at all since surgery either with vomiting, food aversions (other than mild dumping) and at this point finally think I am learning how use and protect what he gave me to work with. I have no choice. I have also been told there is no " revising " to my pouch as the blood supply was compromised in the initial pouch formation and revision could lead to major problems if not catastrophic. On lengths for bypass I have been told, and read, that lengths of intestine vary from individual to individual. We do not all have the same dimensions. That would seem to make the issue of how much was bypassed and the effect of that bypass difficult to assess in terms of weight loss from person to person. That and the fact that we all have varied body shapes, genes structure of emotional ties to food just makes the whole issue of comparison from person to person a fruitless endeavor at best. The most functional measure of comparison seems to be the length of common channel as some surgeons do. I have no idea, absolutely none, what that might be in my case. I have also read in some research that being proximal,(usually associated with 150cm or less) medial, distal is not a reliable indicator or predictor of excess body weight reduction OR maintenance of a stable weight. The studies all show that over a period of years there is regain of excess body weight to some degree, but rarely is there a return to the excess body weight on the day of surgery. I try and not compare, but it is difficult not to. When someone posts that they are in midrange of BMI healthy values, I sometimes wonder " why can I not do that? " Truth is that I, like , dipped down from close to 300 to 184 or so for about a wink of a butterfly's eye, then bounced to 190, then a big gain (sloppy maintenance habits and fault all mine) to 220 or a little better, now (with better choices) back to about 200. My body just does not seem to want to go below that and resists any attempts. I am happy with this. I am happy to have the chance to write to this group this morning. I think my efforts to change the way I perceive life, opportunities to succeed rather than fail, and simple gratitude for so many things given that I never expected, are far more productive than obsessing about the flickering numbers on a digital scale. When I can focus on gratitude the fear tends to leave me. That makes me feel quiet and in harmony. That is a wholly unexpected gift that I never expected when I had surgery for longevity. In my case, it is abundantly clear that had I not had surgery when I did I would not have been here to appreciate and feel grateful for anything. Dan Slone Surgery 5/2/2000 Jean, I'm 165 cm bypassed. People on the list have told me I'm proximal. My surgeon say's I'm medial, but he's not sure what difference it makes...LOL.... I've been told by others that I'm distal. Who knows.... I'm almost underweight for my height (6'4 " and 197 lbs) I wear a size 32 in jeans, some 30's and small shirts.......I don't give a shit if I'm proximal or distal I love whatever it is....LOL.... Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2002 Report Share Posted October 29, 2002 I am hesitant to post about something so technical on the medical side of this surgery. I am a 75cm (according to surgeon's notes) proximal. He seems to do a " one size fits all " technique. I was curious about this before surgery and that specifically was one of the questions I asked. The answer (on recollection of 2.5 years) was vague and or I did not grasp what he said. The more important question, I know now, would have been " exactly what portion of the stomach do you use to form the pouch? " I found later that he uses the greater curvature or the right upper section formed with horizontal staples and the small intestine connects therein. On x-ray with contrast it is difficult for me to even determine the precise location of the pouch because it all looks about the same dimension, i.e., pouch, small intestine. Would that I could have had a pouch formed with the left side which, according to what I can determine, has less tendency to stretch. I have been told that all his patients got an " Edsel " pouch, BUT it was a very good Edsel! I think that is true in my case. I have not had any difficulty at all since surgery either with vomiting, food aversions (other than mild dumping) and at this point finally think I am learning how use and protect what he gave me to work with. I have no choice. I have also been told there is no " revising " to my pouch as the blood supply was compromised in the initial pouch formation and revision could lead to major problems if not catastrophic. On lengths for bypass I have been told, and read, that lengths of intestine vary from individual to individual. We do not all have the same dimensions. That would seem to make the issue of how much was bypassed and the effect of that bypass difficult to assess in terms of weight loss from person to person. That and the fact that we all have varied body shapes, genes structure of emotional ties to food just makes the whole issue of comparison from person to person a fruitless endeavor at best. The most functional measure of comparison seems to be the length of common channel as some surgeons do. I have no idea, absolutely none, what that might be in my case. I have also read in some research that being proximal,(usually associated with 150cm or less) medial, distal is not a reliable indicator or predictor of excess body weight reduction OR maintenance of a stable weight. The studies all show that over a period of years there is regain of excess body weight to some degree, but rarely is there a return to the excess body weight on the day of surgery. I try and not compare, but it is difficult not to. When someone posts that they are in midrange of BMI healthy values, I sometimes wonder " why can I not do that? " Truth is that I, like , dipped down from close to 300 to 184 or so for about a wink of a butterfly's eye, then bounced to 190, then a big gain (sloppy maintenance habits and fault all mine) to 220 or a little better, now (with better choices) back to about 200. My body just does not seem to want to go below that and resists any attempts. I am happy with this. I am happy to have the chance to write to this group this morning. I think my efforts to change the way I perceive life, opportunities to succeed rather than fail, and simple gratitude for so many things given that I never expected, are far more productive than obsessing about the flickering numbers on a digital scale. When I can focus on gratitude the fear tends to leave me. That makes me feel quiet and in harmony. That is a wholly unexpected gift that I never expected when I had surgery for longevity. In my case, it is abundantly clear that had I not had surgery when I did I would not have been here to appreciate and feel grateful for anything. Dan Slone Surgery 5/2/2000 Jean, I'm 165 cm bypassed. People on the list have told me I'm proximal. My surgeon say's I'm medial, but he's not sure what difference it makes...LOL.... I've been told by others that I'm distal. Who knows.... I'm almost underweight for my height (6'4 " and 197 lbs) I wear a size 32 in jeans, some 30's and small shirts.......I don't give a shit if I'm proximal or distal I love whatever it is....LOL.... Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 29, 2002 Report Share Posted October 29, 2002 In a message dated 10/28/02 6:51:11 PM Central Standard Time, jjweir30@... writes: << How do we know if we are distal or proximal? My surgeon takes our BMI and multiplies it times three. That is how many centimeters of the intestine he bypasses. My BMI was 51 so that is 153 cm. If you are still with me, divide by 2 1/2 to get inches. That means I had over 60 inches bypassed. Is that distal? >> ------------------------------ Bypass is usually expressed in cm, not inches. 153 cm would be proximal, not distal. Carol A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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