Can anyone tell me when I will stop loosing weight. I had an Ivor Lewis op in August and then 2 more ops because of a chyle leak and although I am eating 6 small meals a day I'm still loosing weight. Thanks
Hi Chez29
You can lose a lot of weight post surgery. I have heard stories of people losing 5-7st but you do gradually get some back although you rarely get back to your old weight.
I don't know when your last ops were but after 6 months you should have stabilised and started putting weight back on. Depending on your hosp, there should be a dietician available and I would def go and see them. It may be what you are eating rather than the quantity.
Hope this helps
The answer above is quite right. You will end up as a new 'normal' weight, and meanwhile, bizarre as this may sound, try and disassociate your weight with health progress - or even throw away the scales. As long as you can take in a reasonable level of nutrition you will be OK. It is a tough wardrobe problem, but losing weight after this surgery is not an indication of anything going wrong, notwithstanding that the dieticians will always want you to stabilise and regain weight. Keep up the 'little and often' routine, and do not try and force your system to cope with more food than it has capacity for because this will cause you worse problems. Do have checks on your mineral and vitamin levels though. And avoid sugary stuff that creates weight for other people; it will be liable to give you insulin spikes because your new system will not be able to cope with 'excess' sugar levels
I am afraid that it does not necessarily make you look well because others will notice how much smaller / thinner you are, but that is something that is their problem rather than yours. Try and maintain a reasonable exercise regime, like walking, and keep things gentle. This helps the system recover.
The feelings of hunger are partly governed by something called ghrelin that comes from the top of the stomach, and you may be missing this bit of your anatomy. If so, you have to learn to eat by the clock rather than by feelings of appetite / hunger.
It is a big traumatic experience to come through, and you sound like you are doing well!
My husband had the same operation august this year
He went home after days days then two weeks later his lungs collapsed he went back to hospital been there a month with numerous drains to stop a chyle leak
He had second operation to stop chyle leak on right side he got later severe shortness of breath so drain on left side back and await another yet a third operation to stop leak
Simply a nightmare