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I was self pay at a surgical center and had to go to a hospital 10 hours later for another surgery because of internal bleeding(nicked artery), needed several transfusions and spent 3 days in the hospital plus had to have more blood and iron transfusions after leaving that hospital. I’m now stuck with over $175,000 in hospitals bills and more still coming. BCBS is denying the claim because they don’t cover bariatric surgery or complications. The hospital billed it as complications of lap band instead of complications of gastric sleeve. I’m told it doesn’t matter because they won’t pay either but what if I want to appeal it, shouldn’t it be billed correctly?

Hello I'm new here... 11 years ago I had gastric sleeve. Had Great success from 205 to 135 then after a horrific time in my life " DIVORCE" I went to 123 lbs. Then got divorce finally over moved to New state, have new career and put every lb back on and at this age weight for a women much harder to lose. I tried my old diet pills QYSMIA and ozempic lost 30 lbs 4 mths ( made me horribly sick) stop and put wt back immediately with diet pills kept getting sicker and sicker back on diet pills and nothing. For over 6months Gerd and reflux so bad when sleeping and anytime I was sitting or laying down. Couldnt eat many things. After several doctors endo and colonoscopy. I Went to ER with chest pain Heart burn so bad thought i was dying i was admitted for srveral days. A great Doc finally did another endo and found issue referred me to a fantastic bariatric surgeon. You name it I had it my stomach was pushed into my esophagus from hiatial hernia. So had to have surgery immediately. Revision repair of sleeve, duodenal switch, hiatal hernia. 5 hour surgery. It took a few weeks and some ups and downs. After surgery Stomach ulcer unknown Bleed, blood transfusion and 7 days in hospital I'm 3 weeks post op and on the mend. Feel Great. I definitely need a support group.

So as you all know, I had A LOT of complications with my sleeve. I ended up with gastritis, esophagitis, horrible gerd, and precancerous polyps all though my stomach and duodenum. I had 4 endoscopies to have them all removed. Then I had a colonoscopy and found 3 cancerous polyps (stage 1) and they were removed and I'm ok. Wouldn't have found ANY of that had I not had the complications from the sleeve. During that time, I also had a ct scan to see what was happening, and 2 large fibroids were found in my uterus. Well, now that everything else was taken care of and I had my revision from sleeve to bypass, I decided to deal with the fibroids (they are causing my stomach to be large, my uterus is HUGE, they cause discomfort, very heavy bleeding, etc) One is 12cm (roughly the size of a grapefruit) and one is 6.5 cm (the size of an egg). I also had an endometrial biopsy (those SUCK) and was diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia, which is precancerous. So now I have an appt to see what to do about all of this. Again, never ever would have found this if I hadn't had complications that led to all the testing to figure out what was wrong. Sometimes the fear of the unknown, the long road ahead, and the daunting testing and procedures to diagnose and correct complications can make surgery seem like a no-go. But potential complications shouldn't necessarily be seen as a deal breaker. I had several precancerous and cancerous conditions I knew absolutely NOTHING about, and I wouldn't have known about them until it was too late, had it not been for the complications from the sleeve. Trying to find out what happened inadvertently led to correcting not only the initial sleeve complication but also the silent and secret health issues that definitely would have creeped up on me and taken me out had it all not be found when they were. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Maybe hitting every speed bump on the way sucks and feels overwhelming, but at least now it's done. I'm already healthier than I have ever been, and I'm only getting healthier. I'm following dreams I previously let go, and being 45, I'm at the age where health risks start to increase anyway. Now I'm having it all taken care of and I can just do my thing and live my life. I said all of this to say.... don't talk yourself out of a life changing and life SAVING surgery because there's the potential for complications. Yes, they're scary. Yes, they suck. But YES finding and treating them early on (especially if you never would have known about them otherwise) is a blessing. We are doing these surgeries to get our lives back. And if that means finding and treating other issues that can/will cause us problems down the road, consider that a perk of the surgery.

On August 2nd at revision from sleeve to gastric bypass. Can pancreatitis be a side effect ?

Hi. My name is Lee Ann and like many others seems like I’ve been on a diet for the majority of my life. It’s been a constant battle. At one point in my life I weighed over 400 lbs and I was able to lose and get back some of my confidence. In 2010 I had a major car accident when a driver ran a light. And I became disabled because of the injuries that caused. With the injuries I was unable to get around like I once did and then some of the medications I was on added weight and my weight issues truly started getting me depressed so I decided to go through with gastric surgery. So about 6 years ago I started the process. Frustrating because I was having to restart 3 times because of either the scheduling or not having a dr appointment for 6 months in a row either because of how I was feeling or because the doctor was booked. Seemed like I wasn’t ever going to complete it. Then finally 4 years ago I had the gastric sleeve surgery and at the beginning problems started. I was so sick and my stitches started to open and I received no support from the doctors office and then the pandemic hit and my calls and emails went unanswered for 2-1/2 years. So when we moved so I could help my mom with her everyday life I looked into seeing a different gastric doctor. I’m still getting sick all most everyday and night plus the weight is coming back and I don’t understand how. I’m not sitting around eating just whatever I want. I am trying to get more food in but it’s hard when I hardly ever feel hungry. So after talking with my doctor about everything we’ve decided to go through with getting the gastric bypass. I’m hoping this will correct the issues and hopefully it’s soon.

After being back in the ICU for 5 days we finally discovered what the issue was. The 3 surgeries had caused my cortisol to drop severely low and I had been in remission of adrenal insufficiency for 2 years. They pumped me full of steroids and now I’m on 100 mg a day feeling better. They discovered my stomach was twisted and they need to widen the sleeve mouth so I will be undergoing 4 dilations so I can keep down my food. I want to point out that I have read some medical journals that say adrenal insufficiency is a very rare side effect of Bariatric surgery so if you have had a history of your cortisol dropping please be cautious. On to some good news, My doc says I am 2 points away from a heathy bmi of 25 so maybe in the end it was all worth it. I want to thank all of you who read my story and offered your solutions and support when I felt like their was no hope. I will come back and post what happens after each dilation. If you are continuing to struggle don’t give up and be your own advocate by doing your own research. Hang in there everyone.

I’ve been trying to do my home work on WLS and my first appointment is Monday I’m 5-7 like 263 I’m reading a lot of complications post op losing hair, nausea throwing up foam !? I’m questioning if it’s worth it ? I want to be healthy but I don’t want to mess my insides up ? Please advise

Hello...I had gastric bypass surgery in October of 2012. Biggest mistake of my life. I got to my goal weight in 2014. I felt pretty good. All of a sudden I started waking up several times a night with severe panic attacks (I had been suffering from this prior to surgery). I was on the right meds for this and they were manageable. All of a sudden they came back with vengeance. I asked my med doc what was happening and she said she didn't know how to help me. Yes, a med provider said she couldn't help me and that the meds I were on were working before. So this shocked me and I was on the search for another doctor. Was having a real difficult time finding someone to help me. I finally found one and what a strange person he was. He was arguing with my primary doc about what meds I should be on. It went on too long. My attacks got more intense during the night. Then they began during the day. It was nonstop anxiety with depression. I joined a CBT program because I became suicidal. The psychiatrist with the program noticed right away that I had had gastric bypass. He knew immediately what was happening. My meds weren't absorbing. He put me on a liquid medication. One that made me gain weight in the first place (ugh). It took a while for the liquid med to work so I was suffering badly. It was hard handing on. CBT program was done and I had to check myself in for my depression and anxiety. They wanted to send me to the CBT program. I was like...I just finished it! Went home to suffer some more. I was losing more weight because everytime I ate, my anxiety got worse. Never will understand that and no one can explain that to me to this day. I would start shaking after I ate and anxiety is got very strong. It still happens. Months later I had a heart attack. 3 stents. I couldn't believe all this was happening. I finally found a great med provider and therapist. On a different liquid medication but my health has worsen. I have IBS so badly, lost a lot of hair. I'm taking my vitamins and protein but still losing hair. My mental state is worse then it ever was. I was handing and living with my mental health before surgery and now worse then ever. I had this surgery because I was 80 pds overweight. I had had my 1st heart attack before surgery and my primary doc said I should have the surgery. Worse decision of my life. Sorry for long story but I just want to know if anyone is having these same complications. I went back to my gastric surgeon and she said Gastric bypass doesn't affect your meds and because I had gained 8 pds back, she rudely said..."well you're absorbing something" and looked me up and down. At that point I was done with her. This has been a nightmare

Hey guys! I'm three weeks post- op from Gastric Sleeve. Just curious as to if anyone else has had something called water nausea? I have not been able to drink water in any form (iced, room temperature, hot, flavored, etc...) without it coming back up the second it hits by stomach. The only fluids I have been able to keep down are Gatorade zero or tea with no calorie sweetener. Recently, Gatorade zero has also become like water to the extent where it makes me sick or very nauseous. Also, I'm in the soft foods and I was told I should be eating at least a quarter of a cup of soft foods, but I can't get through one bite that's smaller than my pinky nail without having an intense pain in the center of my upper stomach below the sternum. The pain has convinced me that eating in general just isn't worth it and I have the same issue when it comes to protein shakes. Has anybody experienced this and have any helpful advice? I've had to get fluids for the two weeks and my doctor says it's all normal, but it's causing me to spiral into a pit of depression because everyone I've talked to has said they never experienced anything like this and therefore can't give me advice.

Hi all, I am writing this for the >1% of gastric bypass patients who have the unusual complications that I had and, like me, couldn't find any information about it online to ease your mind. I had my gastric bypass surgery on September 7, 2022. I chose gastric bypass over the gastric sleeve specifically after months of research because of the higher rate of successful weight loss, particularly in women. My first week post-op went great, but after day 8 or 9 when I tried progressing my food intake from full-liquids to pureed foods I began vomiting and feeling really nauseous at every meal. I let my surgeon and dietitian know immediately and stepped my food intake back down to full-liquids. Pretty soon, I couldn't even take in full-liquids and was limited to hydrating fluids and chicken broth. I could keep down hydrating fluids and broth about 80% of the time, full-liquids 50% of the time, and everything else came back up. My surgeon was very responsive and had me get an endoscopy. Under general anesthesia, the endoscopy explored my new stomach pouch and roux limb connections that make up my new tummy system. Typically, gastric bypasses can result in constriction of the connection between the stomach pouch and roux limb, and my gastroenterologist was prepared to use a balloon to inflate the area to ease that restriction. In my case, however, that area looked fine, but further down the roux limb there was a stricture that was almost impassable for the narrow scope. This is what was causing my problem. I had an external compression on my roux limb that was making it impossible for anything more viscous than water to pass through. My layman's understanding of what had happened is that my surgeon brought my small intestine / roux limb up to meet my new stomach pouch through the transverse mesocolon. This involved cutting a hole through the transverse mesocolon to put the roux limb through and then stitching it up a little on either side to make sure nothing else will slip through the hole and cause a hernia. Apparently, this is typically sufficient and there is space enough in the hole in the mesocolon for scar tissue to form but still allow the roux limb to operate appropriately. Not in my case! xD My body and over-active immune system saw a hole and decided that hole must. be. fixed! The scar tissue that formed to close the hole closed tight enough on the roux limb and it was tight enough that barely anything could get through. I had a second laparoscopic surgery on October 12, 2022 to remove the scar tissue and loosen the compression on the roux limb. My surgeon decided to remove the small stitches on either side of the hole in the transverse mesocolon to reduce the chance that any new scar tissue will close the hole up as completely again. Immediately after this second laparoscopic surgery, I felt tons better! I stayed overnight in the hospital and was put straight on full-liquids, which I was barely tolerating before! The reason I am writing all of this out is because, in the month-long interim between surgeries, I couldn't find anything in my online research to figure out what was wrong, or what I could try, or what the next steps looked like, or how long, or why this was happening. I went for more than a month on little to no substantial nutrition, and I found so little information on what to expect or how long I would have to live like this. I even looked in these forums to see if anyone had asked about symptoms that are similar to mine and I didn't find very much information. So, I'm writing about my experience and using as many of the keywords I can think of that I've been searching for over the past two months! So! If you had gastric bypass and you start experiencing nausea and vomiting after what seems like typical food progression, please speak to your surgeon. It could be an internal stricture of the roux limb or the connecting bits, or in my case an external compression of some sort. From the very few resources I could find online, my type of external compression of transverse mesocolon on the roux limb seemed to occur in 0.9% of gastric bypass patients and it seems to happen within the first month. My surgeon pretty much immediately knew what was wrong, and her PA said she had seen it before, but not often, and it was new for my insurance caseworker. The inability to eat made it very difficult to complete normal daily tasks like my job, housework, walking the dog, etc. I wasn't in pain, I just couldn't get enough energy to do anything! My doctors moved quickly to get me back in for surgery, but it still took 4-5 weeks from starting to vomit at each meal to waking up from my second surgery feeling much better. I am so thankful that my surgeon was able to fix what was wrong with the scar tissue compressing around the roux limb; it made a world of difference! I'm not out of the woods quite yet, however. Six days after the surgery to repair the hole in the transverse mesocolon, I had a bad food day and nothing stayed down. I immediately reached out to my surgeon's office and today went in for an upper GI in which I intake contrast dye while a doctor observes how it flows through my new gastrointestinal system with an X-ray. That doctor said it looks like the connection between my stomach pouch and roux limb looks stenosed now. I am grateful that they found something and that there is an explanation for why everything I put in my mouth makes me nauseous and that there's a reason why I don't want to eat anything. I will be having another endoscopy in the following couple of weeks and, as ever, I am hopeful that this will be the last surgery that I need for my gastric bypass.

Hi! First time poster here. It's a bit long but I really need help. I had gastric sleeve on 6/22 in Mexico. It went well, passed my leak tests and left feeling good. A week after I got home, I had severe pain and went to the ED where they discovered a leak. They did surgery that night but were unable to reach the leak as it was "too high on my esophagus. " they also discovered 2 abscesses that were between my stomach and spleen. They were unable to remove the abscesses due their location. I spent 28 days on a feeding tube in the hospital. The plan was to wait for the leak to encapsulate/close which it eventually did. I came home on long term antibiotics and 4 days later I ws in severe pain again so back to the ED where I was diagnosed with a complete bowel obstruction. I had a my 3rd surgery in 3 months that night. Went home and a month later (2 weeks ago) I had pain so bad in my left lower side that made breathing/coughing/vomiting extremely painful. Back to the ED where I found out the abscesses had infected my spleen and it is now half dead/ dying. It will be removed but the surgery team is holding off due to the inflammation and scar tissue in my abdomen. I was discharged a week later with a PICC line and I receive IV antibiotics at the hospital daily. My question is has anyone heard of this many/similar complications? I'm considering getting a second opinion at a different hospital but I don't even know where to start! Thanks for reading.

Has anyone experience sleeve leakage 6 months to a year after surgery?

Im in severe pain all the time can someone give advice

Hi all. My surgery was on May 16th, the 1st week was going okay, no vomiting no pain, just a lot of gas that would only come out as a belch. I was having bowel movements so the Dr said to give it more time. By Monday May 30 I was back in the hospital. I was vomiting, couldn't keep anything other than liquids down. Turns out part of my intestines was pinched shut. A full week here in the hospital, but finally feeling better after a second surgery to correct the blockage. All the posts I see people are doing great after surgery with no problems. Anyone else here have any complications?

Hi everyone. Need some serious reassurance. I’ve gone through my full program. I have been approved for surgery (the sleeve). I met with my surgeon yesterday and he was very blunt. I’m one of the highest risk people he’s willing to operate on. I hit 4 out of 5 factors that put me into a high risk. BMI, prehypertension, sleep apnea, and one other I don’t remember. The only one I’m not hitting is age. I will also need to take injections for 28 days of a blood thinner because my clotting risk is so high. He seriously freaked me out. He said while he was still comfortable operating, he was not confident there would be no issues and needed me to be aware that there are incredibly serious risks for someone like me. I’m 35, 6’3”, CW is 497. I’ve lost nearly 50 pounds in the past few months and am continuing to lose on my current diet. I’m having serious second thoughts. I need someone, anyone, who can help talk me through this. Maybe someone who also was considered high risk and went through with it? Please and thank you!

Yesterday I started having some pain but didn't think much of it. 2 am hit and I knew something was wrong. I tried everything I could think of but nothing made it better, walking and changing positions made it worse. So I finally called the on call surgeon and he said to head to the ER. They did labs, EKG since my heart rate was high, and a CT scan with 2 types of contrast. Turns out the site where my small intestine is hooked up to my stomach is swollen shut. There's some other concerning thing that showed up on the scan also that will need to be addressed. So I'm back in the hospital, on the same wing I was in earlier. I have a lovely NG tube from my nose to stomach. This thing sucks!!!! Literally and figuratively. Every time I move it moves too. I can't eat or drink anything. I have the same night nurses I had one night right after surgery. They rock so it's good! The ER nurse was awesome as well. She told me that lately they've been having to ship people out due to lack of beds. Part of the reason for bed shortage is they converted all rooms into single occupancy. The surgeon I saw in the ER was the one who placed the NG tube, he was nice about it but man it was horrible!!! The ER doc and on call surgeon both talked toy surgeon and she agreed with their plan. I'll probably see her Monday. I have no idea how long I'll be here. Sent from my Z6201V using BariatricPal mobile app

I had VSG on 2/22/22 and have been in the hospital 9 of those 12 days. Right after surgery I had extreme nausea/vomiting (blood), but it passed and I was able to go home on 2/24/22. Once home I started having horrible reflux and gas cramping and had a hard time getting anything down. On Monday, 2/28/22, my doc told me to go to ED for fluids since I couldn’t keep anything down. I had 5 bags of fluids before I started to pee again. Then the pain came. I could not ingest anything without extreme spasms in my stomach. Doc did a CT and showed what they think is a blood clot in my new pouch. Fast forward, I got a PICC line and TPN on Wednesday this week. Now doc is saying I’m all good to go home even though I still have extreme pain when drinking and haven’t had more than 20 oz of fluid on my own since last week. I’m weary to go home just to have to come back again.

Looking for advice, will try to be brief. Thank you for allowing me to join your community! As the title explains, I have had two operations in the last 12 years. I have had issues with alcohol in the past which led to my revision. Anyway, I will complete a 'my story' post soon. Today I am trying to determine if what I am experiencing is normal or not. Thank you, in advance, for your candid advice. I developed GERD-like symptoms about nine months ago. I tried to moderate it with diet (less spicy / tomato), a few rounds of Prilosec. About seven months ago I gave up all alcohol in-part due to the painful symptoms. I had greatly moderated from my two bottle a day heyday, but I still drank. I am proud of my progress, but meetings may be in my future. At three months, Dr. ordered an endoscopy. I had the procedure October 30, 2021. Results showed that I was inflamed, but no ulcers. 'Just stay on Prilosec, forever if you have to' is the advice I received. After endoscopy, I decided to give up all carbonated drinks (I was hooked on about 100+ ounces a day of Diet Dr. Pepper). My go-to drink is now water. Also have added a lot of unsweetened iced tea and some coffee. A few days after New Year, my appetite started to decline. Just the thought of food was making me not feel well. I work from home and I fell into a habit of: one yogurt in the AM, protein drink at noon if hunger strikes, then just maybe 10 bites of anything around 4pm. Dinner at 7, maybe 20 bites over two hours. Hunger pains come on strong at times, but go away fast with 2-4 bites of anything.. As of today, Jan 23, my appetite is still just about 30% / 40% of what it was. I still find myself feeling like I have to 'force' myself to eat sometimes. Nothing sounds or tastes very good. I had a colonoscopy in December. Came back normal with one non-issue polyup (sp). Last week, I ran out of Prilosec. I decided to see if maybe I could get away with an as-needed solution. Big mistake. For the last three nights I have been awakened with extreme pain in my stomach. I have been taking Pepcid and Rolaids / Tums as needed. I plan to restart Prilosec tomorrow. Not sure why my stomach is still on fire??? I have a rather bland meat and potato diet. I quit alcohol and all carbonated drinks. Maybe a liquid fast and 100 Hail Mary's? This is my theory about my appetite issue: I think giving up the pop has resulted in far less bloating in my small stomach. Perhaps this has allowed it to heal back to a normal, or less inflamed, size. I cannot eat as much, but if I space out my eating, I'm sort of fine. I'm not sure about the mental aspects of this situation or how they corollate in parallel to the physical issues. However, the last time I felt this way (loss of appetite, could barely eat) was just before my emergency revision. Thankfully I have not developed the abdominal pains of that episode, just the eating issue. Just for context: I am a 47 year old male, about 260 pounds. I worry about constriction due to scar tissue, I was warned to look out for this. Thank you for any thoughts or advice! Matt

Could anyone give me any insight on how this will work? The differences between the sleeve recovery verses the revision recovery? I'm not entirely sure if I'll be getting one but at this point my gut is saying that it's going to be necessary. I can't eat or drink anything. Throwing up, dry heaving, Still have stomach pain, they think it's all from gastritis. I feel like i'm starving to death at this point. My diet is ice cubes (barely). I can barely walk from malnutrition. I just turned 19 and I'm in college so I also don't know how much it would affect my classes. I'm looking for things that are obvious about the recovery and things that aren't obvious that I might not think of. And if anyone else has gone through this. When I got the sleeve I was more able to research things and literally memorize everything but I'm so messed up I really need someone to just help me figure it out kinda.

HI all!!! So I had my bypass on 11/17/21 a few days after I started getting really nauseous and couldn't eat of drink. The Friday after Thanksgiving I begin throwing up massive amounts of blood and clots. My surgeon rushed me to ER. They did a CT scan and everything looked good. They admitted me and started fluids. over the next week I had an endoscopy and a text on my gallbladder. The endoscopy showed no new blood but my stomach lining was VERY irritated. The gallbladder test showed it was not draining properly. He decided he was going to remove it. At the same time he was getting concerned because my numbers were out of whack and my protein levels were dropping. They put a central line in and began feeding me TPN through it. Gallbladder surgery went well and he was very happy he removed it because it was very distended. I was discharged a week ago with TPN. So now I am home with my central line and TPN every night. I still can't really eat anything and even drinking causes me pain and nausea. Anyone experience ANY of this???

Sudden pain near the left side of navel, underneath the skin. Doctor says it could be scar tissue. Even my skin is so sensitive to touch in that one area. Anyone else experienced this before? Sent from my LM-Q730 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hey everyone! I am 27F trying to get the Bypass mostly for my GERD but also to lose weight. It's gotten to the point where I have pain every night and some days sleep 4 hours max. The only thing keeping me away from the surgery is the fear of developing some very bad complications (like osteoporosis). If one follows the diet and vitamin intake to a tee, how likely that I will get to old age without getting them? I would really like to live my 30s and 40s relatively healthy and not be "damaged" by the operation.

I had the band in Jan 2012, horrible experience many hospital visit, a revision and it got worse. Finally had it removed. But very upset with everything I went through. Do you know of a lawyer in Ottawa that could help me?

3 days post op still in the hospital with 🥵 🤒fever Fluoroscopy, CT w/contrast, Venus ultrasound was done on both of my legs, c-diff panel. Heart Rate above 115. Today I am doing better. They have ruled out leakage, peritonitis, sepsis, A bit worry but I know each body responses very different after surgery. Has similar reaction when my gallbladder was remove. No pain though able to walk freely around the ward, bathroom is not an issue. Cramps because of the gas but other than that ok hopefully the next 24 hours are decisive and taking antibiotics as of yesterday I do not regret going Thru all this I know my health is going to be way better as time goes by as long as I follow my team’s direction. Has anyone else had similar or any complications that they wish to share.

I had my sleeve 8 years ago and have been battling severe GERD for two years and serious weight gain since my hysterectomy just last December. Now, I am miserable and weak. 10-20 tums a day, unable to properly take my medications because I throw them up. Cannot eat because I throw it all up too. Just ordered some syntax iced tea and protein soups. I’m taking 80mg protonix daily and wake up choking on my bile bile at night. My PCP dismissed me. Saw her PA and at no time did she even look down my throat. Got a referral to a GI and they called to have a consult in a month! A consult! Only! Called my old bariatric surgeon and he’s not in my insurance network and I can’t afford him. Called one in town and have an appointment on the 9th. But if it requires a revision, I don’t know if it’s covered on my insurance. I’m losing hope. I feel like everyone else has since I’ve been dismissed at every turn. My brain is fuzzy, my eyes are sunken. Work is hard. I pretend I’m fine and eat at company meetings then go quietly to the bathroom to throw everything up. I’m miserable. I need an answer but no medical professionals seem to be in a hurry.