A friend said somthing that is worrisome

One of my dear friends today that just found out I had the surgery said that two of the women she works with have gained back all the weight they lost. This really bothers me - I don't want this to happen... What have your doctors told you about this? I don't know that mine has given me a long term plan... I mean is exercise the whole thing behind this? And choosing protein first? Does the pouch change after time & allow me to eat more? Does absorption gets higher? or is it really a matter of constnat grazing & raising the amount of calories eaten over the course of the day? I am really worried about this - I don't want to ever go back to where I was... ever. I think I need to get to the gym - fast & maybe seek counseling to deal with my food issues.... Help.

Hey Pamela, Don't worry. Yes, you can break the tool that you've been given, and yes, you can eat more over time but right now you're learning "the rules of the pouch". These rules will keep you on track in the long run. Over the first two years your pouch will expand to be able to hold a little more. Also, the feelings of hunger will come back. If you stick to everything that you're learning right now you'll be fine. Don't snack, eat 6 small meals a day, drink lots of water (read up abou****erloading!) and eat protein first. Exercise and stick to the plan and you won't put the weight back on. Also, if you find that your weight is creaping up again then go back to basics. You've got it down - just keep your health and overall lifetime goal in mind and you won't stray!! Debbie

There are two women at my support group that are several years out that are starting to put on weight. They both said they can eat just as much now as they could before the surgery. But when we started discussing it they both said they do not follow the pouch rules and they drink while they are eating. They are suppose to try not to drink with their meals and see if things change. Like Deb said if you follow the rules you should be alright. Teresa

This petrifies me as well and have also heard similar stories. I have heard that the body does adapt and the absorption does change - the new arrangement of intestines begins to absorb more in an effort to compensate -- and that this happens sometime around the time our window of opportunity closes. In addition, It seems that many of us can fall victim to the "soft food syndrome" where we are not consuming foods that are high enough in density (or adding fluids to our meal) to remain in the pouch for a period of time and help us remain feeling full. I did talk to my surgeon about this a little in our consultation meeting. This factored into the decision about the type of surgery I was to have. It seems that I may have more problems fighting chronic malabsorption over the long run because of the "distal" RNY that I had. In either case, we will all have long term battles to face, and no "easy way out." I guess this also points out to me that I need to get off my butt and get to support group meeting tonight --- I need to maintain that contact with the "long timers" and learn their "tips for success" over the long haul. I also have to focus more on creating and maintaining eating patterns for a lifetime - I know I can tend to get caught up in the number for this week vs the long term picture. Thanks for the cautionary tale and reminding us that this is a lifetime committment. B

Hi there, I definitely have the same fears. However, I found the following web page and it made me feel a lot better (Pouch Rules for Dummies!): http://www.digitalhorsewoman.com/pouchrules.htm. It has really good information regarding long-term rules of the pouch - things that I had never heard about from my surgeon, support group, or even on this site. Isn't it strange the things that people say to us once they find out that we've had WLS? I wish people wouldn't tell me the negative stuff without backing it up with some research. Let's face it - most people out there think they know a lot about the surgery because of Al Roker, Carnie Wilson, and Randy Jackson...WE are the ones who have researched this, gone through all of the pre-testing, and made this committment. Just because some people fail this surgery doesn't mean that you will. You're doing great, and I'm sure you'll continue to do so! Best, Tish

Thank you guys!!! It's nice to have some feedback that is really useful... I feel a little less freaked out & know what I need to do to stay on the right path - I really don't want to gain my weight back - The time spent there is still VERY fresh in my memory & I never want to go back to not walking, not doing yoga, eating my way through life... You all were so amazingly helpful ! I really appreciate it.

I read somewhere that after extensive testing of WLS patients, the most your pouch will stretch to is 1.5 cups of food after 2 years. So put good food in that 1.5 cups instead of bad stuff. Developing good exercise habits helps too as you know. Good luck. Alice From Dallas 11/10/04 285/210/170