If youve been enjoying life after gastric bypass surgery you will know exactly what Im talking about. That rumbly-tumbly stomach growl thats more bark than bite. Its the inactive tummy talking, the lower part of the stomach that was bypassed. And it growls at the oddest moments seldom accompanied by hunger pains. My inactive tummy is particularly talkative at bedtime, I think it remembers the refrigerator front bedtime binges from my previously life.

Remember the surgical diagrams you studied before surgery: a tiny stomach portion we call the pouch was separated from a larger portion, which is the inactive or bypassed stomach. In the gastric bypass procedure the stomach is left in place with blood supply it is still and active organ yet no longer a reservoir for food. In some cases it may shrink slightly and the muscles may atrophy, but for the most part it remains unchanged. In fact, the inactive tummy is quite active. The inactive tummy is an around-the-clock chemical factory keeping your body in balance.

And for all its hard work what do we do? We dont feed it. No wonder its talking!

The lower stomach still contributes to the function of the intestines even though it does not receive or process food - it makes intrinsic factor, necessary to absorb Vitamin B12 and contributes to hormone balance and motility of the intestines in ways that are not entirely known. So when you hear that rumbly-tumbly stomach growl you can smile happily knowing your body is hard at work keeping you chemically healthy and well.

Kaye Bailey 2005 - All Rights Reserved

Kaye Bailey

An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Ms. Bailey developed a passion for writing at an early age. As a teenager she found writing her feelings about obesity helped her cope in a world that is often cruel to overweight children and adults alike.

Ms. Bailey says she found out she was fat in kindergarten when another child told her she was fat. ?I didn?t even know what fat was but I could tell it was bad and I didn?t want to be fat. Until that day I had been unaware I was different. But there I was, a five-year-old girl sitting cross-legged on the floor learning a new word that would define me.?

At age 33 she underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. For the first time in her life after multiple failed diet attempts she lost weight. She said the decision to have surgery took courage, nerve, and a little bit of plain old faith. But she learned surgery was the easy part. Dealing with newfound emotions, struggling with food choices and fighting to keep from regaining weight were unexpected bumps in the road following massive weight loss with surgery.

Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website LivingAfterWLS.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community. While weight loss surgery is publicly perceived as an easy fix to obesity Ms. Bailey maintains the struggles after surgery challenge the vigor of even the most dedicated individual. As WLS becomes more readily available patients are finding there is a lack of long-term aftercare and support from bariatric centers.

The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes as well as general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled ?You Have Arrived? available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog. The path forward includes community forums, nutrition and fitness tracking tools.

Ms. Bailey makes her home on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains with her husband of eight years who has been her consort in life after WLS.