Would I do it again ?

[Rani1010 1]

I had a Gastric Sleeve performed one month ago after repeated failures at diets and exercise. It was causing great strain in our marriage. I had heard so much positive feedback on Gastric Sleeve - even my own personal Physician had had it done.

98% of people get through with only minimal discomfort, and manageable pain and nausea. I was one of the 2% that didn't. I can't be totally sure in what order things happened, but I think I was given a minimalistic version of the truth. My surgery started out as laparoscopic. Firstly, I went into anaphylaxis from the anti-anaesthetic med in recovery. They had to do CPR till they could reverse it. I went off to ICU, where after some hours they said my stats showed I was haemorrrhaging. Another LAP prodecure - "nick in spleen', stitched, glued. (This is where I have my doubts - I'm inclined to think the CPR and cracked rib caused a spleen rupture - not a "nick" because I have now been told 25 % of my spleen will atrophy. Back to ICU. A few hours later - she's still haemorrhaging". Back to theatre, this time open surgery right down abdomen. Vein on back of liver nicked, tied off etc, back to ICU. Next day a whole lot of packs removed from my abdomen. I spent a hellish week in ICU. On drip till I could tolerate a tiny bit of liquid. Another week and a half in ward. I do believe they cracked a rib doing CPR as I have a 40% collapsed lung on that side, cannot breathe in without pain, and one particular rib hurts like crazy. I spend most mornings in bed feeling nauseous till lunchtime. The pain is subsiding but I am bothered about that lung.

I know it's only a month out, that I had an unfortunate series of events, but I'm hoping like crazy in 12 months I'll be able to eat without feeling sick. I have anti-nausea wafers but they don't do a lot. At the moment I cannot drive, cannot work, and don't know when I will be able to.

i'm kind of glad it's done, and I have lost 16kg (mostly because I can hardly eat anything), but if I'd known in advance how bad mine would be, I definitely would have said no. I nearly died several times. Is being skinny really worth it? I was trying to improve my health, my blood pressure, stave off Diabetes. As it is, I don't know how long I am going to be out of action.

However. As I said, I'm one of about 2% who have such nightmare complications, so listen to the people it worked for. After six months most of them are grinning like Cheshire cats at how great they feel having lost do much weight.

In case you're wondering, the surgeon I had has one of the best reputations around.

[orionburn 1,023]

Yikes...that sucks. I had complications as well, although nothing nearly as bad as what you went through. I had a spleen bleed on day 3 that put me in ICU for a few days. My supposed to be 3 day stay turned into a week. Luckily I was okay after that episode.

I chose surgery not for the sole purpose of being skinny but to get through some horrible sciatica/back pain that I'd been fighting for years. We never want to be part of the small group that comes out with complications. This first few weeks can be rough enough as it is with a normal surgery. I can't imagine having to deal with everything else. Hopefully you're on the road to a full recovery and will get through all this soon.

Best of luck to you!

[Rani1010 1]

Hi Orionburn

Thanks for your experience. Up till now I'Ve felt like the only one who had a bad experience with it.

I had some health issues I was hoping to solve too. I've had high blood pressure for a long time. My back was starting to hurt, plus my knees. I could see yucky surgeries coming up if I didn't do something drastic.

i'm also on a raft of Psych meds. I was hoping that if I didn't feel so bad about myself, I could back some of them off.

When I said "being skinny", it was more about the relationship between my husband and me. He is an ectomorph - can eat whatever he wants and stay skinny. As he's got older, he's become more and more health fanatical - swimming, running, bike riding. I used to go swimming but my back got too sore. I used to walk while he ran. But in the end, I just gave up. It caused a lot of friction between us. In the end, I really decided that since this operation has such a good reputation, and I was also buying a 12 months support ptogram, it was the best way to go.

I'm shocked myself at how badly it went. I know there's a risk with any surgery, but I seemed to cop the lot. I spend every morning feeling like I have morning sickness. Still, I'm hoping that 12 months from now I will look back and think it was the best thing to do - and that I was just extremely unfortunate.

Best of luck with your journey also. It's different for everyone, but most people seem to feel pretty happy after they get through that first year, so I hope that's me - and you too.