Just wanted to share a little info that my surgeon shared with me. I went for my 3 month check up and he told me that he just did a Scope on a new patient that her surgery was done by another surgeon 3 years ago. He told me that her stomach was the same size if not larger than a normal stomach after just 3 years and he was doing another sleeve on her. He state that she had stretched her stomach so much that she was able to eat 6 slices of Pizza.   

This scared me a little... I have always been told to "under eat" your sleeve and this is was I plan on continuing to do. I had 28 years to eat as much food as I wanted now for the rest of my life I choose to eat only until I am satisfied not until I am full.

I am just sharing this with you guys to let you know that It is INDEED possible to stretch your sleeve if you make a habit of over eating... and NO i'm not saying that if you over eat ONE TIME that it will happen. This is something that took a long time to happen and literally gorging in every meal "state by my doctor"

The only way to get your sleeve that stretched out is by YEARS of gorging yourself.  How did she know she could eat six slices of pizza unless she was doing it?

You will not stretch it by eating a bit too much every once in awhile or by having the occaisonal carbonated drink.

That being said.....I completely agree with what you said.  Under eating your sleeve not only protects your sleeve but it helps to ensure success on your program.

Ya know....people have been claiming you can stretch out your sleeve back to its original size the entire time I've been on OH but I have yet to see a picture or anything of an upper GI to prove it.  It's always some anecdotal story from their surgeon or a friend.  I wonder if they just say this stuff for "scare compliance".  Hey....whatever works.

On February 24, 2012 at 6:15 AM Pacific Time, doggz109 wrote: The only way to get your sleeve that stretched out is by YEARS of gorging yourself.  How did she know she could eat six slices of pizza unless she was doing it?

You will not stretch it by eating a bit too much every once in awhile or by having the occaisonal carbonated drink.

That being said.....I completely agree with what you said.  Under eating your sleeve not only protects your sleeve but it helps to ensure success on your program.

Ya know....people have been claiming you can stretch out your sleeve back to its original size the entire time I've been on OH but I have yet to see a picture or anything of an upper GI to prove it.  It's always some anecdotal story from their surgeon or a friend.  I wonder if they just say this stuff for "scare compliance".  Hey....whatever works.

I totally agree.

It's amazing the hyperbole (or outright misinformation) that comes from some surgeon's offices.  Sometimes from the surgeon, sometimes from the staff... but always with the intent to scare patients into compliance.  I may be cynical, but I believe they don't do this for the patient's own good but rather because they are willing to do anything to have good numbers to report.  On one hand, yes, whatever works...  but on the other, it would be more ideal to put additional time and resources into educating patients and offering a strong support system rather than resorting to scare tactics to ensure compliance.

My favorite example of exaggerated truth from my own surgeon's office:  If I cheat even once on the pre-op diet, the surgeon will be able to tell just by looking at my liver while in surgery.  Classic scare tactic.    This was repeated by the nurses and dietitians during the pre-op classes.   They said a lot of things that were either laughable or cringe-worthy for anyone with a background in science.   My surgeon, however, never takes such scare tactics himself and he laughed when I repeated what the nurses had said in the pre-op class and promised to talk to them about it.  He's not down with hyperbole.  ;) 

Greetings,

I'm new on OH and have been reading people's stories and getting information about the sleeve for months now and started this journey researching since last September/November as a recommendation of my PCP doctor now that I was eligible for WLS.  That being said, I am being sleeved on March 6th... yeah and currently on a two weeks pre-op low cal diet of 1,000 calories per day and can say that my doctor's office too said that if I didn't lose weight before surgery that they would send me home and I could not have the surgery.  I never thought that it was a scare tactics for once but to tell you the truth if it was, it did work.  I have been starving myself and panicking if I would get close to 800 calories in a day since starting, heck even joined the gym (which I really can't afford).  So in a sense if this is not true, then this is a crazy way to do things in the medical field and to think that you want the absolute trust from your surgeon and his staff.... it's not right if this is being done.  Thanks for the info.

There are indeed surgeons who have a policy that if patients don't lose x% in pre-op, they won't do the surgery.  This is neither hyperbole nor a scare tactic.  It is simply the policy of the practice.  Many disagree with this approach, but that's another discussion entirely.

Exaggeration and misinformation as a "motivator" is what I find annoying (and a tad paternalistic too!) We are adults that presumably passed a psych exam, resorting to scare tactics to keep us "in-line" is pretty condescending.

I love my surgeon as he treats me as an intelligent partner in this journey, and not as a child that needs to be frightened with tall tales in order to stay out of trouble.  (Some of his staff, unfortunately, aren't on the same page.)

Anyway, that's enough of my ranting! LOL!

Good luck with your upcoming surgery!  Welcome to OH too! 

Wow... that's the first time I've heard that. Isn't that only possible if a lot of the fundus is left?

Yep, I really find that story hard to believe.

 
I totally can believe it. we had a girl here last year that got about a 16oz sleeve I think it was..... at 16oz new means it could stretch out by 4x or more.

frisco

I agree Frisco......a 16oz sleeve obviously was left with a ton of fundus available to stretch back out.

However, doesn't most of this come down to "user error"?  If you do what you are supposed to do....ie....not binge on a regular basis.....you won't give the sleeve the opportunity to stretch.

It's what you always say......undereat your sleeve....don't even give it a chance to stretch.

hi shenna, wow ive heard that your sleeve tummy can stretch some, im over 3 yrs out from wls and till this day i can only eat alittle at a time cause if i do over eat i get sooooooo sick to my tummy, not worth it, i do know my surgeon makes his sleeves very small, i still cant eat meat of any kind, just doesnt sit well in my tummy, at times like outside grilling i wish i could but it doesnt bother me much, oh should add that even though i cant eat alot at one time, i could still shovel in lots of tiny meals during the day, which i gotta control, i luv my sleeve.....tracy.

It begs the question of whether the patient's sleeve was done 'correctly' in the first place.  Overeating is to an extent a function of being able to overeat. On the few occasions where I've eaten too quickly or 'up to capacity', the consequences have not been pleasant.  I have a small, tight sleeve, and there's not much room for 'error' when it comes to the volume I eat. I'm not a masochist, and riding the 'vomit comet' is not high on my list of fun times. That in itself is a strong incentive to not overeat.  Can i eat 'around' my sleeeve? Not so much.  It's not as easy for me, anyway, as it sounds.

If I see a big 'capacity' increase at 2 or 3 years as some seem to experience, it might be a different story, but for now, I physically couldn't 'gorge' if I tried. 

THIS.

This VERBATIM ! ! ! 

At over 2.5 years out, I still max out.

Surgeon technique and trusting his skills is essential to lessen this issue of "stretching". I see a lot of "new" surgeons and a lot of those patients can eat as much at 3 months post-op that it took me a good 18 months to consume.

It's not a standardized procedure. Not all sleeves are created equally. And, there's not enough left behind to stretch out if the surgery is performed properly.

I still can't gorge, binge or overeat without consequence and I'm approaching the 3 year mark.

The question that I have is whether this is "stretching" which implies a constant or frequent mechanical stress on flexible tissue, or simple growth as the body's response to the changes that were made, possibly stimulated by over consumption, but possibly an extreme case of individuality. With the DS, it is not unheard of for the common channel (active part of the remaining intestine) to not only thicken but also lengthen - sometimes doubling in length or more - in the body's attempt to "correct" or adapt to the alteration that was made - that certainly is not a case of over-stuffing it. That's not the normal case, but neither is it unprecedented. Some of our bodies will go to extraordinary lengths to return to their original state. If that is the case, then this may be possible in some individuals despite all best efforts to under-eat the sleeve. Curious people would like know.

I dunno.... I do know that I have unintentionally eaten around my sleeve a couple times....and found out that I have really weird sliders....for me ice cream is NOT a slider. I get filled up on half a cup ! Something that thrills me no end ! But inadvertently ate a HUGE amount of popcorn not realizing that I had while watching a move ! And NEVER FELT ANY RESISTANCE, nor did I feel full. WTF !!

But does that mean that I've stretched my sleeve out ? I don't think so. After a year, my sleeve IS much bigger than it was early out, but I was told that this would happen. Yes, I can eat just under 3oz of dense protein. But that isn't a bad thing. It has remainded constant for the past few months, and I would expect it to do that.

But if you asked me to judge the size of my sleeve by popcorn, or by chips....I would have to say that I never had surgery. So I remember that I CANNOT eat these items unless I portion out a serving, and am concious of eating. No more large popcorn sharing for me. 100 calorie microwave popcorn is my new carb treat and friend....

 I am 3 1/2 years post op from having the sleeve.  Even though I can eat more than I could right after surgery, I still to this day cannot eat alot.  At a meal, I eat 4-5 bites of protein, 3-4 bites of vegetables and have very little room left for anything else.  On a regular day, I eat a boiled egg for breakfast, a string of cheese mid-morning, lunch which consist of protein and vegetables, a mid-afternoon snack of protein and dinner which consist of protein, vegetables and a small fruit.  In between meals and snacks I drink water.  I am also walking about a hour a day 3-4 days a week.  This is what works for me and I have been maintaining my 95 lb. weight loss for 3 years.  I lost my weight in the first 6 months.  My husband had the sleeve 4 years ago, lost 130 pounds, he has gained about 10 pounds back which I think is good, he really got a little too thin.  But I don't think there is any way he can gain back 120 pounds!  This is the beauty of this surgery -- if the surgery is done correctly, it is a tool for a lifetime!  We still have to make wise food choices and be complient but living like this is soooo much better than living as a fat person with aches and pains and being unhealthy.  

I find this hard to believe - if a properly done sleeve stretched out to the normal size, the tissue would be severely compromised and would seem to pose a serious risk to someone's health.


But yeah - I dont know how someone could eat enough to stretch it out that much - it seems like vomiting would occur before the sleeve allowed that much food in to stretch it...

This made me think about how we lose weight, have plastic surgery and get all of the skin cut off but can still grow back to be the same size and bigger and really only suffer the same ugly stretch marks we suffered the first time around (as far as skin goes). Would that be the same thing? Maybe not since the stretchy part of the stomach is supposed to be gone and the stomach is a muscle. I'm just thinking out loud.

I wonder how large her sleeve was to begin with?

If she was a chronic over eater before surgery she learned tricks to over eat. It can be done.

I can't lie. I have wondered if I was stretching my stomach when I went on a sushi binge for some days (no rice) and I could eat 900 pounds of it. Sometimes I could only eat 2 pieces with some lobster on the top and other times I could eat 4 pieces with lobster on the top (no rice, mind you)... but once I think I had even more. I never weighed it so I don't really know how much I was eating but it looked like a lot. I used to feel totally satisfied/full with 2 oz of dense protein and now I don't, but other than my few days of sushi, I won't pu**** past 2.5 oz.

Side note: Is sushi a slider for anyone or is it mostly airy? The imitation crab/avocado stuff? We can't get the real crab around here!!