Star procedure

I just had a scope done and my Dr saw that I have a xtra small stomach however where it attaches to my intestines is significantly dilated and spoke briefly to me about a Star procedure. Has anyone had this done? And what cases the dilation?

I haven't heard of the star procedure, but I've heard of similar ones meant to tighten the stoma. And yes - although evidently it's not common to stretch one's pouch, it's NOT uncommon for the stoma to stretch over time.

What causes it to stretch? I just don't want it to happen again if it's something I'm doing

Eating too much at one sitting causes the stoma to stretch out.

I start sneezing when my pouch says " enough" . Sometimes that's after just a few bites of food .

In that case I just wait a while and have the rest of my meal as a snack a few hours later . We all have " big pouch" days and " grouchy pouch" days .

Forcing food down on a grouchy pouch day can be a disaster in many ways - dumping, which in my case means rolling around on the floor with colic like symptoms for an hour begging God to please take it away I' ll NEVER do it again ...

(((()))) Good luck resolving this

Before RNY your full stomach was about the size of a two-liter bottle of soda. Now your pouch started closer to the size of the bottle cap on the soda bottle. It matures to be about the size of an egg. The stoma is the opening at the end and is the size of a quarter.

Before RNY surgery your stomach had a pyloric valve that kept the food inside until it was ready to go through the valve and be processed by the body. The old stomach worked like a big blender. It kept churning up the food until it was mostly liquids. Then the valve opened up and sent the food into the intestines. The process took many hours.

Now there is no valve at the end of your tiny pouch. The food goes in and as soon as the pouch is full the food goes directly to the intestines. There is nothing holding it in. The end of the pouch is open. Think of a funnel. So now you have to do the work of the old stomach. That means you need to cut your food into tiny bites and chew each bite until it is mush. If you swallow a bite of food that is larger than a quarter, then it will stretch the stoma as it goes through it.

This direct route from the pouch to the intestines is also what causes dumping. If you eat or drink sugar, then it is going to dump right into the small bowel and cause the rapid heartbeat, sweating, abdominal cramps and diarrhea of dumping syndrome.

When you stretch out the stoma, then your food runs through quickly and you feel hunger again. Drinking water or any liquids with your meal will also make food run through your system too quickly. You need to wait at least 30 minutes after a meal before adding water. People who do not follow that rule end up hungrier and they eat more and gain weight. A stretched stoma is the size of a US half dollar or even larger.

The two procedures I am aware of for stoma repair are Stomaplex and ROSE Procedure (Repair of Surgery, Endolumenal). Both are incisionless. They are done through the mouth. They tighten up the stoma again. To keep it small and tight you have to be careful to never eat anything again where a bite is larger than the size of a quarter and where the food has not been completely chewed before swallowing it. You also must never again drink with your meals.

If you get a repair and follow those rules, you will lose the weight again and never again stretch out the stoma.

Thank you!!!

I think I know how I did it then ?I have a hard time not drinking when I eat so this is behavior I will have to correct starting now

Watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR0VM3mnsgM

I have never heard of the Star procedure. That's a new one to me.

You can actually eat less and lose weight simply by drinking water BEFORE meals ( like we're supposed to ) .

I try to drink at least 1/2 a glass of ice water before I actually take a bite of food - I know I won't be able;e to drink with my meal or for 1/2 hour afterwards so its become kind of a habit .

I actually feel myself getting thirsty before meals lol !

And you might be able to help yourself a lot even before getting the surgery by doing the pouch test ...