December 10, 2009

"The stomach is just a swelling in the gut - it's primarily a vessel."

"You can manage very well with no stomach and the sisters will live perfectly normal lives."

2 sisters have their stomachs removed as a precaution against a rare form of cancer that runs in their family. The stomach, I'm surprised to read, is not essential, and the young women will still be able to eat. They must eat tiny amounts, but they can still consume and digest. They've just lost the holding tank for food.

38 comments:

Joe said...

Utter bullshit and so imbecilic, it isn't worth responding to, let alone posting.

vbspurs said...

Apparently, Joe, it's also possible to remove one's civility and live without it. I'm learning all kinds of things about disagreeable things in this thread.

Cheers,
Victoria

Joan said...

Yeah, it's even more of an over-simplification than we usually get.

The stomach is a muscular organ that cranks up the chemical digestion that saliva starts, and continues mechanical digestion with peristalsis. It does a lot more than just hold food, and it's weird the doctor would say that.

These 2 women are going to spend a lot of time chewing, but as a cure for cancer? Not a bad trade off.

Bissage said...

“The stomach is just a swelling in the gut - it's primarily a vessel.”

This is indeed glad news! Henceforth, the protuberance of my midsection shall be referred to as a beer vessel!

sonicfrog said...

Hey, another benefit -Say good-bye to heartburn, acid reflux, and GIRD!... of course the manufacturers of Rolaids and Tums will not be happy if this type of surgery becomes the next weight loss fad.

Joe said...

Give it up Victoria; when one churns out utter rubbish, to sit idly by is moronic.

I've observed that most appeals to "civility" are actually to prevent being called out as being wrong and even a complete idiot.

sbutler said...

"Rare cancer" also usually means "impossible to treat." I think these women did the best thing possible.

Ralph L said...

We're having a flood of cable TV ads for the gastric band. Lots of potential customers here, if they can bring the cost down.

traditionalguy said...

These two must now be specially catered to all the time when food is being prepared and served. Where is the Death Panel when one really needs it? Then again, a whole fresh fish in the blender should keep them happy for a few days, and if not we can hit them with a limp Red Snapper. They say that attacking with steak is domestic abuse.

Alex said...

Under ObamaCare, it would off to the cancer ward for these 2. Welcome to the joys of socialized medicine! Of course, who is paying for their surgery? The state no doubt...

ricpic said...

It's been all downhill for dear sweet Vickums since she outgrew her hall monitor gig.

Tibore said...

"sonicfrog said...
Hey, another benefit -Say good-bye to heartburn, acid reflux, and GIRD!..."


I think I'll have to defer to Pogo for the final answer, but what I'm seeing on line actually says that reflux esophagitis is actually one of the complications of such surgeries. Here's one such study:

"Control of alkaline reflux esophagitis after total gastrectomy by a percutaneous jejunostomy tube">

That's sort of disappointing. As a guy who has to take prescription strength proton pump inhibitors, you'd think that maybe even a partial gastrectomy might help. Apparently, the opposite is what's likely.

bearbee said...

It does a lot more than just hold food,...

Exactly.

PatHMV said...

traditionalguy... maybe Obamacare can provide them with a Bassomatic.

knox said...

As a guy who has to take prescription strength proton pump inhibitors

Tibore, I was taking a PPI twice a day and was still having heartburn. Resorted to looking for home remedies on the internet.

Bragg's Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar. 2 tablespoons after I eat. It has made my heartburn go away, for the most part. I still have to take one pill in the morning, but at least I've eliminated the other pill, and I don't have breakthrough heartburn. Dilute it with water and honey if you want.

Don't ask me why it works, but the meds weren't working anymore, so I had to try something else. And any of the surgeries I've read about don't seem too great either.

knox said...

... sorry if that sounds like spam for Bragg's. It's not meant to. Probably any raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar would work.

Tibore said...

Hey, I'll give anything that doesn't sound dangerous a shot. Cider (unless it's alcoholic, and I go driving afterwards) is the epitome of safe. =)

Cedarford said...

I have heard of cases where several younger women in a family afflicted with a rare genetic propensity to a particularly aggressive breast cancer variant that killed most women in their late 40s, 50s have elected to have their breasts removed.
This was done in consultation with doctors and geneticists (the MD sort).
In one way, it sounded extreme, and two of the younger women, the ones who were in the photo, were also real hotties. But on the other hand, being screwed by their genes, if breast-free means cancer-free - it's terrible but good logic.
My uncle just died of stomach cancer last spring. Not that any terminal cancer is a good way to go, but stomach cancer is one of the nastier paths to demise. Another terrible, but rational choice seems to have been made by these ladies...

chuck b. said...

knox, did your doctor consider antibiotics? Bacteria can cause GI symptoms like you describe that do not respond to proton pump inhibitors.

Ralph L said...

Probably any raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar would work.
Probably any vinegar would work. Acetic acid is acetic acid.

Phil 314 said...

OK, one can live without a stomach but I'm sure that qualifies as "non-essential". Ask anyone who' had bariatric surgery (and who now essentially has a VERY TINY stomach) their lives have changed

And on another note Thank God there are no rare and incurable penile cancers. One should never be faced with such a choice.

knox said...

chuck b., I have heard that some ulcers can be caused by bacteria, but I didn't know that was true of just plain heartburn. I never asked him about it. I've had reflux since '97. The PPIs worked for about 10 years then stopped.

knox said...

Ralph, you could be right, but I don't know why it works, so I'm sticking to what does for me. (Plus this stuff tastes less foul than plain apple cider vinegar from the grocery.)

chuck b. said...

knox, I only ask because people can be vague describing symptoms and some conditions sound like other conditions. I am not a doctor and I don't want to be someone who runs around on the Internet talking like any kind of expert. But! Any kind of long-term GI inflammation is terrible to have... And just because you had heartburn does not mean that you don't now have an ulcer that feels like heartburn. And I'll leave it at that. Be well!



VW: month

month?! What kind of word is that?

knox said...

Thanks, chuck. I've had 3 endoscopies over the last 11 yrs. and so far have never had an ulcer. The apple cider vinegar has been a miracle for me, so I'm luckier than some others, I guess.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

OMG, Moira in Fallout 3 was right.

Shanna said...

Bragg's Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar. 2 tablespoons after I eat. It has made my heartburn go away, for the most part.

No kidding? I pretty much stopped getting heartburn (except on very rare occasions) when I stopped drinking cokes. Not sure why, but it worked for me.

Home remedies are neat, though, when they work.

chickelit said...

A young man in the hospital where my wife works lost most of his stomach due to chemotherapy. One night, the wall of a nearby aorta (weakened from the chemo) burst and he began throwing up blood pumping directly from his heart. He lost several pints of blood. Doctors had to graft a patch onto his aorta.

He's out of the hospital now, doing as well as he can & without a stomach.

His will to live and the skills of the physicians and nurses overcome an early death.

P.S.
Quit being mean to Victoria.

Joan said...

knox -- it's awesome that the Bragg's worked for you. There are many things that cause reflux, ironically not producing enough (or the right kind of) acid can cause it, too. This post piqued my interest because I have gastroparesis which I have been treating with a drug I have to buy from Canada, since the FDA has not seen fit to approve it even though it is sold OTC in Europe. The idea that I could just have my (mostly non-functional) stomach removed with little effect on my life sounded, just for a moment, worth the risk and pain of surgery.

For really severe cases of GERD you can have a fundoplication, which corrects a defect in the valve at the top of the stomach to prevent acids from washing up into the esophagus. Without that valve, I'd think GERD would be a major problem.

LakeLevel said...

I have a close friend who had this done to prevent cancer after his two sisters did. He says it's not that big a deal. I've spent many hours with him and he doesn't need to do anything much out of the ordinary and he seems happy and healthy. Who woulda thunk it?

knox said...

Thanks, Joan. I've done a lot of reading on all the different surgeries. I'm not quite ready to do something that can't be undone! Sorry to hear you're plagued with stomach problems, too. It sure sucks.

Ralph L said...

Don't overlook allergies affecting your digestion. Four doctors and I didn't realize it was my cats making me ill (other cats don't bother me). Endoscopies and colonoscopies are painful, much worse than barium up both ends. All that those and other tests revealed was that my thyroid is misshapen (mostly they ruled out bad things).

Christy said...

My brother swears by vinegar, and I don't think he is all that particular about what kind.

I had ulcers for years, the kind not caused by bacteria. They went away when the man in my life died. Just saying.

d-day said...

I took drivers' ed from a courtly older gentleman who'd had his stomach removed two months previously and was extremely apologetic about his need to eat in front of me without sharing, as he was down to his last peanut butter candy bar. One bite every 15 minutes. The man's skin was so thin that the bruises on his arm were raised pools of black blood with sharp edges.

I spent the whole two-hour lesson being nauseated and guilty. But I know how to parallel park.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

I will have my stomach removed, inflated, dried, and tied to a stick. I will put morning glory seeds in it and use it for a spirit rattle.

wv: insin-- how my wife and I were living before we got married.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

a whole fresh fish in the blender

BASS-O-MATIC!!!

For the stomach and for diabeties....plus it tastes really good.

1 measure Braggs Unfiltered Vinegar
3 measures Grape Juice
5 measures Apple Juice.


We use 1/4 cup as a measure....mixit up and refrigerate.

Yummy!!!

We tried the straight vinegar or even diluted, but my husband has a history of bleeding ulcers (a gift from his misspent youth) so we don't take that chance anymore after a flare up.

Michael Haz said...

And on another note Thank God there are no rare and incurable penile cancers. One should never be faced with such a choice.

Sources in Orlando are reporting that Elin Woods is receiving counseling from Lorena Bobbit.

Largo said...

vbspurs...This article also says that the 400 lb fat people who look 9 months pregnant are actually not full of food. They are full of shit. What an ugly thing to say!

Where does it say that, traditionalguy?