11 cousins have stomach removed...

[Cheese]

sounds pretty nasty...BUT...this family has a high chance of developing stomach cancer....70% chance...so they decided to have it removed and outsmart the cancer.....what would you do?

Mike Slabaugh doesn't have a stomach. Neither do his 10 cousins. Growing up, they watched helplessly as a rare hereditary stomach cancer killed their grandmother and some of their parents, aunts and uncles.
Determined to outsmart the cancer, they turned to genetic testing. Upon learning they had inherited Grandmother Golda Bradfield's flawed gene, these were their options:
Risk the odds that they might not develop cancer, with a 70 percent chance they would; or have their stomachs removed. The latter would mean a challenging life of eating very little, very often.


Outsmarting stomach cancer?

[jolinar of malkshor]

Hard decision. I am glad I don't have to make it.

[steveo]

so how would it work?

how does food digest if you do eat? and does it run straight through your asapagus ---> into intestines and out?

hard decision is correct!

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by steveo

so how would it work?

how does food digest if you do eat? and does it run straight through your asapagus ---> into intestines and out?

hard decision is correct!

The stomach basically breaks down food and releases it slowly so that the intestines can absorb nutrients through their walls. I guess they will have to bypass the stomach step by eating food that is already broken down a little, and only a little at a time as not to overload their intestines.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by steveo

so how would it work?

how does food digest if you do eat? and does it run straight through your asapagus ---> into intestines and out?

hard decision is correct!

In the article...

During surgery, doctors removed the entire stomach and surrounding lymph nodes and attached the bottom of the esophagus to the intestine to create a pouch. Without a stomach, patients typically lose significant weight and must eat smaller meals more often. They can still digest food through the small intestine.
Insurance paid for part or all of the procedure, which cost between $65,000 to $85,000.
While the stomachs of all six Stanford patients looked normal before surgery, a study of the tissue revealed early tumor growths, said Dr. Jeff Norton, the surgeon.
The long-term effects of stomach removal surgery are still unclear. Researchers around the world are following families with hereditary stomach cancer to find out how the procedure affects quality of life.