Question:
Is it possible to reshrink your pouch tool 4 yrs. post op?

I had gastric bypass surgery, with stapling, in August of 1998. My weight was 450 before surgery. After one full year post op, I got down to 350. I have reverted back to my old eating habits of eating pizza, chocolate, drinking soda, etc. It is now July 2002 and I weigh 374. I saw a posting about the oregon center article on the lady who reshrunk her pouch 16 yrs. post op, but I was unable to pull up the article. I kept getting a message saying it was no longer on the website couldn't be found. I know for a fact that I do not have any staple line disruptions, so would someone please give me some guidance or tell me of any links and articles on how to retrain my pouch tool. Any advice would be very appreciated, I would at least like to get down to a size 16/18 or weigh 200.    — Marney D. (posted on July 19, 2002)

July 18, 2002
This question was asked in our surgeon's support group, and his response was yes. He stated that the pouch would "shrink" down to nearly its original size if a patient would return to the original liquid diet instructions that we were given when we first came home from the hospital: "6 small full liquid meals/day....three of which are protein supplements.....no solid foods....maintain for 3 weeks, then return to 3 small meals/day, plus one snack at bedtime if necessary.....keep those "junk" foods out of reach forever". Hope this helps...best wishes!
   — Diana T.

July 18, 2002
You might want to join the OSSG-protein list. You should be able to get some great tips on changing your habits and getting back on track. Here's the link, and you have to sign up before you can start getting & sending emails: [email protected]
   — Leslie F.

July 19, 2002
MY FRIEND DID IT 7 YEARS POST OP. SHE WENT ON A 4 WEEK LIQUID DIET. THEN BEGAN WITH THE SMALL PROTIEN MEALS, AND GOT BUSY WALKING. SHE DROPPED 25 LBS AND WHEN SHE BEGAN BACK ON SOLID FOODS HER STOMACH FELT FULL AGAIN WITH A FEW BITES. SHE SAID IT WAS HARDER THIS TIME TO GO ON LIQUIDS BUT SHE IS BACK ON TRACK. GO FOR IT!!
   — Pam G.

July 19, 2002
I really don't mean this to be offensive, but why did you only lose 100 lbs. the first time around? That's highly unusual for us "heavyweights," i.e. 400+ lbs. You said you started at 450 and only got down to 350 after surgery. (?) I started at 407 and am down to 218 and still losing at 16 months post-op with very little effort on my part. I really wonder if you have some kind of a problem in your "plumbing" so to speak, i.e. staple line disruption, leak, etc. that is causing your tool to be defective. You say that you're sure it's not a staple line disruption, but I'm wondering if it's even possible to just "stretch your pouch" so much that it would become completely ineffective. At 16 months post-op, I can only eat about 10 oz. at a given time, and I really haven't been careful about it at all. So I guess my question would really be, is it possible that you are grazing throughout the day, having several small meals? I fell into this trap at about 14 months post-op and really plateaued for a while. Now I have limited my intake to 3-4 small meals per day (approx. 1500 calories) and have started dramatically losing again. Have you tried this? I'll be thinking of you and wishing you lots of support and love.
   — Terissa R.

July 19, 2002
Marney, here's an article you might find helpful. Don't take offense at this (I didn't title it)! It's called 'Pouch Rules for Dummies' http://www.shelby.net/wizards/larger.htm Hugs,
   — Robin W.

July 19, 2002
I too have "Pouch Rules for Dummies" and I think it is fantastic. Hope it helps and good luck.
   — Sandy I.