Question:
The part of the stomach that is no longer being used.....

I hope you can follow me on this because I don't know any of the medical terminology. BUT when you have the rny, our new pouch is disconnected from our original stomach and is the size of a boiled egg. Well, what happens to the other part of our stomach, the larger part? It's not going to decay inside of us since it's no longer being used, is it? Can anyone tell me in layman's terms what happens to that part of the stomach and intestines that we don't use anymore? 2-1/2 months post op - lap rny....feeling great, but curious.    — Annie H. (posted on January 13, 2002)

January 12, 2002
Its transected - cut apart -to prevent staple line disruptions that wiuld require another surgery to fix. Its fine and continues to produce the gastric juices we need for digestion. Dont worry at all.
   — bob-haller

January 13, 2002
Hi.My surgeon does NOT transect the stomach. He simply staples off the bottom 90% which continues to prodeuce acid and bile, but it does not decay or die, it just stays there. If you have a staple line disruption, the food or leaks go directly into the old stomach, not into the abdomen, so, it is better in that respect. We all have to take prevacid for the rest of out lives to prevent ulcers and that sort of thing. Also, if you are transected (ask your Doc if he does this, many do not) that is irreversible, but the stapling, although rare to do so, is reversible in an emergency. Hope this helped, best wishes, Donna
   — donnalawbabe

January 13, 2002
Just to add to what the previous posters have said. The intestine that is bypassed is still attached to the stomach and then re-attached further down the intestine. That way the food you eat is not going through that part of the intestine, hence the malabsorption, but it does allow other digestive juices coming from the stomach to eventually empty into the rest of the digestive tract. That's where the term Roux en 'Y' comes from. The intestine attached to your pouch is one side of the upper part of a 'Y', the intestine attached to the rest of the stomach is the other part of the 'Y' and then when they join again, you have the bottom of the 'Y'.
   — garw