So I have a stricture. A stricture is basically a situation where the exit tube from my stomach pouch healed/scarred too small. Instead of having a diameter as big around as a dime, it may be more like a pencil eraser, if not much smaller. The obvious problem is that with such a small exit hole, a lot of food can’t drain out into the intestine. Strictures usually cause abdominal discomfort and vomiting. For me, there’s no discomfort that is separate from vomiting. I vomit without rhyme or reason. Some days I’ll manage to keep a few bites down, other days an entire meal, and still other days I throw up everything I put in my mouth, including some liquid protein shakes and even water.
I didn’t realize right away that I had a stricture. Back in December I was vomiting on occasion because of trapped air — air that was presumably trapped because my healing stomach was still swollen. But there was a gradual change, and by January I was throwing up, as I said, without rhyme or reason. I saw my surgeon for a post-op appointment on January 21st, and she immediately diagnosed the issue as being a stricture. Unfortunately, the soonest appointment to fix the problem is February 11th. Believe me, I’m counting down the days, and doing my best to keep busy writing about bridal shower favors and other topics to pass the time.
The fix is done via endoscopy. A tube is threaded down my throat and into my stomach pouch, and at the end of that tube is a balloon. It’s positioned inside the stricture and gradually expanded, so that the stricture is opened up. Depending on how tight the stricture is and how well it responds to the balloon, it could take 2-3 separate endoscopy procedures to fully open things back up.
In the meantime, I’m managing to keep down most of the water I drink, but only half of the protein shakes I drink. Food? It’s hit or miss. There are days where I’m so disgusted over vomiting so much and wasting food that I don’t even eat the next day. I’d say I’m getting 300 – 500 calories in on a good day. Most days it’s more like 300 or so. The poor nutrition and resulting protein deficiency is causing my hair to fall out. It’s everywhere, and my ponytail is noticeably thinner. Worse yet, because my body is literally starving (even though I never feel hunger), it’s holding onto every calorie I consume with a desperate grip. My weight loss keeps stalling, I currently can’t get under 240. I’m at 241.8 today.
I’m also tired all of the time. I could sleep and sleep and sleep, then wake up, do a few things, and go back to sleep. It really sucks. More than anything, I hate feeling so tired and lethargic all of the time. 
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hey jenn, i’ve been a lurker for some time now and just figured that now (ignoring your surgery set back!) was a good time to de-lurk! congrats on your weight-loss journey, i know that you still have some more steps to go, but you’ve been doing amazing!!! based solely on your weight-loss pictures, you can definitely see a difference in your face! you look great!!!!
so…good job and good luck in the future (in case this non-lurking is scary and i return to my on the fringes status)!