Complication after complication. [emoji22]

[HappilyEverAfter44 40]

At my puréed stage,I began to have issues with the food going down. I had an endoscopy, and they found that some of my surgical staples had migrated and caused an ulcer, ultimately causing a structure. I was only 6 weeks out, so they weren't able to dilate me. The GI doc told me to come back in a month and he would attempt to dilate me when I was more healed. I contacted my bariatric surgeon who told me to just deal with the GI doc. The GI doc told me to come back in a month. I guess no one seemed to care that I was NOT eating ANYTHING. Water was the only thing that could go down. 4 weeks later, I had another endoscopy. The ulcer was unchanged and deep so they were not able to dilate me. Now I'm 10 weeks post op and still not eating. Drinking only water and again, no doctors seemed concerned. Month 3 post op, at work I began to have chest pain and palpitations. I ended up in the emergency department later that night. My potassium was critically low, my heart rate was in the 30's, my pre albumin (determines malnutrition) was dangerously low, as were all of my Vitamins. Also abnormal was my troponin, which shows damage done to the heart). (Critically low were thiamine and b12). I had been using the vitamin patches bought through the bariatric site and my NUT told me that I, essentially was without any victim and for 3 months!! He says that there is no way that vitamins absorb through the skin!) I was in the telemetry department for 8 days. They did yet another endoscopy which showed no changes to the ulcer, so -yup-you guessed it--they could not dilate me. So I finally asked them what their plan B was since if I couldn't be dilated, then I couldn't eat and it would be a continuous cycle. They decided to place a PICC line into my arm (a semi-permanent IV line that can stay in my arm for up to a year) and to give me TPN which is nutrition that is given through the PICC line. The first time they gave me the TPN, I had an anaphylactic reaction to it, so they had to modify it. The following day, I got TPN successfully. I was to be discharged on day 8 and would be getting TPN at home. On day 9 (my first day home) I developed severe pain in the arm where my picc line was. I went to the doctor who sent me for an ultrasound of that arm. I was diagnosed with 2 DVTs (blood clots in the vessel) in my upper arm. So out came the PICC line-and therefore no TPN. Week 14, I went for yet another endoscopy. Since I had been receiving the Protein my body needed to heal, my ulcer had healed! I was able to be dilated! I was on liquids for 3 days and on day 4, I ate soft food!!! It went down!!! No pain! No vomiting! I was fixed.....or so I thought. Two days ago, I began to have pain when I ate. Then vomiting. And the nausea is severe. So now I'm faced with my 5th endoscopy next week with placement of a stent to hold the opening open for 3 weeks and then I pray that this is the end of my complications. I know they tell you complications you can have. I just didn't expect to have ALL of them at the same time. And believe it or not, throughout this whole ordeal, I still do not regret my decision to have this surgery.

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[Clarevoyant 347]

Wow, I'm so sorry all this happened but admire your positive attitude! Speedy recovery!!

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[CINNAMON 2015 43]

Hi, sorry you are having all these issues. I had an issue with throwing up every time I ate something for 3 months after surgery. My surgeon did an endo and loosened the pouch opening a little. I've had no problems since. Good Luck to you, and make those medical people pay attention to you. You deserve the best!

[HappilyEverAfter44 40]

Thanks! Not as important, I feel I have to say 15 weeks post op and I'm down 66lbs.

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[Djmohr 6,965]

I am so sorry that you have had such a rough road and I really hope this is the last time you go through this. You are so strong to be able to handle such a scary situation.

I cannot believe your Bariatric surgeon pushed you off to the GI guy like that. How ridiculous! Knowing what it is like to go with very little besides Water in your tummy for a week, I cannot imagine how weak and frustrated you feel or felt and yet you have such a positive attitude.

I hope that things get better from here on out and that you are well on your way to a full recovery.

Which surgery did you have?

[James Marusek 5,244]

Boy, you sure had your share of complications. I am sorry you went through this and hope all goes well in the future.

You indicated that the Vitamin Patches didn't work. I never used them myself but I think several individuals on this website have. I did a search on the internet and found that Bariatric Pal seems to endorse them. They had 214 reviews and all were 5 stars rated. [This causes me to wonder if these were honest reviews. There should at least be a 4 star or 3 star in the mix. But nada!] Now on the other hand when your doctor indicated "He says that there is no way that Vitamins absorb through the skin!" [i tend not to believe that either because I have been experimenting with essential oils and they absorb very quickly through the skin. I can detect absorption in about 7 minutes by experimentation. So if essential oils can be absorbed, it seems theoretically that Vitamins could too. Also I suspect that quite a bit of research and testing went into Patches before they were marketed.]

So therefore a dilemma. Perhaps some of those on this website could chime in and discuss their use and satisfaction with the vitamin patches. Also if you had blood work done after using the patches and did they show deficiencies. @@HappilyEverAfter44 results showed major deficiencies. Is this common?

[HappilyEverAfter44 40]

@@James Marusek :

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it. My NUT was so baffled when I showed him the box of Patches in the hospital. This doctor is world renowned, has written numerous books and has been in metabolic medicine for a long time and had NEVER heard of the Vitamin patch. I was surprised. I also don't need further proof other than my results and deficiencies to convince me. My NUT told me that if I had waited another week or two to go to the hospital, it would have had a much different outcome.

On the box of Patches, it clearly states: *These statements have not been evaluated by the food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease."

Thank you again for your response. I'll be interested to see if anyone has a different experience with them.

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[HappilyEverAfter44 40]

@@Djmohr

Thanks for your kind words. I admit I've been frustrated, mostly because my doctors didn't believe or weren't listening to me when I voiced my concerns. And maybe they thought I was exaggerating when I said "I'm not eating". I'm also a RN, but that didn't mean anything when I was telling them my issues either. Funny, when I was lying in the hospital bed with TPN running through my veins, these same Drs were practically tripping over each other with concern.

Bottom line is that I think they will listen to me now.

Oh, I had RNY. My surgery date was 3/28/16

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[Cervidae 2,389]

@@HappilyEverAfter44 so sorry to hear about all of these complications! What horrible luck! I sincerely hope these issues are resolved soon, and you are able to move forward without the pain and frustration you've had to deal with thus far. I'm honestly completely amazed and impressed with your positive attitude after all of this!

As for the Patches, they are recommended at my bariatric center of excellence. I've been using them for... maybe 6 months? And my blood work has been perfect. That being said, I do drink 1 or 2 shakes a day and the shakes contain a ton of Vitamins and nutrients, so it's possible that the amount I'm absorbing from the Patches is small but enough to supplement the shakes. I'll be having blood work done again in a few weeks, and I'd be more than happy to check back in and let you know how it looks. When my center recommended them, they made sure to tell me to use them in an area with not a lot of subcutaneous fat, like an ankle, collar bone, shoulder, etc. I've never had any problems with them. Regardless, if they weren't working for you, I hope you find a suitable Multivitamin soon that does work. All that matters is your health and safety.

Best of luck to you! You'll be in my thoughts. If there's anything I can do to help, or if you're just looking for someone to talk to, feel free to shoot me a message any time. Hope you feel better!

[Cervidae 2,389]

Also, almost ANYTHING can be absorbed by the skin. That's why it's dangerous to touch cleaning products and so on, and why nicotine Patches and the like work so well. It's really all about the area on the body and the concentration of whatever is being absorbed. I have trouble with conflicting information in cases like this because I want to follow my nut's/doctor's advice and orders in every way I can but sometime's they are just wrong. Humans come in such a huge variety with different strengths and difficulties. Some people simply never absorb certain Vitamins, whether through pill form or in food, and some people go in for blood work and find that their Iron is sky high and they need to quit the supplement. It's hard to know exactly what is correct when we're such moving targets. Hope this all gets resolved soon.

[CeeGee 30]

I'm so sorry that you've had to go through this and the thing that bothers me the most is that your bariatric surgeon just pushed you off on the GI doc. That's just sickening. I'm glad you seem to be feeling better and yay on that weight loss

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[freelee 128]

Good for you for advocating for yourself!!! And thanks for sharing this story so the rest of us will remember to do the same when/if we feel something is wrong. Glad things are better.

[HappilyEverAfter44 40]

For those of you who have asked, I had RNY on 3/28/16. In NJ

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[HappilyEverAfter44 40]

@@HappilyEverAfter44 so sorry to hear about all of these complications! What horrible luck! I sincerely hope these issues are resolved soon, and you are able to move forward without the pain and frustration you've had to deal with thus far. I'm honestly completely amazed and impressed with your positive attitude after all of this!

As for the Patches, they are recommended at my bariatric center of excellence. I've been using them for... maybe 6 months? And my blood work has been perfect. That being said, I do drink 1 or 2 shakes a day and the shakes contain a ton of Vitamins and nutrients, so it's possible that the amount I'm absorbing from the Patches is small but enough to supplement the shakes. I'll be having blood work done again in a few weeks, and I'd be more than happy to check back in and let you know how it looks. When my center recommended them, they made sure to tell me to use them in an area with not a lot of subcutaneous fat, like an ankle, collar bone, shoulder, etc. I've never had any problems with them. Regardless, if they weren't working for you, I hope you find a suitable Multivitamin soon that does work. All that matters is your health and safety.

Best of luck to you! You'll be in my thoughts. If there's anything I can do to help, or if you're just looking for someone to talk to, feel free to shoot me a message any time. Hope you feel better!

Please do let me know how your blood work turns out. You could be absolutely correct, I was/am not taking in any other sources of nutrients since nothing goes down. I am now on 10 pills a day including thiamine, Vitamin A, B12, D, Multivitamin, protonix, Carafate, potassium, Iron and Calcium.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.

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[Shrinkinqtpi 202]

@@HappilyEverAfter44 Thank you for sharing your story. For those of us on the doorstep of surgery, your testimony and positive attitude is inspirational. You keep us aware of what could happen and what it takes to overcome obstacles. Please update us as to how you progress. You are going to have an amazing transformation and we cannot wait to be your cheerleaders.

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Edited July 25, 2016 by Shrinkinqtpi