Quiz - How Well Do You Know Your Pouch?

I know everyone’s pouch is a little different.  But there are a number of things all our pouches have in common.  

Before RNY, you had a pyloric valve and now you don’t (at least not a functioning one).  What is that and what affect does not having one have on you?

Why are we advised not to drink with meals or right after meals?

If you take a vitamin and then drink right away, will that wash the vitamin about of the pouch and keep you from absorbing it?

Can soda or other carbonated drinks stretch your pouch?

Will drinking too much water all at once stretch your pouch?

How can NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin and Aleve) hurt your pouch?  What if you take them by injection or IV so they don’t actually come in contact with your pouch?

Before RNY, you had a pyloric valve and now you don’t (at least not a functioning one). What is that and what affect does not having one have on you? Not sure, I would have to look that one up.
  Why are we advised not to drink with meals or right after meals? It washes out the food & more apt to make you hungry faster.
  If you take a vitamin and then drink right away, will that wash the vitamin about of the pouch and keep you from absorbing it? I believe it will wa**** out of the pouch but I'm under the impression that we absorb in our intestines.
  Can soda or other carbonated drinks stretch your pouch? No
  Will drinking too much water all at once stretch your pouch? No
  How can NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin and Aleve) hurt your pouch? What if you take them by injection or IV so they don’t actually come in contact with your pouch? Causes ulcers & injections still can cause ulcers, I believe.

 Umm. I know I have some of these wrong...

The pyloric valve is left attached to the larger portion of your stomach, the smaller part becomes the pouch and that gets an anestomises instead. Or a hole that the food passes from the stomach into the intestine. it's not a sphincter so it doesn't contract and expand like the valve does, it's just there and open letting your food and liquids funnel through.  It's not a natural condition, it can heal closed and also become restricted by scar tissue.  It's usually about the size of a penny.

I think we're told not to drink so we can use all the available space in the pouch for food. Adding liquids just takes space away from what would normally be available.  

Im going to say no to washing out a vitamin... My anestomises was only 3mm wide, no pill could have fit down it. Is it because the liquid that's imbibed will dilute what little stomach acids there are that dissolve the pills until they're small enough to pass through to the intestine?

I think the soda stretch is a yes, but I'm probably wrong.

I have no idea why we cant take NSAIDs .

The pyloric valve is the original opening between the stomach and the intestines. It would keep food in the stomach long enough for proper digestion to take place. Since we don't have one, food moves quickly from the pouch into the intestines since there is nothing to hold the food in the pouch.

No drinking with meals because liquid will wash the food out of the pouch quicker (no pyloric valve) and potentially make you feel hungry sooner leading to overeating. Also I think there is the potential that if food (not liquid) moves through your stoma too quickly you could stretch the stoma.

Vitamins are not absorbed in the pouch but in the intestines so drink away!

Carbonation cannot stretch your pouch.

Drinking too much water will not stretch your pouch.

NSAIDS can cause ulcers. Because of the way they are processed by our bodies, it doesn't matter what route you take them by, there is still the potential for ulcers. The real concern here is for ulcers in your "blind" stomach.

What's my prize??

Um.... a gold star?

You did good!

Yay! Love gold stars!

Wow! Thanks!  Definitely a Pat on the Back from Me! and a big Thank YOU!  Sherry

 I swear I went straight to the reply button and did not look at others answers!

1. Pyloric valve is like a little trap door that slowly lets food out of your stomach and into your intestinal tract. Not having one means several things. Firstly, you shouldn't eat/drink at the same time because the absense of the valve means food can wash out of your pouch. Second, the absence of the valve contributes to the phenomenon known as "Dumping Syndrome" whereby consuming too much sugar can cause a myriad of unpleasant symptoms.

2. See above.

3. Um...not sure. 

4. Not that science can prove. Although there are a host of other reasons you might want to consider not drinking soda often.

5. No, it goes straight through.

6. They can break down the lining of your stomach and cause ulcers. It doesn't really matter if you take them orally or by IV they can have the same effect.

How'd I do?

You did good.

The answer to number 3 is that we absorb vitamins in our small intestine, so it doesn't matter if you drink and wash them out of your pouch.

Ooo!! Ooo!! Raises Hand! 

Pyloric valve was at the portion of your stomach joined to your small intestine.  It kept food from passing straight through your stomach.  Now we just have a small opening for food to pas through. Food is held in our stomachs strictly by it's density when swallowed. 

Drink with your meal and you wash the food right out of your pouch and you will get hungry faster.

No, vitamins are absorbed in the intestines not the pouch. 

No, but carbonation can make you feel miserable.  *burp*

No, water will pass right through your pouch due to the missing pyloric valve and the pouch's funnel type shape.

How you are given NSAIDS does not matter.  It is the drug itself that contributes to ulcers not the method in which it was ingested.