Alkalinetrio262

Hey Guys, So I've been having a ton of issues since my surgery 18 days ago on 6/12/2015 m, have been in and out of the ICU/ISCU and am just hoping for some support from other people who have suffered the same complications. Here's a brief overview so far: 6/12 - went in for gastric sleeve. I woke up and they took me out to walk around. Next thing I know someone says I'm bleeding into the floor. I also believe I was taken back into surgery this day. 6/13 - I was told I didn't have a leak in the way I was thinking of it (ie gastric juice in my stomach) but that there was "oozing" from the incision line. They offered surgery again and suggested they could insert drains. Additionally, I was told I had a blood clot (hematoma) at the incision line and that I was losing blood. They had to give me transfusions and it took about 4 pints of blood transfused for my level to stop dropping and then at the 5th it went up slightly. This was an indication to them that the bleeding/clot/hematoma had stopped. I was told it would take several weeks for the clot to be transformed into my body. 6/17 - I was released from the hospital, told to progress normally from week 2 of my diet, etc etc. 6/21 - I had been having some stomach pain all day and thought I just had a lot of backed up stuff that was finally coming out. I was in the bathroom for like an hour and stuff (semi-solid) stool just kept coming. After like an hour of agony, I took a small sip of the liquid hydrocodone and was going to try and take a nap. Within a few seconds of taking a sip my body warmed up and started getting itchy. I looked down and knew something was wrong as I had broken out in hives all over my body in a few minutes. Mind you I had taken this medication for several days prior. I called 911 and ended back up at my surgery hospital. 6/21 - My surgeon took my back in for surgery. I was told my stomach had ruptured again and they tried to seal it but the skin was so thin they couldn't guarantee it would stay together. They also put in 2 drains. 6/22 - They did another sip test and I'm still leaking. I'm on "NPO" which means no liquid at all ever. They put me on TFA or something which is a white liquid hooked up to an IV so I'm not ingesting any food or Water. 6/30 - They did another sip test and confirmed I'm steal leaking. Just to cover a few other things, I didn't cheat and I don't smoke. They want to transfer me out of ICU and to a short term recovery facility. I was pushing to be able to go home and have a nurse come out but I guess there are a few medications I'm on that some of these assistance companies don't want to be responsible for administering. It may be because of the medication itself or having to come to my home very frequently. Not sure. The hospital I'm in said they would probably want to wait 4 more weeks before another swallow test so it sounds like I'm going to be stuck not home somewhere either way. Has anyone gone through these issues with leakage? Could you share your information with how long it took to recover? How will I know when my stomach is no longer at risk of tearing? I'm super worried at this point and don't want to confuse "not currently leaking" with "not currently leading but still not strong enough to resist leaking from 1 extra sip of water." Thanks!

You guys will be alright. What happened to some of us is pretty rare. I believe the National average is less than 2% and your individual surgeons a may have a rate even lower than that. It's not a minor surgery and of course there are risks, you just have to ask yourself why you're doing this and if you think it's worth the risk. For me, it was. My complications weren't as bad as some of the other folks so I can't speak on their behalf. However for me it was worth it and I would go through it again to be where I am now. I hope this helps. Best of luck!

I agree with dgsleeve. Sometimes you have to be your own advocate because your doctor may be busy or just not attentive. Doctors are only human and are definitely not right 100% of the time, you're the one that knows your body. If you need something push for it.

Hey Emma4884 - I'm doing good thanks, but it's not been an easy road. After the leak issue I've also had issues with an allergic reaction to medication, my stomach rupturing a second time and an infection at my pick line site that led to a fever of almost 106. I'm also a fairly healthy and young guy at 30. If I were you I would be grateful they're letting you eat and drink anything. After my second rupture I was not allowed to eat or drink anything by mouth for almost a week and everything was administered by an iv. The mental effect of not being allowed to take a sip of Water is pretty extreme. As of August 12th I'm 2 months out. I never got a firm answer on what happened either. However, my surgeon has done over 4,000 procedures and this happens 2% of the time so I'm fairly confident it wasn't his fault, but who knows. I had my last ct scan and X-ray about 2 weeks ago and they said my "hole" is stable. My doctor asked me to come back in 3 weeks so I guess he wasn't too concerned. I haven't been on any type of restriction with food or work and started back this past Monday. I'm feeling a lot better albeit I still have some discomfort in my stomach but nothing I would classify as pain. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions or concerns, I'm happy to help and you definitely will get better. All holes and tears eventually heal-up, it's just a matter of time!!! Btw, I'm down 55lbs and think I would do it all over again as I know I'm finally moving towards a happy and healthier life and all of this will soon be behind me!

Hey Guys! I'm a post-op sleever about 1.5 months out and am down 40lbs from my high weight! I just have a few questions I'd like feedback on so if you have a minute to respond I greatly appreciate it! 1. How to Eat - My question here is about how long you take to eat. Generally, I'll make food that is the appropriate portion size (2/3-1 cup) and I get full very quickly, after only a few bites and well before I finish 2/3 of my food. If I wait about 30 minutes I'll find myself somewhat hungry again and able to finish the rest of my plate. Normally this is what I do and I don't drink in between. Is this ok or should I just stop and not eat again until the next meal? Are other folks finding themselves hungry and able to eat again so quickly after feeling full (mind you the portion size is really small with what I can eat before the second attempt). Also, how long do you generally take to finish your meal? 2. Drinking - I guess I'm a little confused about why so many people have such a hard time getting in the necessary liquid each day and if there's something wrong with me or my sleeve because I don't have any issues. I can't chug Water but I can sip pretty quickly and am able to get down 32 ounces of water in an hour or so without much difficulty. This doesn't cause any pain or issues and the only time I have issues is if I chug too much in big gulps. Does anyone have any thoughts on if this is an issue or not? Thanks Everyone for the feedback!

@@Bufflehead - thanks so much for the quick and informative response!

@@chavezmommy thanks so much for the support to you and the other posters on this thread. Sorry I've been MIA but the last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I'm doing much better though not completely healed. I'll post a more in depth update tonight or tomorrow for anyone that's interested. Thanks again everyone!!!!

Hey Guys, Thanks for taking the time to review my post. I'm a 30 year old male who is about 5'6" and 315 lbs. I have blue cross and blue shield of Alabama and recently completed all of my pre-surgery insurance requirements. I actually went to see my primary for my last monthly medically supervised weight loss program appointment today. My weight has been pretty consistent fluctuating between 311-315 over the past 6 months. My doctor recommended 30 minutes of exercise everyday and cutting my calories to 1,500 a day. During each checkup I was honest about walking my dogs more frequently and that I was trying to eat smaller meals but was having problems with the 1,500 calorie restriction. He just gave me the forms he filled out for the past 6 months and next to the question, "was the patient compliant with the diet?" he checked "no" on every one of the 6 forms. This form is specifically what blue cross requires and now I'm worried my surgery is going to be denied by insurance for non-compliance. I haven't been able to get any feedback from the bariatric surgeons office on this yet but am really worried that I'm going to have to start all over again. Not only that but I'm changing jobs soon and don't know if this will be covered under my new insurance. Has anyone gone through a similar experience and if so can you please tell me what happened with your insurance approval? Thank you all so much!!! I'm looking forward to starting a new life and hopefully my honesty will not have ruined my chance for surgery!!!

Thanks Canyon. The diet my surgeon requires is a liquid diet for 2 weeks prior to surgery to shrink my liver. If I could have done that for the 6 month medically supervised weight loss program period I probably wouldn't need the surgery at all!

Hey Guys, Thanks for taking the time to review my post. I'm a 30 year old male who is about 5'6" and 315 lbs. I have blue cross and blue shield of Alabama and recently completed all of my pre-surgery insurance requirements. I actually went to see my primary for my last monthly medically supervised weight loss program appojntment. My weight has been pretty consistent fluctuating between 311-315 over the past 6 months. My doctor recommended 30 minutes of exercise everyday and cutting my calories to 1,500 a day. During each checkup I was honest about walking my dogs more frequently and that I was trying to eat smaller meals but was having problems with the 1,500 calorie restriction. He just gave me the forms he filled out for the past 6 months and next to the question, "was the patient compliant with the diet?" he checked "no" on every one of the 6 forms. This form is specifically what blue cross requires and now I'm worried my surgery is going to be denied by insurance for non-compliance. I haven't been able to get any feedback from the bariatric surgeons office on this yet but am really worried that I'm going to have to start all over again. Not only that but I'm changing jobs soon and don't know if this will be covered under my new insurance. Has anyone gone through a similar experience and if so can you please tell me what happened with your insurance approval? Thank you all so much!!! I'm looking forward to starting a new life and hopefully my honesty will not have ruined my chance for surgery!!!

Hi Sarah, Thanks for the reply. I haven't had a chance because he gave me the forms as he was walking out to reception and I didn't look at them until I got in the car. However, he made some small talk at the end of our appointment about how life changing this would be and that I would feel like a new man, so I'm not quite sure he understands or thinks this will cause insurance denial.

Thanks. My bmi is a little over 50 so hopefully this won't be an issue. That gives me hope. Do you have blue cross blue shield? Hopefully participating in the program for 6 months and all of the other hoops I jumped through will be enough.

Thanks Jane. I agree and I only started seeing him for the purposes of the medically supervised weight loss program. I asked him how many calories it would take to maintain my weight and to lose weight and he said 1,500 which is very obviously incorrect for someone my size. But I'm hopeful everything will work out!