Question:
Question about the stoma stretching

Yesterday, there was a question asking how the stoma could get stretched and one of the answers was that by drinking with meals causes this...how is that possible? If anything, I would think it would be the opposite...just curious... (I posted this question earlier, but it never showed up on the board) thanks!    — Kay W. (posted on August 28, 2003)

August 28, 2003
when you drink with meals it pushes the food thru faster and that might cause the stoma to be stretched.
   — **willow**

August 28, 2003
also- I was told that while the pouch is SUPPOSED to stretch out some, the stoma stretching is really the greates risk to weight regain
   — **willow**

August 28, 2003
The concensous of most docs is that a stretched stoma just happens to some people and is not caused by anything or anyone in particular.
   — Delores S.

August 28, 2003
I have an enlarged stoma - and it has been like that since day 1. I have emailed with a lot of people who also have an enlarged stoma - and they too have had the problem since the beginning. I have yet to find a single piece of research that definitively explains why this happens, but I can assure you that this did not happen because I ate too much or drank with my meals. I was hungry from the very beginning - and no - it wasn't head hunger. I was ravenous by week 4, and at that time, I was only eating one 2-3 ounce solid food meal, with 2 three ounce liquid meals a day. Imagine trying to follow a post-op diet while being pre-op, and that's how I felt. My own personal theory is that, for some reason, my body didn't form the amount of scar tissue the surgeon anticipated, leaving the stoma larger than planned. I ran that by my surgeon, and he said it was a possibility. I can tell you that surgeons do agree that it is impossible to tell pre-operatively who will have an enlarged stoma. Weight loss IS possible. I lost 100 pounds by my 1 year anniversary (almost 9 months ago) and haven't gained back a single pound. It does take some will power and careful monitoring of your food. But I can not stress enough that those of us who have this DID NOTHING WRONG to cause it.
   — Cyndie K.