jawalsh75

First let me say, If you are pre-op DO NOT read my story. I'm not here to scare anyone getting ready to have surgery. This is more a post-op and what went terribly wrong. I was a fairly healthy 41 year old. However, my weight just kept going up and nothing seemed to work. My husband, sister, her husband, friend of the family, all have been sleeved with wonderful success. My BMI was only 35 but I had high blood pressure so I decided to go for it. Surgery was 4/27 and was done as an outpatient at a surgery center in Cincinnati, OH. Surgery went great, then two hours into recovery my numbers dropped. I was dizzy, nauseated, heart rate increased, blood pressure decreased. Now my doctor has done thousands of surgeries. I'm sure I'm not the first person to have problems. I was supposed to be released about 3 pm, but my numbers were all over the place. Waited for a doctor who came by once and said to keep giving me fluids. Finally at 6 pm the anesthesiologist came by and ordered Hespan (this is a filler used for people going into shock). Well, good news, it helped. I was finally better, still very dizzy but was released at 8 pm. Little did I or my family know Hespan masks what is really wrong. I was at my moms because she had no steps and at 1:30 in the morning something shoved me awake. I was sick, heart was beating so fast, I kept passing out, finally was able to yell for my mom who called 911. I was rushed to the hospital then taken by ambulance to another hospital (my doctor didn't have credentials at the first hospital I was at). CT scan showed a 8.5x8.5 cm hematoma on my stomach and a lot of blood in my stomach. I had a staple line leak and was bleeding out. I was rushed into emergency surgery at 7 AM and they fixed the problem, but not before I had to have 6 units of blood. If I was not shoved awake by some unknown power at 1:30 AM I would not be writing this. I was in shock by that point with so many problems. I stayed in ICU for 2 days and was released with a drain out of my stomach. Three days later I was back in the ER because my drain tube tripled the output but it was still residual blood so I was fine. Last weekend I was back in the hospital for two days. I have developed a heart issue, my heart rate is too high. After monitoring beta blockers were prescribed with hopes to get me back on track. I'm hoping in a few weeks to come off them. My poor body is wore out. :-( So that is my story, a crazy one indeed. On the plus side I'm tolerating all soft food well and down to 179 pounds. I'm severely anemic so all I can do is rest. My doctor does not want me to do much until I can regain some energy. I'm on iron pills which are helping. I have learned to follow my gut, if you feel like something is wrong listen to your body. I knew when I was first released that something was not right. I know these things happen but total screw up by them not transporting me to the ER instead of sending me home. Hoping my recovery will go a little smoother.

I told my husband and my father. Finally night before I told my mom (my parents are divorced), and my two children. I found there are two types of people. Supportive and those who are anything but supportive. Totally up to you it's your surgery, your choice.