Anger and Frustration

[Gingi 19]

I was sleeved on May 21,2015 and I have lost 80# so far. I have an amazing group of friends, family and colleges; my husband has been amazing throughout the entire journey, I have increased energy, I am down from a size 30/32 to a size 18/20, after YEARS of being a gym rat I am finally able to see the results. Learning what I can and can't eat has been a great exercise in trial and error and I am actually enjoying being a picky eater, everything has been going great on the surface. I get excited to see my body change ever day and be almost unrecognizable sometimes to friends that I have not seen since before surgery; I enjoy having mire clothing options and being able to wear my hair up because not I have a chin and a neck. From the outside looking in and looking on the surface one would assume I am delighted. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying my new life and still excited to see what will happen next, so why am I writing a post entitled Angry and Frustrated? read on and you will understand.

Since my surgery I have had the worst pain of my life. I ended up in the ER when I was working out of town. My acid re-flux is so bad that it has inflamed my esophagus to the point that I thought I was having a heart attack. I also have horrible abdominal pain that radiates to my back. I had a CAT scan of my esophagus only to learn that there is damage and have to have an endoscopy. An ultrasound of my abdomen revealed that I have to have gallbladder removed and NOW I have NASH (fatty liver) and my arthritis seems worse. O have been asking myself lately, "why did I bother trying to get healthy?"

Please share with me if you have had similar experiences and thoughts. I need to know I an not alone.

Thanks in advance for reading and replying. Rant Over

[slvarltx 332]

Wow...so sorry for you health issues. Please keep us up to date on any improvements.

[julievsg2016 0]

Hi Gingi, I don't know if this will make you feel any better but I am pre-surgery and have actually been through the same thing. The Drs originally blamed reflux for my problems but soon discovered it was my gallbladder. Although a fast weight can lead to gallbladder issues I bet your health issues will get a lot better when they remove your gallbladder and I don't think you should feel it is necessarily related to your surgery. Good for you for being down 80 lbs!!!!!

[Heather Andrew 0]

Please share with me if you have had similar experiences and thoughts. I need to know I an not alone.

Thanks in advance for reading and replying. Rant Over

Hi, I am still waiting on my surgical date but I did want to share in regards to the gallbladder issues.

I had mine out in 1993 after a 70lb weight loss. When I had my first gallbladder attack, I thought I was having a heart attack and was in so much pain that I did vomit. Odd thing is that as soon as I did vomit the intense pain was gone with only a dull reminder. Once my gallbladder was removed it was an instant change into how I was feeling, no more burning painful throat, chest pains in my ribcage that wrapped around to my back making me want to die. It was all gone.

I hope that you find the gallbladder is what is causing the 'reflux' that the doc is blaming and that in the least that pain is gone just as fast as the surgery to take out your gallbladder will be. Mine was 'scope’, I went home the same day, 4 tiny incisions, no problems afterwards though I will say, I still had to be careful about really fat laden foods (which I cannot eat anymore anyway!) were a problem when I was eating them. I had stomachaches and other unpleasant bathroom visits; I will leave it at that.

[NikkiDoc 312]

I have had the fatty liver issues off and on for 15 years prior to my sleeve surgery. My liver numbers were high when I was eating bad and heavy. Now that I am much thinner my liver numbers are back at the low end of normal. It would not surprise me if once you lose some more weight that your liver function tests normalize. I almost wonder if the fact that your gallbladder is working right is causing your liver to work harder to process the fats and is resulting in the fatty liver diagnosis. It may all be tied to your gallbladder.

Getting rid of the excess weight will help the arthritis. I was taking Celebrex daily. I now take the low dose once or twice a week. Pre-surgery I was 20/22 I am now wearing size 12. My surgeon allows me to take the Celebrex but not all surgeons will.