Hi. My name is Brenda and I am a survivor of the gastric sleeve surgery. I say survivor because I almost died from it. I had surgery July 23,2013 and was cleared to go home the following day after they did the swallow test. I started running a fever 10 days later, called my doctor and go in to see him about a week later. I was told, by the doctor himself, that he never had anyone have trouble with this surgery; and because he didn't correct the problems, he sent me to another doctor at a different hospital. I had a hole in my stomach and the infection was spreading through my body. The next doctor, explained that he would place a stent in my stomach and that would take care of it. This surgery took place on a Friday night and he went home for the weekend, failing to leave an order for something to keep me from vomiting every 5 minutes for the next 48 hours. Two weeks later, I was so weak I couldn't get up off the sofa myself and could barely get to the bathroom when I needed to go, which wasn't often because I wasn't able to eat or drink without throwing up. I went by ambulance to the local ER and that is when my mind shut down. I don't remember anything about the hospital until I woke up in ICU. My body was full of infection, my lung had collapsed and was full of infection and I had another hole in my stomach and one in my esophagus. I spent several days in ICU and then was told that there wasn't a doctor in my town who could 'fix' my problem and would need to go to St. Louis to Barnes. My son works with a company there that deals a lot with doctors and he was able to find a doctor who could help and was willing to take me on. This doctor is a thoracic surgeon and he saved my life, literally! I was taken by ambulance to Barnes and this doctor and his fellows were in my room within the hour. I was taken into surgery again where he had to scrape out the infection from my lung and put 2 drain tubes into it. Then he flipped me over and dealt with the hole in the esophagus, putting another drain into it. He also had to put a feeding tube in because I was unable to eat or drink anything for the next three months. In total, I came out of that surgery with 7 tubes coming out of my body and it was 6 months before the last one was removed. The incision in my stomach to repair the holes became infected several times and I had to have a wound vac on for 3 or 4 months. Every time it got infected, I had to go back into surgery to have it cleaned out. I ended up having 10 surgeries, spending 10 months of my life in and out of the hospital and then rehab facilities. I was on deaths door three different times during all of this and was begging God to let me die. He isn't done with me yet, so I am still here:) I spent 10 months in bed, too weak to even sit in a chair for more than half an hour at a time. When I finally did start feeling better I wasn't able to stand up without passing out, I was too weak. I would even pass out in my wheelchair when I was working with physical therapy, sitting down. I have been home since Mother's Day this past May and I am finally done with PT. I have a long ways to go; my stamina is very low and I tire quickly when I am up doing things around the house. I have taken over the cooking and laundry again, which thrills my hubby to no end. I can be up about a half hour working before I have to rest. People have asked for the good the bad and the ugly but I have found they really don't want to hear the ugly truth. But, if I can save someone from what I have been through I will keep telling my story. I have an appt on the 20th with an attorney. I have huge medical bills because someone did something wrong, maybe 2 somebodies and I need help paying them off. I lost almost a year of my life laying in bed wishing for death, my family was put through hell right along with me. Someone needs to be held accountable. I do love the new me; I have lost over 150 lbs and have gone from a size 32 to a 16. Sometimes I see myself in the mirror and have to ask myself who is that? Would I do it again? NO!!!!! Thanks for letting me share.
