Surgery Woes

[NJnewgirl12 0]

Hello my fellow sleever's....

Im not sure if this is the correct place to post this.. but here it goes..

What happens if you've had all the leak test and they come out great, no leaks at all.. then 2 wks later you have a leak.. How in the world does that happen??? Does your body hurt when you have a leak ,are you terribly sick ????? What are the signs to look for ????

Also i hear that leaks & abscess go hand in hand?? How do they get rid of the abscess ?? what happens if the abscess is never detected, What could happen to you ??

I would be having the surgery in Mexico.. and having a leak 2wks or even Several Months after surgery is very scary to me.. I would not be able to hop back in the car and drive to my surgeon, if complications arise.. This scares me..:svengo:

[Donna4545 13]

Tachycardia (superfast heartbeat) is often the only discernable symptom of a leak, along with fever.

[lunarose 97]

Hi, I haven't been sleeved yet I go in 8-24 but it is my understanding that those who develop leaks after passing the no leak test are those r eat too much too soon, have a lot of vomiting, or lifted something heavier then allowed. If you were to develop a leak you would know you would feel sick and be in pain sometimes there is actually Fluid coming from the lap sites. An abscess is an infection they would treat it with antibiotics sometimes the pus needs to be drained. It would not get noticed.

[pnw218 14]

The chance of a leak is very low and decreases daily and weekly. Seems it is very unusual to happen post op. Listen to your body and if you are really sick a day or two after surgery, speak up. Insist on an additional test. It seems that most of the doctors will allow you to stay longer if needed, and most don't even charge extra.

If you have had prior surgeries, try to base how you feel on those experiences. I have had enough to know what typical post op feels like ... and I felt markedly better every day. By day 3 when I flew home, I was fine. Walking thru the airport, flew just fine and never took another pain pill. Even went to the grocery store on the way home.

Is your surgery really scheduled for 2012?? I could barely wait the 3 or 4 weeks after I scheduled mine! LOL

Good luck!

[NJMOMof2 17]

My doctor told me that after 10 days the chance of a leak is less than 1% and after 2 weeks it 0%. He said if I had a leak after 2 weeks, he wouldn't even treat it surgically. It's very important to follow the liquids after surgery. I had to do 10 days of Clear Liquids. My doctor is very conservative, which is fine with me. He also uses a drain. The purpose of a drain is to alert you to a leak even before you get symptoms. The drain stayed in for the first 10 days then was removed in the office.

[sue4491 3]

H I would be having the surgery in Mexico.. and having a leak 2wks or even Several Months after surgery is very scary to me.. I would not be able to hop back in the car and drive to my surgeon, if complications arise.. This scares me..:svengo:

Leaks are not common among sleevers that I have seen. There is no small bowel resection in the sleeve and you still have the bottom stomach valve (the pyloris), no anastomosis of small bowel etc. It's the anastomoses where leaks post surgery most often happen. As a sleeve patient you will only have the stapling done on the stomach. Many surgeons suture (stitch) over the staples as a pre-caution but even if they don't stitch over, they do extensive leak tests before they close you up.

Best way to insure that things stay together is to follow your surgeon's guidelines closely and do as Dr Simpson suggests:

"Measure twice, eat once and vomit never"

That being said I've known patients from other restrictive surgeries who vomited daily for years and never developed a leak. I really think a leak is not much of an issue with any of these procedures and especially not the sleeve.

The other thing is it's good to remember - "doo doo occurs" to all of us, even if we never go out, never do anything.

For example, friend of mine's husband had cancer and everyone thought he would die of that but he was holding his own with chemo etc. And then, one day, he tripped over the dog, fell and hit his head and died instantly.

Without ever leaving his house.