My ordeal now finally a memory

Are you on reflux meds?  I find if I don't take mine regularly then I vomit a lot.  Coffee makes me feel sick too.  Used to love it before.

Quote :

Yep, I was in the same ward.  Dr Jeremy Tan was my surgeon.  Brilliant man.  The first time I was in I had my own room, but the 2nd time I went in after my surgery I had to share with 3 other people - it was hell.  Couldn't rest due the constant noise.  I'm a really bad sleeper too so any noise woke me up.  I also got pneumonia a few days after surgery which delayed my recovery and severely weakened me.  I was in hospital all up around 3 months and it took another 3 months after that to come 'good'.  I also developed depression and anxiety. 

Unfortunately for me, when it all healed up I started to gain weight again as the connection to the intestines was too large so food was slipping through (and out quickly) and I never felt full because food wasn't staying in.  I had a bypass revision with a minimiser band but I went private this time with a different surgeon.  I was very hesitant on having the band as previously had the lapband and hated it, but my surgeon convinced me but firstly refusing to do the surgery without it, and also explained it prevents the stomach from stretching years down the track - so technically I will never need another surgery again.  That sold me.  This time recovery was much better apart from reflux.

I had Jeremy Tan too as my surgeon. I cant speak highly enough of the man. He literally saved my life. I was similar to you in I started out in a single room but ended up in a 4 bed ward. Pretty hard to take when you see the constant turn over in patients and your still in there. I am not much of a sleeper either and it makes things worse when elderly patients cant grasp the use of the Nurses call button and just scream "Help Nurse" in the middle of the night. I used to push my button just to get a nurse to shut them up.I did get depression but not anxiety.The shrink put it down to what I witnessed in the ED when I was brought in and the people I shared my room with in the ward. I was prescribed fruit loop tablets ( antidepressants) but never took them as they take 4 weeks to work and by then my mind was getting better on its own anyway.

I still get nauseous and have a spew but I cant put it down to a certain food or action I have done to try to stop this happening to me so I guess I will have to live with it

emufriedchicken wrote:

Garfield99 wrote:

Hey - I had similar situation but not leak, a kink instead - but even same hospital!!  I'm surprised they tried the stent as my surgeon said that every time they tried it, it failed - so straight to bypass for me too - well after a few weeks whilst I had the nasal tube.

Three months all up in that hospital - but it was good in a way as they have high level specialists brought in from all areas.

Were you in G74 ward in SCGH....I was room 20 bed "B" except when I had my bypass they moved me from NOSA to a single bed room..Who was your surgeons. Them and the nurses did a fantastic job with me and cant praise them enough.

The probably tried the stent as I needed it to block off 2 holes not straighten out a kink...only guessing here as I aint a surgeons backside and wouldnt know.

Cheers
Tim

Yep, I was in the same ward.  Dr Jeremy Tan was my surgeon.  Brilliant man.  The first time I was in I had my own room, but the 2nd time I went in after my surgery I had to share with 3 other people - it was hell.  Couldn't rest due the constant noise.  I'm a really bad sleeper too so any noise woke me up.  I also got pneumonia a few days after surgery which delayed my recovery and severely weakened me.  I was in hospital all up around 3 months and it took another 3 months after that to come 'good'.  I also developed depression and anxiety. 

Unfortunately for me, when it all healed up I started to gain weight again as the connection to the intestines was too large so food was slipping through (and out quickly) and I never felt full because food wasn't staying in.  I had a bypass revision with a minimiser band but I went private this time with a different surgeon.  I was very hesitant on having the band as previously had the lapband and hated it, but my surgeon convinced me but firstly refusing to do the surgery without it, and also explained it prevents the stomach from stretching years down the track - so technically I will never need another surgery again.  That sold me.  This time recovery was much better apart from reflux.

glenmaree wrote:

Hi Tim

I had a very similar experience to yours but the bypass decision was made 12 months after the first sleeve.  They also tried a stent but in my case it actually held the hole open so was removed.  I spent 15 weeks nil by mouth, fed via tpn and then nasal gastric.  Like you the impact on my family was enormous and my elderly mother was particularly affected.  I think it is useful for everyone who is contemplating surgery to read the bad and ugly stories as well as the successful so that they really understand the seriousness of the decision they are making. 

Again like you I have depression and anxiety and my anxiety impacts on my ability to eat so I can have periods when I can't anything. Thankfully I can still drink so rely on liquid meal replacement quite a lot.

During my journey I decided that focussing on everything that went wrong would be completely destructive to my psychological health long term so I found a positive to use.  I learnt patience, tolerance and how to maintain a positive energy, to keep my glass half full rather than half empty and along the way I have met and made some lasting friendships and discovered reserves in myself that I didn't know I had.

I wish you every success in your weight loss and your life in general.

Glenys

Thanks for your support Glenys. Its good to know of someone with similar experiences. Good luck to yourself , god knows the failed patients need it.

Cheers
Tim

Garfield99 wrote:

Hey - I had similar situation but not leak, a kink instead - but even same hospital!!  I'm surprised they tried the stent as my surgeon said that every time they tried it, it failed - so straight to bypass for me too - well after a few weeks whilst I had the nasal tube.

Three months all up in that hospital - but it was good in a way as they have high level specialists brought in from all areas.

Were you in G74 ward in SCGH....I was room 20 bed "B" except when I had my bypass they moved me from NOSA to a single bed room..Who was your surgeons. Them and the nurses did a fantastic job with me and cant praise them enough.

The probably tried the stent as I needed it to block off 2 holes not straighten out a kink...only guessing here as I aint a surgeons backside and wouldnt know.

Cheers
Tim

Hi Tim

I had a very similar experience to yours but the bypass decision was made 12 months after the first sleeve.  They also tried a stent but in my case it actually held the hole open so was removed.  I spent 15 weeks nil by mouth, fed via tpn and then nasal gastric.  Like you the impact on my family was enormous and my elderly mother was particularly affected.  I think it is useful for everyone who is contemplating surgery to read the bad and ugly stories as well as the successful so that they really understand the seriousness of the decision they are making. 

Again like you I have depression and anxiety and my anxiety impacts on my ability to eat so I can have periods when I can't anything. Thankfully I can still drink so rely on liquid meal replacement quite a lot.

During my journey I decided that focussing on everything that went wrong would be completely destructive to my psychological health long term so I found a positive to use.  I learnt patience, tolerance and how to maintain a positive energy, to keep my glass half full rather than half empty and along the way I have met and made some lasting friendships and discovered reserves in myself that I didn't know I had.

I wish you every success in your weight loss and your life in general.

Glenys

Hey - I had similar situation but not leak, a kink instead - but even same hospital!!  I'm surprised they tried the stent as my surgeon said that every time they tried it, it failed - so straight to bypass for me too - well after a few weeks whilst I had the nasal tube.

Three months all up in that hospital - but it was good in a way as they have high level specialists brought in from all areas.

Tim,  if you ever want to talk to someone who understands please feel free to pm me anytime. I've developed depression too and am devastated about this. They put me on antidepressants at Easter and am now on a very high dose but it doesn't help much. Being unable to eat and in chronic pain is one thing but the fact I now rank depression up there as equal a complication breaks my heart. Every single day is such a battle. I've hidden most of what I've gone through from my family as they are all overseas because I imagined how hard it would be for them too. It's so important people who don't have it easy share their story I've discovered. I waited 9 months before I started sharing. I hope from here on you are able to continue to share your story, good and bad, physical or mental. For now I will try to take hope that one day for me too there will be an end and I can start to live with my new skinny body.
Xxx

I appreciate you letting us know, emu. I have tried to explain to my family that things could go wrong, and you putting out there helps me explain it more so. So glad you have come through it all.

Thanks to all that have replied to my post. It is so uplifting to hear the support from this group. Even though I suffered physically and somewhat mentally ( diagnosed with slight depression from all this) , My family went through hell too watching me suffer. I am sure other members on this forum can relate to this too. My 2 sons aged 16 and 20 were really affected. I thought being older they would handle it ok but I learnt that they were old enough to understand the severity of it all from what the Dr's were saying about me . And if they didn't they would Google the terminology used by the surgeons. You can hide a lot more from a 3 year old I found out with my nephew.

Thanks again for the support people much appreciated

Tim

Oh brother what a catastrophe so lucky you finally came good.  You know I wonder just how many people actually do have major problems it seem that many wait for some time before revealing the truth.  Suzy waited several months and now Emu others of course we knew straight off it is a real worry I was so lucky really yes I do mean lucky.

Emu I hope the future from now on is all good news and you and your wife have all the success you both deserve.

Sounds dreadful and I'm so glad you are through it now. 6months of hell for you and hopefully now you are thru the other side for good. I was bypassed due to complications as well tho I didn't have a leak. LIke you and Dooben tho I also tried the torture that is a stent. I'm in tears at yet another person who has gone thru this. My hopes and prayers are with you for a wonderful new life now
Xxxx
Ps Dooben, your words also made me cry. Xxxxxxx

Emu - good to hear that life is returning to 'so-called' normal and you are back at work. big hugs

Gosh I was told complication rate was 1/100 and increased to 2/100 if you had previous abdo surgery.

What a horrible experience to go thru. Hope you remain well and enjoy the new you.

Thanks for your support people its much appreciated....like you said Debs your as close to me with your symptoms its not funny....A nightmare it is hey.

When I went in for my sleeve I signed the operation consent form and it did say there was a 1/1000 chance of a complication...I guess I was number 1000. Was so hard to see my wife when she visited me in hospital as she had the same surgery a month earlier with no problems at all and 25kg lighter

Once again Thank you all

Tim

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How horrendous for you Emu!

I agree with Dooben - when things go wrong with WLS, they really go wrong.

Glad you've made it through the tough times.  Here's to a hassle-free future for you.  

Take Care

T x

Emufriedchicken - you poor bugger!!

This is what all of us dreaded approaching surgery and lay awake at night contemplating what might happen if things went wrong. To have your gall bladder go gangrenous was just too much! It seems that once things go wrong it all cascades downwards. I am so sorry that you were unfortunate enough to have to go through all the complications but it's wonderful to hear you have finally made it out to other side. Congrats on the weight loss - you've been to hell and back to get it.

 

cheers Nini

My god, what an ordeal. Thankfully you are ok now. Your experience is what happened to me, practically to the letter. Everything but the gall bladder. Three months in hospital (no eating or drinking all that time) picc lines (Three of them) on and off TPN three times, Peg feeding, nasogastric tubes through the nose, five drains (at one point they found something like six litres of fluid in my abdo) had a stent put in (most painful thing ever) had it taken out about six weeks later, part of bowel re routed up ad sewn onto my stomach to try and cover the hole/s with open abdo surgery (now have a six inch scar from breast to bellybutton), and like you, flown from hospital down to Sydney via air ambulance for two weeks...thrombosis in my arm and just when I thought it was all over infection under a stoma site. God it was a nightmare. When this surgery goes wrong it goes waaaaaaaaay wrong doesn't.
Still, some people have it worse than us. You should read Suzy's story...will make you cry. She is one of the toughest, bravest people out there.

So glad you are over all of that and are better now.
Thanks for sharing.
debs

I had a sleeve done late March this year. After 3 days in hospital post op recovery I was allowed to go home.

3days later I experienced chronic pain and the post op pain relief given  to me wasn't taking it away. I went to my local regional hospital and after a multitude of tests they RFDS me to SCGH.

I was rushed through to the Op Theatre where they inserted 3 drains in my abdomen and released to a general ward bed. After 24 hours they had to do another op and add another 4 drains.

The Dr's also made me swallow some blue dye to confirm that what I was suffering from was a leak from the Sleeve operation.

Was told that most likely it will be a few weeks in hospital till the sleeve leaks healed. I couldn't eat anything for a couple of weeks so they inserted a tube into my intestine and feed me high protein fluids via a drip in this tube.

After a couple of weeks they ran some dye tests again and it confirmed that the sleeve still hadn't healed. The Dr's then decided to insert some stents endocopicaly into my sleeve to block the leaks to help them heal. This would add another 6 weeks to my stay in hospital. The feed tube was removed and a PICC line inserted so they could feed me TPN by IV as I still couldn't swallow, I even had to spit in a cup!

When the 6 weeks were up the stents were removed and I went to x-ray and did a contrast swallow to see if the sleeve had healed. The results came back negative so we were back to square one again.

The Dr's decided that the only option now was Roux-en-Y ( Gastric Bypass) surgery. As my body cavity was still a hostile environment from the leaks they couldn't operate immediately as the corrective surgery wouldn't heal so I had to wait 3 more weeks.

After a week I was flown home via PATS to a local hospital so I could still receive my TPN as I still was not allowed to swallow, and be closer to my family till my surgery was due.

About a week later I developed an infection from my PICC line and was rushed RFDS back to SCGH. Still with a week to go before my surgery they managed to stabilise me and clear the infection  &  insert another PICC line .

After 9 weeks the Dr's performed the Bypass surgery. It took about 4 hours as the Dr hand stitched everything as he was hesitant to use staples like the sleeve in case I leaked again. About a week later I had another x-ray/contrast swallow and we finally had some great news that it was all successful.

The Dr's now said I could begin to start on clear fluids. After 10 weeks I swallowed for the 1st time a small portion of strained soup. over the next few days of clear fluids they changed my diet to nourishing fluids.

It was then decided after almost 3 months in hospital I was well enough to be discharged home.

Over the next few weeks I was eating pureed foods and learning what I could and couldn't tolerate on my new digestive system. There were some occasional pains with some foods that bypassed as they travelled through me and  I made a note of this as to the ones to avoid again.

About 4 weeks after my discharge from hospital I was beginning to feel a slight pain after an evening meal. It started just like some foods that I hadn't tolerated before so I just lied down and rested hoping it would pass like it usually did. Unfortunately it just got worse and by midnight I was in the foetal position with pain. My wife drove me to my local regional hospital and after x-rays and CT scans they confirmed that my Gall Bladder had to be removed.

The local Dr said he had to operate immediately so they couldn't RFDS me to SCGH again. After 3.5 hour surgery they removed my gall bladder. It was distended 8 inches above normal size and was very close to bursting. It was sent to pathology for tests and was found to be full of gangrene. Apparently its common for the gall bladder to fail after bariatric surgery but not to this extent.

After a week in hospital the discharged me back home again for recovery. My blood tests showed that my liver was not showing signs of being normal so I had to keep on having blood tests to monitor these readings. Slowly my numbers off the tests for my liver began to return to normal.

6 months and 2 weeks later I was given clearance to return to work after my 1st sleeve surgery and am now 33kg lighter. The result is what I wanted but the method wasn't....!

All the Surgeons, Drs, physicians, nurses, orderly's did an amazing job in looking after me and all deserve a medal!!!