Question:
Why - I have only dropped 38 pounds since I had surgery 12/20/00?

I am starting to get very discouraged. I am 51 yrs young, 5'1" tall and weigh 180. I lost most of my weight the first three months and now the scale hardly moves. I am more active and feel great but I want to lose at least 40-50 more pounds. Must I diet like I did before surgery? I had hoped to end that cycle foreever. Anyone have any advice?    — Connie B. (posted on October 12, 2001)

October 12, 2001
Wow! That is unsual. Have you been back to see your surgeon lately? What does he/she say about this? If you haven't seen the doctor lately I think you should.
   — georgiacarol

October 12, 2001
Have you been checked for mechanical failure, such as staple line disruption? You didn't say what your post-op regimen is, so perhaps it is skewed to stand in your way, but I'd be wanting to be scoped and have someone take a look.
   — vitalady

October 13, 2001
it is all in what you are eating,or not eating...
   — viola C.

October 13, 2001
I have been reading your replies and I really didn't think about mechanical problems but that is a possible. I have a call into my Doctor. About eating. I try to get in the required amount of protein and when I count calories I am consuming between 900 and 1500 most days. Is that too much? I do have a limit on how much I can eat at one time. When we go out to eat I cannot eat a whole childs serving. But usually my food is consumed over the whole day. I eat something at least every couple hours. As far as activity, I think I am a lot more active but I don't have a regular exercise routine but I am working on it. I appreciate your replies and would like to hear from you with any ideas you may have. Thanks.
   — Connie B.

October 13, 2001
Hi, go and have an upper GI to see if you have possible staple line disruption. I did. I had surgery in November 2000 just before you and I have lost 68 lbs. I quit losing back in June and didn't know why. I exercised a lot all summer and kept my calories to 800 a day. I lost a few more lbs but nothing significant like I should've. No other symptoms were present. I still can't eat more than a cup of food and I haven't gained any wt at all. Still, I knew that I should still be losing. Asked my doctor for an upper GI and sure enough, there it was.....staples had come lose at the top of the pouch. Pouch was not stretched one bit. But liquids were flowing into the old still attached stomach. I was then having absorbtion in two area....the common channel and the old intestine too. No wonder I couldn't lose! I was absorbing everything! So I am having a revision to a transected pouch on Tuesday next week. Yes, I am doing it again so I can start losing again. If you are really trying to lose and you are not transected, just stapled like I was, go have a test to see. This is fixable! It is a mechanical problem and can happen to anyone who is not transected. Check it out. You can avoid a lot of heartache and grief by finding out what has happened. And don't kick yourself either. Staple line disruption is not the patient's fault, it is a mechanical failure. Good luck and God bless you!
   — Marilyn C.