Question:
Distal vs proximal

Distal Vs Proximal : I have found nothing under surgery types on what the diffrence (pro / cons) of the two. What classifies distal from proximal. Do you have more or less gas, BM's, etc. What are the measurments for Distal / Proximal. The surgery I am having will be RNY open with I guess Distal. What part of the surgery is going to be distal? Is it the intestional length? Any clarification is welcomed. Thanks.    — sandy W. (posted on March 30, 2002)

March 30, 2002
From what I understand, distal is when more of the intestine is bypassed. My proximal RNY that I'm going to have is bypassing 2 feet. Another man who had distal rny had 8 feet of intestine bypassed. That's usually on the heavier patients. It has more malabsorbtion involved. Hope that helps.
   — lerli1

March 30, 2002
HI, My understanding of this is that distal (longer amount of intenstines by-passed) is done on BMI's of 50 or higher (generally speaking). Someone explained it to me as distal is a greater distance and proximal is closer proximity. I remember it that way. I am five days post-op from RNY open-distal (BMI 57) and doing fine. The pain is less than I thought it would be and easier than when I had my c-section. I am adjusting to this new eating/drinking routine and I think that is the hardest thing. I am not hungry so it is hard to get all the food in. Luckily, I am not nauseus at all. Good luck to you on your surgery!
   — Kathleen M.

March 30, 2002
I asked my surgeon about this at my consultation appointment and his answer was that food will move through the digestive system more quickly in a person who has had a distal RNY since there is much less intestine there. This means that if a person who has a distal RNY and a person who has proximal RNY eat something at the same time, the one who had the distal RNY will have to go to the bathroom much sooner and not as much food will be absorbed into the body. That's just what he said, but people who have had distal would know best.
   — Kelly M.

March 30, 2002
I have sort of a "canned" explanation of this, if you email me privately. I could hang it here, but I'd have to edit it too much, since it was posted to a group! OK, I'm lazy. I'm very distal, and no, not all of us have diarrhea. Some of us are COMPLETELY the opposite. Some proximals have diarrhea. So do normies. A distal like mine SHOULD result in it, in theory. But then, in theory, diet & exercise should work, right?
   — vitalady