Guest guest Posted July 23, 2003 Report Share Posted July 23, 2003 Dear Carol, Sad to see that you have come exactly to the place in life that I have been since about 15 months post op for me. Exactly the same journey, I could have writen your post myself. I have long since had to come to the same conclusions you have drawn and tried to find a way to live with it all. I did not get what I paid for, I feel, when I laid down on the guerney. Other health events have eclipsed that and somehow I have found a way, with a little help from a power greater than I, to rejoice in the ground I have gained, the health I have been given etc. It is not easy, but it is doable. My heart goes out to you because on this issue it appears that we could be joined at the hip. Dan Slone Surgery 5/2/2000,Yahoo Msg navwriter AIM Navwriter58, ICQ 260890468 Hungry? Not losing? Gaining? Dirty little secrets - (a bit long) I think a member or two might have gingerly mentioned not too long ago that there is a problem that sometimes happens with our surgeries that few docs acknowledge, and seldom advise of as a possible occurrence. I think it is now time to come out of the closet and shine a bright light on this dirty little secret. Last week I flew to Seattle for an endoscopy and consult with Dr. Ki Oh bcuz I have NEVER felt much restriction from my pouch. I have been SO frustrated when others talk about being absolutely stuffed on 3 bites of something. I have not been stuffed on even 10 times that much. My first solid (soft) food meal was 12 oz (some are supposed to eat only 1 oz; my doc said 4 oz) and I COULD have eaten more--I was not full, or even satisfied. I stopped eating bcuz I knew I wasn't supposed to be able to eat that much. My surgeon turned a deaf ear to my complaints and pleas. He didn't exactly say it was " all in my head. " Members of support groups, both online and in person did, tho, intimate that it had to be " head hunger. " And that was both hurtful and discouraging. I have spent the better part of the past year and a half believing that I am no better now than I was pre-op: unable to control the cravings and eating more than I should. And hating myself and my failure quite thoroughly. Well, guess what? The scope showed my stoma is 3 times the size it should be. Therefore pretty much rendering my pouch non-functional. Nothing wrong with the POUCH: it's still just 15 cc. But the stoma is too wide and doesn't keep the food in the pouch. It just pours right thru into my intestine; hence, no fullness, no satiety, and the urge to keep eating and eating and eating. Becuz the stoma has a tendency to relax/stretch somewhat over time of its own accord, it is extremely important that the bariatric surgeon make it as small as possible. In Dr. Oh's opinion, judging by my stoma size after a little less than 2 years, it was probably made a bit too large in the first place. The rest of the bad news is that the anastomosis is so close to my esophagus that there is absolutely no room to do anything about it: can't move it, or put a silastic ring on it, nothing. I am doomed to be hungry the rest of my life. Am I mad? Try royally PI - - ED ! Am I going to do anything about it? Don't know. Right now, I'm just struggling to accept the facts of life, so to speak. I am relieved that the stoppage of my weight loss is not " all my fault. " But I am just devastated that I will probably NEVER be able to get to goal -- at 70 lbs more to go. I can go more distal, which will give me some greater malabsorption, but it won't do a thing about the large stoma or the hunger. Another misleadig " fact " that was presented by my surgeon prior to my proximal RNY was that the average weight loss is about 70-75% of excess weight. Dr. Oh says that that figure is for patients with DISTAL procedures. The amount for proximals is about 50-55% net loss bcuz of the usual amount of regain. So, dear friends, let this be a clarion call warning. If you are struggling with slow or stopped weight loss, or regain; if you are constantly hungry; if you have never or have at some point become unable to feel satisfied or full after a meal (a normal meal for a bypass patient)--maybe you should get yourself scoped and see what's going on with " the mechanics " as calls them. Sometimes something can be done about it. Sometimes, as in my case, not. And PLEASE pass this info on to any other lists you subscribe to, so the word gets out. I would that not one other person suffers what I have gone thru for so many months, thinking all kinds of terrible things about myself, my lousy willpower, my lack of moral fiber, my character defects, etc etc. If you know a pre-op considering this surgery, please tell him or her that this is a possible outcome, and that they should query their surgeon closely, in advance, about what size stoma will be made, and where, and what can be done should there be a failure or relaxation or stretching of the stoma. They should know that if a doc says that would not happen, he's not telling the truth or he's got his head in the sand. And if there are any pre-ops lurking on this list, be warned as well. I am not saying that I would not have had the surgery had I known this was a possibility. But I would have CERTAINLY done more and better research, and would have made sure that my surgeon would guarantee that my " mechanics " were constructed in such a way that it would not be impossible to rectify the problem. Carol A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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