Question:
IT SAYS ON THE DS SITE THAT THE STOMACH NEVER RETURNS

TO ITS ORIGINAL SIZE IS THAT TRUE ?    — donna m (posted on December 20, 2005)

December 20, 2005
If you have a WL "surgery", it means that something is being changed through a surgical technique. In the RNY weight loss surgery, the area is re-routed and it is correct that you will never have the stomach you were born with. I had mine done 2-1/2 years ago and do not miss a thing without it. I love how my life is. Hope this answers your question. Missy
   — Missy H.

December 20, 2005
Donna, With the DS, a sleeve gastrectomy is done - i.e., the full portion of the stomach along the greater curvature is removed. My surgeon removes all but about 50 cc's of the stomach - retaining, of course, the pylorus and pyloric function. If you'd like to see a cool little animation of the DS, go to http://www.johnhustedmd.com/switch.htm - you'll have to scroll down toward the end of the page to begin the animation. It takes a couple of minutes to watch the whole thing, but it's worth the wait! It's an excellent visual. So - in answer to your question. The portion of stomach that is cut away - is gone forever. Your stomach, however, is made up of pretty stretchy stuff, so it will stretch out some over the course of a couple of years after surgery. It'll never be the volume it was before surgery, but it will be a "small normal" for most folks. I'm 3.5 years post-DS and I still have quite a bit of restriction. BUT, I'm pretty glad for it! Hope this helps. Blessings, dina
   — Dina McBride

December 20, 2005
It is true that your stomach never returns to it's approximate "football" size but for me that size has done nothing but cause problems. If you are concerned you might want to go to the DS forum at the link below and ask those that had surgery a while ago about their experience with the smaller stomach. http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/DS/posts.html
   — Tuxedo Katz

December 21, 2005
the portion of the stomach that is removed contains glands that do not regenerate,the ghrenlins that produce hunger hormone, we can do with out that nicely, your EYS will want food adequately all by them selves. right.
   — walter A.

December 21, 2005
Nope, it will never return to it's original size---but it WILL get a good little bit bigger than in your first few months post-op. I'm two years post-op, and I can eat about half what I used to. But you need to remember that the DS ALSO gives the greatest amount of 'selective' malabsorption, so even though I'm eating about half as much VOLUME as I once did, I'm only absorbing around 20% of the fat I eat, and around 60% of the protein and carbs I eat. (Let's just NOT talk about sugar, okay? *grin*)
   — MsBatt