Question:
Food getting trapped in old stomach??

I read an article where a lady had food going down into her old stomach and that was supposed to be stapled off and no longer used. She even had pictures up on a website showing the old decayed food that had been sitting in her stomach for 10 years rotting. What is this all about?    — Holly R. (posted on June 10, 2003)

June 10, 2003
Sad but interesting, please post the URL address.
   — bob-haller

June 10, 2003
I'm not an expert, but am a nurse, and it sounds like it good be an Urban Legend! First of all, I would think that if the stomach was just stapled off and you the person had a staple line disruption (SLD), then the food would still go into the unused stomach that is still functional and attached to the small intestine. In fact, whether that surgery was done this way or if the stomach was completely divided into two parts, the old stomach still works this way....the gall bladder empties bile into the old stomach and it goes down the intestine and meets up with the food further on down the line. If the stomach was completely transected (cut in two), and there was a disruption, then the food would have gone into the abdominal cavity and caused MAJOR problems.....not just sitting there for 10 years. Where is this web site, anyway? And is it a reputable site or someones own *personal story*?
   — Lynette B.

June 10, 2003
I came across that website the other night too. I dont remember thr url or the name of the site but I think Ive heard the site mentioned before on here.The site is by a woman named Sue and she obviously is dead against anytime of wt loss surgery.I saw those pics and the way the whole site looks its like these things were staged,even the letters that are supposedly from people having wt loss surgery nightmares look faked in the way that they are typed.There is also a letter from someone who had her stomach turn 360 degrees when her lap band slipped and several other stories. This site is even mentioned a few times as only telling the "GOOD"side of WLS and never the tragedies or complications. Lisa F
   — Lisa F.

June 10, 2003
You must mean Sue Widemark. I'd believe very little of what is on her site...JR
   — John Rushton

June 10, 2003
http://gastricbypass.netfirms.com under videos and photos P.J.18 years after VGB.
   — suzznn

June 10, 2003
My husband is truly my best friend and my soul mate. Our marriage gets stronger every year and WLS surgery has not changed that. He's thrilled that I feel better and keeps me grounded when I get stuck in a plateau. No one could ask for more.
   — Cathy S.

June 11, 2003
Nothing like an urban legend have a grain of truth in it to inspire fear among pre-ops! Many surgeons now use the staple line to divide the stomach into two unconnected vessels-- the pouch in which your food goes and the remainder that continues to secrete gastric juices into the intestine. Some patients of the old method (when the pouch and the remainder were divided but not separated into two unconnected vessels) did have a staple line break that allowed food from the pouch to seep into the remainder stomach. But, there is no way food could have lasted in the remainder stomach for very long . . . there are far too many gastric juices in there.
   — SteveColarossi