Question:
Since having RNY I noticed my stool diameter had changed to a fingerbreadth width.

Now in the last 10 days the size is more back to pre-op size--like a piece of pipe. Sorry to be so graphic--would this have anything to do with a stretched stoma or something--or just the natural event of things? I'm 4 months out--and again I apologize for this crass question--that I can ask here anonymously!    — Wannabe A. (posted on March 1, 2003)

February 28, 2003
Stool size has absolutely nothing to do with your stoma. The stoma is the opening between the stomach and your small intestine which is approx. 25' (after a 5' RNY) away from your butt. In the meantime the food gets digested in the small intestine and the bowel. Normally stool size is dependent on the quantity of food you eat or in this case your body getting back to normal. <p>I had exactly the same thing and I am 2 days short of 4 weeks. I was amazed that I had any stool on just jello and broth but because my body was working properly it was absorbing other wastes and getting them out of my body. I then went though 3 days of diarrhia after I started with solid foods and even after the diarrhia settled down and the stool was solid again I was going about 6-10 times a day because my bowel was still in a very reactionary mode. I've had irritable bowel issues in the past so it might have been a slight flareup of that. By the start of week two everything had settled down to normal and I go a couple times a day, which is normal for me. I go less quantity but that is because I eat less food. <p>Be glad your body is feeling good and getting back to normal. Just make sure you get in lots of water or else things can get constipated pretty easily. Good Luck! Chris
   — zoedogcbr

February 28, 2003
Hey anonymous, it's ok. We had surgery on our intestines so naturally we need to discuss the outcome!...no pun intended! I have noticed differences in my BM too. It is actually the only we can tell what is going on inside without Upper GI or some other test. When I eat high fat, the BM is yellow to orange, stringly and floats and is really gross. It is kind of foamy and very stinky. When I eat properly, I usually have one or two BM's a day and they are really big. I mean they are one piece and clay colored and the diameter surprises me! As many have noted, they even stop up the toilet. My husband keeps telling me that I am using too much paper but I argue it is not the paper! He doesn't believe me so if any of you can validate this, I would appreciate it. I will show him the answers! I recently had a colonoscopy and everything is fine there. I also had an upper GI last Monday to see if my pouch had stretched because I can eat more now. It was still very tiny and about the size of a vertebrae. My spine could be seen in the picture and it was about the size of the distance between the two vertebraes. Shaped like an egg. I was very happy to see that because on some days, I can eat a whole sandwich (for example) and on other days I can only eat 1/2 of a sandwich. And one other note: when I eat a sandwich, the BM resulting from it is full of fat and stringly. For me, that is not a healthy choice so the BM is not healthy either. A sign of health is a regular occuring, complete emptying of the bowel. Anyone else have input? We need to talk about these things in order to stamp out colon cancer. There is a new commercial on TV about two doctors chasing a big red polyp around and when they catch him (the polyp) they take him away. The message is "Catch the polyp and catch the cure for cancer". My parents both died from colon cancer because they were too embarassed to go to the doctor in time and did not get diagnosed in time. In 2003, any subject that will help others to get healthy, is not taboo. We need to talk about these things as they are only natural occurecnces in nature. I will get off my soapbox now!
   — Mylou52