Is it shame? Or denial? Or what?

 I am not calling any one particular person out here but...

I have read a LOT of posts on here worrying about stretching the pouch or the stoma or that you've "broken your tool."

While we can be helpful with experience, the only person who can determine if this has happened is your surgeon.

So why is it that you all are not asking your SURGEON to investigate these things?

Please believe...I don't mind the question being posed here, but really what can we do if that's a real problem for you? And moreover what can you do, alone, if it is a real problem for you? 

Most any anatomical problem with the surgery has a remedy (most, not all) but only if you seek the help of your surgical staff!!!

Like!!!!

I think a lot of the questions are actually prompted by insecurity...as in, "am I really doing OK on this?  How do my weight loss and my eating habits compare with others'? 

At least, I know that I wonder about these things, and if I have a day when it seems as if my pouch can hold more than others' say they can eat comfortably, the thought "uh-oh, could I be stretching my stoma?" crosses my mind.  Not too seriously, mind you...logically I know it would take a fair amount to do that and there's no evidence that my stoma wasn't/isn't properly sized by the surgeon.   But, I may want reassurance that no, what you're experiencing is well within the norms of what others have experienced...so no reason to believe you need to have a surgeon check , or at least not YET. 

 Yeah...I wish folks would say THAT. Is it normal to be able to eat this much? vs. "Did I stretch my pouch?"

I don't have a good way of knowing whether this is a serious problem for folks or if they just need reassurance (most don't say) so my answer is ALWAYS going to be if you are concerned, ask your surgeon.

What I find ironic is that part of the reason that some people seem concerned that they have "damaged" their pouch or stretched it out is because their surgeons and/or nutritionists lead them to believe that this is an easy thing to do (when, in fact, pouch stretching is quite difficult and stoma stretching is also not common) and use their fear of ruining their pouch in order to try to gain patient compliance.

I think the other responder is correct, though, that many people who ask the question just really want reassurance that they are doing ok with this (after a lifetime of weight loss failure).  Any little hiccup in what they are expecting post-op causes anxiety.

Lora

This is true. But some of the PANIC I hear in these posts makes me wonder.

I get the panic. But honestly if you did stretch your pouch I can't do anything for you. Your surgeon can!

I just think surgeon's offices (and I know they lurk) can do a better job at encouraging their patients to talk to their staff, support group, etc. about this stuff as well instead of using fear tactics.

I'm very glad my surgeon did not do that to me. But he did something perhaps even scarier. He rested the success or failure of this process in MY hands. To me it's far less scary to think a monster could get me than to think about being in charge of my own success...

And often there isn't anything the surgeon can do, either, (or that the insurance will pay to have them do) if the stoma IS stretched... I just wish people had a more realistic view of how uncommon it is.

I'd like people to really think about the types of food  they are eating.
 
The though had crossed my mind, "omg I can eat way too much" but when I look at what I'm eating it tells me why.

I can eat an entire normal sized bag of popcorn. How many cups is that ? A heck of a lot. Why? It's soft anfd fluffy, has no substance. It's a "slider food".


I can also quickly eat a 6" sub at Subway no problem. Actually I probably could eat more if I let myself.
Why? It's mostly bread and no real dense protein.

Eat mostly nutrient dense foods which are high in protein and you will remain fuller longer.

Yeah, I think it depends on what I eat. Which is why I measure whatever I eat. I know I can eat a bag of popcorn, but it doesn't mean I should. I know I can eat more chili than say, 2 oz of steak, but I don't. I measure what I eat.