It refers to the ‘Y’ shape of the small bowel connection.  During the operation, the small bowel is cut and then reconnected at one end to the newly created pouch (the new stomach) where it will now receive food that has been chewed and swallowed.  None of the bowel is removed during the surgery.  The new connection between the stomach pouch and the small bowel is called an anastomosis. This narrow opening helps restrict the passage of food moving from the pouch into this piece of small bowel, called the Roux limb (after a French surgeon, Roux).  The Roux limb is the right arm of the “Y.”  The left arm of the “Y” is the part of the bowel still connected to the excluded stomach. It carries the acids produced in the remnant stomach, the digestive juices produced by the liver and pancreas, including insulin, and some juices produced by the small bowel itself.  The two arms of the “Y” are connected again.

Most patients stay two after laparoscopic gastric bypass.

You are expected to lose a percentage of your excess weight, but only a few patients lose 100% of their excess weight and reach a number established on a weight chart, most of which have been developed by an Actuary (a statistics specialist) employed by a life insurance company. That ideal weight might have little to do with your best weight, where you feel and function at peak health. When you have been carrying excess weight for a long time, your bone frame and muscle mass will have needed to increase, too, in order to support your excess weight. The standard weight charts do not reflect this. Most patients lose 60-70% of their excess weight in the first year after surgery.

Certain vitamins and minerals will not be absorbed well enough for you to meet the recommended US daily requirements. This is especially true of Vitamins B6, B12, Folate, calcium and the mineral iron.  For this reason, we strongly recommend that you take two multivitamins with minerals and calcium citrate daily, and a dose of Vitamin B12 under your tongue weekly for the rest of your life.