Surgery gone wrong...lost 7 units/pints of blood.

[need2bthin! 235]

Well I finally had my surgery....do I regret it? Not yet. Although, I had my surgery on Wednesday, 7/10 and I don't remember much about my stay till 3 days post-op. Here is my story.

Wednesday morning: arrived for surgery very excited and anxious. After 3pm I was in my room and the surgery was completed. Around 9 the nurse said I needed to try to get up and use the restroom. While trying to get me up my husband told her I didn't look right. I was very weak and pale. Determined she ushered me to the bathroom stating some people just can't handle pain.

Thursday morning: the bariatric coordinator nurse comes in and said "you have to get up and walk this morning we are releasing you". My husband told her "something's not right, she doesn't need to get up she needs to be seen by the surgeon again. She verys pale and her breathing is not right". The nurse ignored my husband and got two other nurses to assist her with pulling me up on the bedside. (I was a bit lethargic and don't remember much). My husband said when they tried to make me stand I said "No, I'm about to pass out" the coordinator told me some people overreact and can be melodramatic if they have never had surgery...ugh(FYI I work in the medical field.) When the over zealous nurse raised me up I PASSED OUT COLD! Thank goodness I fell back on the bed. Well, after doing labs and checking my oxygen saturation, it was 75 and I had lost 7 units of blood! I spent the next week in the hospital undergoing blood transfusions and on 5 liters of oxygen just to breath. I will add I'm 29 and in perfect health the dr said he doesn't know what happened but he customarily does not do post surgery labs, which is crazy! So therefore he had no idea I had lost so much blood. Thank goodness I was not released home things could have been much worse.

[Jen35 283]

How in the world did your surgeon not know you lost that much blood? If it was during surgery, he should have known! And if it was after, where did it go? That much blood has to go somewhere.

After my surgery, my pulse-ox was checked regulary with my other vitals. Sounds like those rude nurses dropped the ball.

Wow - you poor thing!

[serenity1959 67]

Where did you have this done? What a scary experience!

[AmyInOrlando 348]

Sorry you had such a rough time, besides the insensitive, uncaring Nurse. I'm a RN, and that just makes me angry that she was ignoring your Husband and your intuition. You knew something was terribly wrong. I also question how you could have lost all that blood un-noticed. Please tell us where you had your surgery, and who your Dr. was. HIPPA laws only pertain to patient's, not physicians.

[need2bthin! 235]

I asked the same question? Where in the heck did the blood go?! No one could tell me. Yes, the nurses dropped the ball. I believe everyone was caught off guard. They said they haven't had a major complication in 12yrs and I guess they assumed since I was young and healthy it would be a piece of cake. My surgery was at Crestwood. Huntsville, AL

[LBD 121]

Wow! It sounds like we are both lucky to be here. I had lost the same amount of blood during my first WLS years ago, but that happened during the laparoscopic procedure. Did they say where the blood was coming from? My aorta was cut and they repaired it with a graft- didn't they open you up to find the origin of the bleed? The problem with the laparoscopy is that to some extent it it a blind procedure and apparently my anatomy was "different", whatever that means. Stories like ours are very rare but they do happen, and even great doctors screw up... He had no idea- but it is his job to make sure you are ok!!! Mistakes like this remind me that it's so important to be in a good hospital where there are other physicians around, like vascular surgeons who can step in in an emergency situation. So sorry to hear this happened to you!!!

[need2bthin! 235]

I had mine laparoscopic and no he didn't go back in. The blood loss had to be from the surgery and removal if my stomach. They said they expected I would develop a rectal bleed or something but nothing appeared. He gave me a transfusion and potassium for several days, then sent me home. I also agree bad things happen to good doctors and good people. I am very grateful that my husband was very persistent some what rude with the nurses in order to make them listen. So the mystery is where did the blood go?! If it was in surgery it should be charted, and if it was in my abdomen then why did I not develop a distended abdomen or anything....very weird... Maybe someone has an answer.

[need2bthin! 235]

Oh I don't know why it is showing under that other name? It's me need2bethin!

[LBD 121]

That is crazy though, considering you only have 10-12 units of blood in your body in the first place.. Hope you are feeling much better!

[need2bthin! 235]

I know, It's very crazy! I'm feeling much better I just wish sipping was easier.

[kw2walker 211]

Wow glad to hear you are doing better.

That is a major concern, my doctor discussed with me. Nicking the spleen could cause major bleeding, that is why they work so hard to ensure the liver is made smaller if we have fatty livers so there's room to see and the retractor does not nick anything either.

All the best in your recovery.

[Damaris67 76]

Need...please post the name of your surgeon on the pre op forum. PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW. Go to OBESSITY HELP and write a review. What happened to you was medical malpractice. Don't make light of the situation! You could have died. Talk to a lawyer!

[aliekat55 157]

Need...please post the name of your surgeon on the pre op forum. PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW. Go to OBESSITY HELP and write a review. What happened to you was medical malpractice. Don't make light of the situation! You could have died. Talk to a lawyer!

actually, not necessarily, just having a bad outcome doesnt mean it was someone's fault. there are risks, even if they are rare they happen to someone. what was clearly wrong was the lack of a system to catch the one in a 1000 that does have a problem. I was woken up nearly every 2 hours to get bp, pulse ox, etc and any one of those things should have given them a heads up.

also IMHO the advice to talk to a lawyer should not be taken lightly, a bad lawyer will be worse than doing nothing, for they wont be out for your interests but theirs and they are not the same. also in many states you are limited to actual loses and the fact they fixed it ( eventually!) mitigates that.

I know that as a doctor i view malpractice with a jaundiced eye, but i have recommended that patients seek councel when appropriate and have been deposed for them.

Of course i dont know where the blood went and the other posts are correct, it had to come from somewhere and go somewhere and that is important to understand.

[Damaris67 76]

Aliekat55: the fact that you are a doctor automatically classify your opinion as biased.

OP: call a lawyer...now more than ever.

[aliekat55 157]

so a lawyers opinion would be less biased? really?

i have seen people waste years of their lives on a case that everyone knew would lose or get settled for a piddly amount ( of which the lawyer would get the biggest cut).