nurse aleasha

I underwent Lap Band surgery in early June. My surgeon hadn't discussed plication with me until I was in the pre-op room....no sedation had been given yet however. I was nervous & reluctant but encouraged with the great outcomes patients were experiencing. I decided, spur of the moment, minutes before they wheeled me back, to sign the consent forms allowing the plication along with the band. My story is a very long, detailed one. I will spare you most of the details.....immediately after my surgery, I was tormented with extreme, unbearable nausea, vomiting, and pain. I was hospitalized 4 days for those issues. Within 2 weeks I hadn't improved at all...just getting worse. The incision in my navel had become severely infected and was leaking a tremendous amount of fluid/pus. I was hospitalized immediately with a high temp, confusion, unreal nausea and vomiting and severe pain. We were told a few days later that my infection was a very resistant strain of MRSA. I was sent home 9 days later with a PICC line in my arm so I could continue receiving IV fluids and IV antibiotics at home. I continued to decline even more....very rapidly. My belly button incision was only getting worse--leaking pus, even with dressing packed way down in it. Unrelenting vomiting, pain....after receiving several urgent phone calls from my family, the surgeon finally agreed to re-admit me for the 3rd time for extensive wound care, pain control, & IV antibiotics via my PICC line. After 4 days I underwent my 2nd surgery to remove the Lap Band. I woke up with an NG tube down my nose, was on TPN (fed in the vein) for 20+ days. I've spent over 36 days in the hospital since June--my last stay was for 24 straight days. I've had a total of 3 PICC lines put in--2 were lost due to severe infection and 1 lost due to it causing a blood clot in my upper left arm. As of today, my cultures of my incision still come back + for MRSA. All the strong, high powered antibiotics I've been on continuously since mid June haven't even touched it. It still leaks and drains Fluid. My nausea/vomiting have improved-but I'm still bothered by it as well as pain. My Infectious Disease Dr is very concerned about my lack of healing (likely due to malnutrition issues--as I am just not able to eat hardly anything) he started me on Marinol last week to hopefully increase my appetite and decrease my nausea. He says if things don't greatly improve, he wants a temporary feeding tube placed. I have been through absolute torment. I was bedridden for over 3 months. My life has changed so much--mostly not for the better. I have lost a good deal of weight--but not exactly in the manner I was expecting. I am a nurse, so I know complications happen every single day, but it's a different story when those complications are happening to YOU! I'm just ready to start living my life!

Atlanta Medical Center