question here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hi me and my mom was wondering what makes us wls patients so prone to getting ulcers and hernias? are we going to have to watch what we do for the rest of our life to prevent them or what? if anyone knows please fill us in we are just wondering thank you all in advance your friends bonnie and vickie

Vickie, I can answer what makes us prone to getting hernias Hernia's - Think of if them in this way - your skin is a balloon which lays on top of your organs to protect them and to keep them inside of you. When you are overweight for a long period of time your balloon is stretched out and for some of us more then others. When we are overweight we have fat which holds everything nicely, but when you lose the fat the balloon starts to shrivel up around what is left and has excess, it is loose. The organs now have nothing to hold them in where they belong so a hernia forms - a mass forms where literally your intestines are "falling" out. In this type of hernia, they go in and place a mesh over the organs or the hernia and sew it into you. An incision hernia is also common where a mass has formed around where they performed your surgery. This type they go in and remove and repair the area. These are more common in the open procedure where there are long scars. Although it does happen in a lap procedure also. Hope this helps a little, Kevin

Got to say, I am praying for a hernia and want to know how to get one... That way insurance pays for the tummy tuck!! I want to know how to get one... as for the hernia, after carrying all the weight, I can see where the stomach strains. I want one!!! Jannie

I found this information. I'm thinking though that we are all different, some prone to ulcers, some not. Many have had problems with ulcers long before WLS and some have never had one prior. Some have never had an ulcer period. So that being said I found this in a question answer forum: Ulcers in weight loss patients at the stoma -- or anastomosis (Marginal Ulcers), between the stomach and small bowel is typically caused by... one of several things: the first is that there might have been not enough blood supply to one or the other bits of gut when they were put together, so there is an ulcer-- the other is that you might be making a lot of acid, in which case you may need to be on some acid reducing agent. Scars which occur can also ulcerate. Bottom line -- if you have an ulcer it needs to be worked up and to be checked for the bacteria which causes ulcers, H pylori -- and you will need to be placed on acid reducing agents. Good luck. I developed 2 ulcers and I am down to one Marginal Ulcer. I still believe my ulcers were caused by a medication I was crushing. That's my two cents worth! Gigee

I agree, Gigee. I believe my ulcer was caused by swallowing that huge Actigal capsule -- against dr's advice, I might add.