Eventual capacity

There have been a few mentions of eventual capacity over the past week or so. I really like what Frisco had to say on the subject because it's true that the sleeve is not a standardized procedure in the same way that I understand the RNY is. I mentioned that my sleeve was made with a 40F, but was made tight. I went out to breakfast with a friend today. She's into posting her food *****n FB so she took a pic of our plates. I decided to take an after pic as an illustration of the amount I eat at 3.5 years out. The plate was a normal diner sized breakfast plate. (You will notice that the hash browns have been eaten, too. My friend ate the hash browns. I ate only the omelet.) The pictures are at different angles, but if you look at the after pic and compare the omelet to the plate you'll get the idea. I was able to eat about 2/3 cup before my stop eating indicator kicked in. About 2/3 of the omelet was left. Took it home and fed it to Ron!

Great example Karik. I have a slightly bigger sleeve, loosely sewn and that is still comparable to what I would eat in a sitting as well. 

So interesting. Mine is a 32, tight, and that's about what I can eat as well...

How do you know what size your sleeve is?  What do those numbers mean?

When the sleeve is made, usually a tube is inserted as a guide and the sleeve is stapled around it. The tube is called a French bougie (bougie is French for candle). The numbers refer to the size of the bougie. Sleeves are made in size anywhere from what is called a 32F (32 French, meaning a 32 French bougie was used) up to a 60F, with 32F-40F being the most common. The smaller the bougie, the smaller the circumference of your new stomach. Other things do affect the size, such as how long your stomach is, how tight around the bougie your stomach was pulled and stapled, etc. There is a great deal of controversy over whether smaller initial bougies predict smaller eventual capacity. Your surgeon should be able to tell you what size bougie he or she used (and some surgeons don't even use them--as discussed, the VSG is NOT a standardized surgery).

Hope that helps!

L.

Thanks, that does help!

I'm thinking I have a 40f big ol' floppy sleeve because I'm betting I could eat more than that! It's scary sometimes how much I can eat. Then again, I usually only have those moments when I'm eating things I should be... so there's that lol!

Im still new lol but am on pureed foods but my stomach is not telling.Me.to.stop anything and I ha e a 40f I hope when I start solids I can feel something....it's scary it's almost like nothing's there ....everyone and then I think I feel it then nope ...I ate tuna no problem no full feeling ate 3 oz ground Wendy's chili still felt nothing the chili was like baby food but still it should fill me up right??

Well, it actually is. You just can't feel it. The nerves to the stomach have been completely severed and most people basically can't feel didly squat! This is a very common phenomenon during the liquid, full liquid and pureed stages. My first true feeling of restriction came when I ate my first scrambled egg. I seriously could eat less than 1/2 of the egg before I had to stop. I mean one more bite would have made me sick. I could barely ge****er down for hours after eating that little bit of egg. Just give it time. You will feel it once you are on real dense solid proteins. Have no fear!

Thank you for this information.  I am a week out from surgery and I feel great - but I have yet to feel "full" the way I thought I would.  I sip on things, and maybe I'm subconsciously aware of being full because I stop drinking for a while, but I don't have the "oh my gosh, another sip is going to come back up" feelings at all.  So hopefully when I move on to "full" liquids, pureed foods and actual dense proteins I'll have a better understanding of what my body is telling me!