Does this sound normal?

I'm 13 months out now and expectedly, my pouch has relaxed. I can eat about 4oz of dense protein which seems normal enough, but it doesn't stay in my pouch 2-3 hours like it used to. I can generally get about 1-1.5 hours out of it. I'm not usually hungry after that time, I just don't feel the food in there anymore. So what do you think, am I normal or is it possible I stretched out the stoma or pouch? P.S. I'm still losing weight, and it's about the pace it should be at my time out from surgery.

Gold, I'm betting that everything is still in there working properly. When we get this far out, we tend to eat our foods with other foods that make them slide into the intestine. If you eat 4-5 oz of dry chicken and you don't chew it very well you can still get the message that everything is working fine. I was feeling the same way you do and I tried not sending down so much "food lube" down and was I ever uncomfortable for a couple of hours. It will bring back the old feelings again....but you may not like them. John

Thanks! Yes, food lube combined with what Jennifer said below makes sense to me. I do make my own sauces and marinades to go on my meats and I will take a bite of something before the protein because I know I may not otherwise get the change to eat it! The protein will fill me up too fast. I can try the dry chicken test. No sauces and about 5 minutes overdone... lol. I don't necessarily want the old feelings... I was really struggling to get enough calories there for many months and that would not be good at 13+ months out. I just wanted to know if the new ones are okay.

My NUT said food physically only sits in the pouch 20-30 minutes or so... thats why they say not to drin****il at least 30 minutes after - as for how long you are satisified off that food it depends on what you are eating and how nutritionally sound it is (i.e. protein, fiber etc).   4oz seems small to me... at almost 2 years out I am eating around 1cu-1.5 meals... however I was to eat more than 4oz (1/4th cup) after 3 months out or so. I know there are people further out who eat much less than I do. I dont really measure any more but it depends on what I am eating how much I can eat of it... a typical dinner would be 1/2 a chicken breast, a small salad, a serving of veggies and maybe a few bites of fruit or a starch (rice, potato).

Wow, maybe I'm ok then! I can only eat some other things if I eat those FIRST before the protein. Otherwise I don't get all the protein in. The other night I had part of a chicken breast (4oz), a bite of potatoes before the chicken and one little broccoli spear after the chicken. I was uncomfortably full. Tonight I had another 4oz chicken breast and a little sliver of homemade SF chocolate cake and I was comfortable. I know if I were to eat only lean, low calorie foods I'd never get in enough calories. I have to eat a couple of high calorie things a day to stay around 1000-1200 calories. otherwise, I may top 800 calories.  I just can't fit anymore. At 3 months out, I was struggling with getting 2oz of dense protein! It felt awful. So I guess my surgeon really hacked away on my pouch! lol. Really, the  amount doesn't bother me, it's just the swiftness in which it goes down that was a little strange to me. I got a little paranoid about having a stretched stoma. I know the pouch relaxes and we're supposed to eat more and not be more restricted... I'm not having a "Oh no! I can eat more than 1 bite!" moment.   But no one ever talks about how long the food sits there, only how much they can eat so I have no point of reference. Not even my NUT said anything about that.

I was never really aware of it until the NUT mentioned it - then I started to think about it more and see... it could all just be in my head but I feel like she may be right in what she said - lol... about 20-30 mins after I ate I typically dont 'feel' the food any more physically... however certain foods I do feel sit longer, last night I ate something sort of bready and physically felt full off it for a good 45-60 minutes... it felt like it was just sitting there - yuck! haha.  I only recently heard the info from the NUT - it was 2 months ago when she came to speak at a support group... my own nut/surgeon never mentioned it so I was interested when she said it.

I think that's probably normal. Dense protein is tough and will take up more room (and energy) to digest. I think I can still only handle about a cup of meat chunks..Sometimes less. but if it weighs more than 5 ounces, it's really dense and I have to eat it really slowly..Sometimes 5 ounces of steak will take me well over a half hour to eat..And my then it's cold and unappealing..bleh. I also eat between meal snacks like a cheese stick, wrapped in lunch meat...That makes a good snack or a 1 oz bag of beef jerky...yumo. or a small peach (which has no protein but is good for me).

I am 19 months out and I feel the same way.  It takes me longer to feel full.  It is scaring me.  Any suggestions?

Test it. I tested it with dense protein to get an idea of what my pouch can really hold, but  I just need to stop using the marinade or sauce because that lubricates it so it slides down! lol. So try a dry 6oz piece of steak or chicken and see what happens. I think you're supposed only allow 10-15 for a meal. I think if we just kept eating at something slowly over an hour, we could consume an awful lot as the food slowly goes into the stoma and intestines and makes room one bite at a time. At 19 months, I think a pouch that is 6-10oz is normal.Apparently, it staying there only 20-30 minutes is normal.

Thanks for the advice.  I will try it and see what happens.