fact or fiction?

Yes, some people find carbonation uncomfortable after surgery, but liquid flows out of the pouch so quickly that it is unlikely to "irritate" the pouch lining with such limited contact.  Many people let it sit open a while or pour it over ice to eliminate some of the carbonation before drinking.

Lora

Unfortunately, they are either intentionally lying to you in order to scare you out of drinking diet soda after surgery (and many surgeons do, and admit they do it at conferences and such) or they are woefully misinformed and have not considered the basic laws of physics which are finite and preclude enough pressure building up in your pouch to even stretch it a little bit (as happens naturally when you eat) let alone premanently stretching it.

Try taking a balloon (which is FAR more elastic that your poych and stoma), snipping even a small slit in the bottom of it (say 1/8 of an inch).  Hold it over the sink and pour some soda into it. Hold the balloon by PART of the "stem" (so air can still travel through part of it, which it cannot do if you hold it closed).  NOw you have something that resembles your pouch with openings at the top and bottom.  Try shaking the balloon a little bit to "stir up" the gas from the carbonation.  Even that will not cause the balloon to inflate.  End of demonstration.

Lora

Just gonna say "what Kelly said."

Okay, I'll say something else.

My psych tried to tell me I was going to stretch my pouch by drinking too much protein shake in a sitting. She did, however, take the time to contact my surgeon's office to verify her information and was happy to tell me she was wrong. Liquids will NOT stretch your pouch. Carbonation will NOT stretch your pouch.

Drink all you can stand, you'll be fine.

Kelly I believe they do lie to us...in fact I caught my NUT in a lie. She told me my program goes along with Virginia U program but it doesnt. I pretty much ask you guys and research on my own now. Its sad that the people we pay to help us get healthy cant tell us the truth.

Thank you all so much in helping me to understand. I kind of thought it was odd that they said that. I have been drinking only water and was eventually going to try diet soda but thought I would never be able to. I don't see myself starting to drink diet before the surgery because it would besilly to start a new habit I may have trouble dropping if it doesn't suit me. But thanks for taking the time to help me understand!

OK, quite confused now as I have been told no carbonation and have found several articles saying it will stretch your pouch.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/347882-carbonated-drinks-after-a-gastric-bypass/

http://www.provostbariatrics.com/success-after-weight-loss-surgery/weight-loss-surgery-success-life-after-carbonated-drinks/

http://www.bariatricchoice.com/water-bariatric-gastric-bypass-surgery-patients.aspx

And there are many others for scholarly sources so I don't know what to think now???

Livestrong is not a scholarly source.  The articles there are written by freelance writers.  Writers have to have some sort of experience in the health care field.  I have written articles for Livestrong.  You know what experience qualified me to write for them?  I used to be a certified nursing assistant.  Do you think that makes me an expert on gastric bypass surgery?  No way!

I don't know who wrote the article on Bariatric Choice or what their qualifications were.

The other one you linked to is on a surgeon's website, and some surgeons do tell patients that carbonated drinks can stretch their pouch.  It just doesn't make it true.  If your surgeon told you that you could fly, well, you are still bound by the laws of physics and couldn't really fly, right?

Scholarly sources would be something like a study published in a peer-reviewed journal like the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed that patients that drink carbonated beverages were much more likely to have stretched  their pouches than those that didn't drink carbonated drinks, and that explained how it was determined that the pouches had been stretched and how much larger they were.  If you can find a source like this, I'd love to see it.  I don't think it exists, though.

I know what a scholarly site is - I said that I had found OTHER scholarly sites. I didn't post them because I am at work. I can see if I can locate them and then post them. One was actually a medical journal article with research studies. I may have it saved on my home computer. Anyway, what is posted here is also NOT considered scholarly as we could all just be spouting off at the mouth, lol!
I will look tomorrow for the article.

Kelly already adrressed the reliability of the three llinks provided.  The third one is simply a company that sells bariatric products.  They make no claim to have any medical expertise.  The "about us" page, in fact, only says that their staff "includes a wide variety of personalities from different backgrounds but each one of us abides by a set of guiding principles..."

Can you post a couple of citations for ones in "scholarly sources"? Even if they are not online, since I am working on a PhD I have access to most medical journals.  I have not seen any in any of the RNY-related personal research that i have done, and I would be absolutely shocked if there is anything truly "scholarly" indicating that carbonation is linked to pouch expansion, but am certainly willing to investigate.

Lora

Lora, I am at work, but when I get home I will post if it is truly a scholarly article. I really thought it was but now you guys have me doubting, lol!