upper GI/doctor visit

[Guest guest]

Well, I had my upper GI, which was a breeze. It showed that after 4.5 years, my

pouch is the size of " more than one but less than two " golf balls. Scientific.

It also showed that the tip of the small intestine near the end of the

anastomosis (the hole out of pouch) holds a little food too. The anastomosis

(hole) has become the size of the small intestine attached to it. The doctor

said that this is very typical when they attach two things together....it

becomes the size of the smaller. So instead of the tip of my little finger,

it's the size of the tip of my thumb...like a nickel/quarter. Staple line is

perfect. My weight maintenance is excellent, so there's no cause for concern.

We talked about the different procedures which put a band at the opening. He

says they're very effective at not stretching, but can cause problems. He said

after years of VBG, he saw too many (not all, by any means!) people who couldn't

eat and were still overweight. He only bands to " save " an RNY...like if I

gained over half my weight back.

The main thing he said was that he wanted me to be on the " chicken fried steak "

diet. In other words, to eat foods that would fill me up and keep me filled up.

I told him about " oil slicks " and that I figured it meant I didn't absorb fat.

He said it was some kind of pancreatic enzyme thing and as a short proximal I

had very little malabsorption. Anyway, it explains why my eliminating the CUP

of half and half per day in various coffee drinks has resulted in 6 pounds lost.

He really doesn't want me drinking protein, but I told him I was going to anyway

since I work out. He said I had 50-100 feet of common channel if I recall

correctly.

Long story short, the consistency and texture of the food I eat has a lot to do

with how well the surgery works for me.

My lastest $.02

RNY April 1998