4 new holes in my stomach :-(

[chowchows 100]

Well, I knew it was coming, but I wasn't planning on it to happen like this. After I got out of the hospital last time all the docs kept telling me that I shouldn't still be in pain and "just don't eat high fat and you'll be ok". They all told me I needed my gallbladder removed, but their offices and schedules were booked through the end of October so that is the time period we were looking at for everything to happen. In the mean time I have been having an average of one attack a week, and if anyone has ever had a gallbladder attack/stone you know that this is absolute misery. I was eating zero fat somedays and still had attacks on those days. I've never had kids, but others have equated it to being in continuous labor, with no contraction breaks, and no pain meds.

Last week another attack came on and just continued to get worse and worse into the wee hours of the morning. I finally decided to take the hydrocodone the GI doc prescribed when I last saw him, totally expecting it to knock me out and make me nauseous and dizzy as all pain killers do, and it did NOTHING! That's when I got scared. I got so weak from the sweating and constant spasms for hours that I couldn't even get up by myself. I called me husband into the bedroom (he was up and expecting the trip to the ER) and asked him to help me put on a loose t-shirt and shorts (I couldn't even do that by myself) and take me to the ER. At the ER they shot me full of the strongest thing they had and it made the pain manageable. (I think I have a fairly high pain tolerance..I used zero pain killers after my hyst years ago and felt like I could have left the hospital hours after the surgery) They re-did the ultrasound and CT and told me that my GB was totally full of tiny stones and now my pancreas AND my liver enzymes were up and they were worried. I was admitted in the wee hours of the morning and spent two days waiting for the enzyme levels to come down. Finally on the third day they were down enough and within 30 minutes of the blood test I was being wheeled into surgery.

The surgeon told me that it was so inflamed that the GB was stuck to everything and very enlarged, as was the cystic duct. Luckily they were still able to do it laprascopically. I woke up with four new holes on my stomach and one less GB. I was up and talking to everyone 5 minutes into recovery, but the pain is still pretty severe even now, several days later. I stayed another day and a half in the hospital. My back still aches somewhat and deep breathes are painful, but it is so much better than where I have been for the last month. In addition, I have now come to realize that the pain I thought was reflux, and even the pains I was having for a few days in July, were all GB related. The GB not working was causing me not to digest my food properly, which in combination with a new smaller stomach was causing me immense pain in my stomach/bowels.

The surgeon did also tell me that he looked at my stomach while in there and it looked suprizingly good , but that there really wasn't a whole lot of restriction to it. . Oh well, it has been a helpful tool..I did find out while in the hospital the first time that my cholesterol is now normal (down 83 points) and my blood pressure is normal to low. I'm still losing, and I'm not totally unhappy where I am, so while the plication hasn't turned out to be exactly what I was anticipating, I'm still overall happy.

My doc told me that stones take at least six months to form...so that means I had the stones pre-surgery. For all the lurkers that are thinking about wls, my advice is to get your gallbladder checked prior to your surgery and possibly save yourself some pain, time, and expense by taking care of it with just one surgery!

Hopefully now I can focus on healing and get back to my life...I really feel like I missed out on the whole month of September!

[TijuanaPlication 87]

Hi chowchows, I'm glad they finally sorted you out. Was your GB problem related to your plication? Do you have to go easy on fat consumption for the first weeks?

I hope your incisions heal nice and quickly!

[TijuanaPlication 87]

BTW hopefully your scars will fade. Four out of my six plication scars are barely visible (and I don't tend to heal super well with scars). The big one a couple of inches above my navel is still dark and noticeable as is a small one on my right.

How big were your incisions in relation to your plication incisions?

[chowchows 100]

Hi chowchows, I'm glad they finally sorted you out. Was your GB problem related to your plication? Do you have to go easy on fat consumption for the first weeks?

I hope your incisions heal nice and quickly!

No, the doc thinks I had the stones for awhile before the plication. I have only had the plication 5 months and he said stones take minimum of 6 months to form to the level mine were.

They didn't really say anything about watching the fat consumption, but based on what I have researched I should be. I really have been lucky-my post surgery eating experiences have been wonderful...a lot of people cannot tolerate much post GB surgery, even long term. I feel so much better in that way than I have in about a month and a half! Even if I didn't have an actual attack, I was in pain every day before I had it out.

[chowchows 100]

BTW hopefully your scars will fade. Four out of my six plication scars are barely visible (and I don't tend to heal super well with scars). The big one a couple of inches above my navel is still dark and noticeable as is a small one on my right.

How big were your incisions in relation to your plication incisions?

The one in the top of my navel is slightly bigger than my largest plication scar, but the others are tiny...about the size of the smallest plication scar. Four of my plication scars are barely noticeable, so hopefully these will fade fast too.

[TijuanaPlication 87]

Bigger than your biggest plication scar... what a bummer!! At least you got that sucker out though!

The one in the top of my navel is slightly bigger than my largest plication scar, but the others are tiny...about the size of the smallest plication scar. Four of my plication scars are barely noticeable, so hopefully these will fade fast too.

[Jenn 27]

Too bad they couldn't have taken it out when you had the plication

Take care

[forensicmary 9]

I had my gall bladder out a long time ago. I know the surgeon could have taken yours out when they did the plication but it probably wasnt on your consent form. Knowing ahead of time would be good knowledge so that you could have one surgery not two!

I am interested in the fact that he thought your stomach was not very restricted. This is just 5 months later right? It must be very easy to stretch the stomach back out again? I am just a week out and that information is very sobering. I spent a lot of money for it to just be for naught.

Good luck postop. I had random reactions to certain foods but generally felt 100% better!

[chowchows 100]

I am interested in the fact that he thought your stomach was not very restricted. This is just 5 months later right? It must be very easy to stretch the stomach back out again? I am just a week out and that information is very sobering. I spent a lot of money for it to just be for naught.

It could be that...or it could be that there was never a ton of restriction to begin with. I've never been one of the ones who felt like they could only eat a couple of bites. I've never vomited or gotten sick after 'eating too much', so who knows. I'm not unhappy with it though. I've lost 45 lbs in 5 months with little to no effort on my part, so I can't complain.

[mednar 26]

I'm glad you posted. I checked on here earlier today and was worried that you hadn't posted in a while. I hope you continue to feel better as you recover.

[chowchows 100]

Thanks for all the well wishes! I am feeling much better today. No issues with anything I have eaten and the soreness is almost gone.

[FatToPhat 83]

SO glad you are doing better!

[onlyspice6 20]

I'm having a band plication this Tuesday Oct 11th and I DO have gall stones... The doc said he doesnt want to take it out at the same time, because it can cause infection in the stomach... but your story has me really scared.. He said that my gall bladder may or may not act up post op and that if it does, it'd be easier to take it out if i weighed less (it'd be less dangerous) .... I'm really nervous as it is. I have never had a surgery before and I keep hearing conflicting things...

[chowchows 100]

I'm having a band plication this Tuesday Oct 11th and I DO have gall stones... The doc said he doesnt want to take it out at the same time, because it can cause infection in the stomach... but your story has me really scared.. He said that my gall bladder may or may not act up post op and that if it does, it'd be easier to take it out if i weighed less (it'd be less dangerous) .... I'm really nervous as it is. I have never had a surgery before and I keep hearing conflicting things...

Hi there,

I replied to your other post in the other thread. Just wanted to add, if you do not get it out during the first surgery and you start having problems later on, I personally would insist they take it out as soon as it causes you ANY pain. Don't wait until you actually start passing stones, as that can permanently damage your pancreas and/or liver if they get stuck and block the ducts. In fact it can even kill you if you develop pancreatitis that affects your kidneys or heart. It's rare, but it's still not something you want to mess around with from what some of my nurses in the hospital told me. One of my nurses mentioned that they had just lost an 18 year old boy to it, but I think he let it go a LONG time before coming in to the hospital. I'm just hoping that as I heal they find that none of my damage is permanent, but I am still angry that they let it go for so long and let me endure so much pain. I don't mean to scare you...I am actually doing pretty good now. I just want to stress that sometimes you have to stand up for yourself and look out for yourself when it comes to health care. Take care!

[TijuanaPlication 87]

I didn't notice that you actually have gallstones. In any case the others seem to have given you good advice. Good luck and I hope things work out for you.

I'm having a band plication this Tuesday Oct 11th and I DO have gall stones... The doc said he doesnt want to take it out at the same time, because it can cause infection in the stomach... but your story has me really scared.. He said that my gall bladder may or may not act up post op and that if it does, it'd be easier to take it out if i weighed less (it'd be less dangerous) .... I'm really nervous as it is. I have never had a surgery before and I keep hearing conflicting things...