Will Sleeve Stretch

For me, white food is toxic. That's the way I think about it, anyway. Simple carbs and sugars are what got me here in the first place. I haven't had any bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, or ice cream since before surgery. That's a life-time record for me! 

I have found that things like pasta, rice, and bread, tend to swell in the stomach I'm guessing it's because those items tend to absorb moisture hence they are smaller when you cook them but expand, so they expand.  I do eat those things on occassion but am VERY careful.

Ms Shell

Thank you so much for your responses! I am a volume ater so i know the sleeve is what I need. I will just have to track what I eat and measure! Thanks!

At only three months out I can say I can eat 'more' than 1 month but I obviously can't speak to whether it will be more at 1 year 2 years etc. My feelings on the regain is that it isn't likely from quantity at one time but grazing and eating a large quantity over time. That is something that you will always have to watch for. While I may only be able to eat 2-3 ounces at a time, I could easily eat 10 ounces in 2 hours(I'm guessing I could....the point is the same if the amount changes). You will have to make a smart choice to avoid eating large portions over extended time periods.

 I'm 4 months post op and I can eat a lot more now than I could at 2 months.  From what I've been told, the swelling in your sleeve after surgery goes down after 2-3 months allowing you to take in more food, but I cannot eat more than a cup to a cup and 1/2 of food.  My nutritionist told me that I would probably never be able to eat any more than that ever because the part of the stomach that was removed was the stretchy part, what's left is hard muscle.  

I don't eat in between meals and if I do find myself a little hungry, I'll snack on a small piece of cheese or fruit.  Even though most of the time my diet is low carb, I will every so often have a little pasta or something "sinful," but it won't do it very often.  I remember what I felt like before surgery and I don't want to go back there again.   Thank goodness I get a little uncomfortable twinge at the top of my stomach indicating that it's time to stop eating and I obey that twinge!  

Keep track of what you eat and exercise if you want to be successful.  

As with most things in our biological world - some of both. While in principle there isn't supposed to be much stretch, the sleeve certainly can stretch and in some cases excessively, which is why re-sleeving is sometimes necessary. Now, whether that "excessive" stretch is from the patient over stuffing themselves, the manner in which the surgeon did the original sleeve, or just the individual variations that we all have in our physiology is not known (the surgeons will be quick to blame the patient...) or likely a combination of all three is unknown. Some of us will adapt more to the changes that have been made and our bodies will attempt to get back to what we were before. In the DS world, the common channel (the part of the intestines that are active with both food and digestive enzymes) have been known to grow - lengthen and thicken - in the body's effort to adapt to the changes that have been made, and that certainly isn't due to the patient's non-compliance!

The best advice is to follow the program set up by your doctor and hope that you aren't one of those rare patients who have a particularly stretchy stomach. If you are, then a revision to another configuration may be in order - the bariatric world still doesn't have a very good handle on what procedure is best for what patient (and to be fair, that often isn't known until one procedure has been tried and failed, sad to say.)

As there are few absolutes in this world of the "resleeved" as those whose sleeves were made with larger bougies.  The average sized bougies 32-36 usually aren't able to be resleeved from what I've read and seen on these boards.

Ms Shell

I read on here from a couple people it wont stretch just bad choices cause regain.
Im prolly one of them!! Even tho my REGAIN was from overeating GOOD
HEALTHY CHOICES everyday.. I now understand how some vegetarians must get WLS!


I find this hard to believe so whats the truth?

The WHOLE TRUTH and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH....SO HELP ME GAWD:

YOUR WEIGHT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SIZE OF YOUR STOMACH
ALTERED OR NOT!

also shape of it makes no difference!! now that I think about it....WELL...how come WE'RE ALL GETTIN OUR STOMACHS CHOPPED OFF THEN?...and why are we losing WEIGHT?

Restriction and hunger hormone ghrelin LOSS (.HUGE!!) ..is what gives US VSGrs...the edge that's it! Gotta scroll down some to VSG STRETCHING and VOLUME category
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/carmelita/blog/tag/bougie+ in+vsg/

For DSrs and RNYrs...its MALABSORPTION that is a MAJOR Plus.... Oh and DSrs and RNYrs
REGAIN JUST AS MUCH AS WE DO!! even with malabsorption!..... HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!!

VSG shows...Im not sure now...so double check this (with ASMBS)
32-85% EWL (eventual weight loss) over 5 years..... average is 55% EWL....neck n neck with RNY! Any WLS over 50% average EWL is considered a HUGE SUCCESS!! according to AMA...NOW...does that mean VSG...may replace RNY as gold standard...cuz its average is the same without malabsorption, better recovery time and less short and long term complications...I thin so ,-)

OK so the EWL is 32-85% right? Will YOU be the 32% or the 85%? or heck ...will you be one of the NUMEROUS peeps that lose 100% (especially the first 3 yrs!)
I think maybe 75% of it is really ALL UP TO US where WE WANNA BE!

Can YOU live with yerself if YOU don't reach that magical number in the sky that someone else says ya should weigh, even tho you feel GREAT, Healthy, SEXY, confident, ENERGETIC, HAPPIER than ya've ever felt.....

Ive read some surgeons...say that 100% of the success/ effectiveness LIES WITH THE TYPE of WLS YOU CHOOSE. Not the patient/individual responsibilty at all.....I think those $urgeon$ have an agenda to push....LETS CUT YA $OME MORE!! GET A D$!! LET$ give ya an RNY!! $o YOU are $ATI$FIED! and $O WILL I!

I had my surg in September too! Its a good month for a surg... in time to enjoy them HOLIDAYS!!

#1 regret on this board...in the 3 years Ive been here...
I DIDN'T DO IT SOONER!!

So true So true!

Hang in there Meg...and KEEP POSTING ALL YER QUESTIONS and ABOUT YOUR PRE-OP JITTERS!!
WE'LL get YA THROUGH each ONE OF THE MANY PHASES of VSG...

=

Thank yo so much for posting this! All very true points. Just gotta have my mind right and I will do this!

Here is something I posted last night regarding MY restriction www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/4421025/Sleeve-restriction-al most-4-years-out-not-to-long-for-a/

So now to your question.  I remember STUFFING myself when I was a child and ended up throwing up and that lead me to do it MORE often.  I am borderline bulemic and I BELIEVE that if I were to resume that behavior after having my VSG that I would inevitably stretch my sleeve.  While I believe OVERTIME that OVERCONSUMPTION will indeed stretch your sleeve I also believe that if your sleeve is made with a 32-36 bougie that you WILL never have your old volume again. 

Regarding regain that has NOTHING to do with the size of your stomach.  Any and ALL WLS can be eaten around.  You can focus on "slider" foods (those are foods you can consume with seemingly no end in sight.  You can eat until full and eat every hour after that. 

My sleeve is an open book and I'm one of the few veterans that stay around OH so feel free to pick my brain if you'd like.

Ms Shell