Looking for answers Nerve Damage / 1yr & 3months post op Rue & Y Gastric Bypass

[KellyDVess 3]

Hey Y’all! I am so worried about my husband! He had Rue & Y Gastric Bypass April 6th 2021 so he’s 1 year and 3 months post op and it’s been a NIGHTMARE!!! He has literally lost 200 pounds. He has always been a 220 pound man. He was diagnosed with COPD in 2017 and he was given massive amounts of steroids for all his lung trouble, which caused him to gain weight. At his heaviest he weighed 394lbs. He now weighs about 190lbs. We are both extremely proud of his Weightloss but y’all he literally CANNOT EAT ANYTHING! He THROWS EVERYTHING UP, even liquids. He constantly has abdominal pain. His Surgeon, his GI Doctor, and his GP family doctor are all stumped and none can figure out why. We found out the day of his Gastric Bypass that his stomach had twisted and flopped upwards and they thought that this was the reason for the abdominal pain and vomiting he was having before the surgery, but he’s still having severe pain and problems. Technically he didn’t have the surgery for Weightloss, he had the surgery because he was told by 2 different bariatric doctors that this was the answer to fixing his pain and nausea but they didn’t even know what the problem was and they still don’t. His Surgeon now believes that he could have a nerve problem or nerve damage and believes that is what is causing his pain and nausea. Have any of you had nerve damage that has caused you abdominal Pain, Nausea, and vomiting after your surgeries? If so, What was done for you and has it helped? Also, have any of you tried otc nausea Patches from this website or any other and if so, do they work? He takes prescription nausea medicine but they do not work! I am very scared and very worried for him. He is 47 years old, his lung issues are under control but I fear for him nutritionally. He takes his supplements and he is getting IV FLUIDS (Banana Bag) every Friday but all this is really taking a toll on him physically and mentally. He is having another EGD scope to look in his stomach at the end of this month but they have done all this already and they never find anything. He does everything he’s supposed to do from having this surgery but he’s not getting any relief or any answers..

[ShoppGirl 4,844]

Well it’s not much help but they do have prescription Patches that they had me wear at the hospital for nausea. They go behind your ear and they had me put it on before surgery. Perhaps the dr can prescribe them if the pills aren’t working (it’s sounds like he may be vomiting it up before it has a chance to absorb). The only problem may be that they take a while to kick in but if the pills aren’t working at all maybe waiting a couple hours for relief won’t be that bad. At least he will get some relief. To answer your question about the patches. The prescription ones at least must work because I had zero nausea post surgery and I have had 3 other surgeries and woke up nauseous every time.

Edited July 9, 2022 by ShoppGirl

[SleeveToBypass2023 2,637]

Have they thought about a feeding tube temporarily? I know it seems extreme, but he has to get the calories and nutrients his body needs. If they can't figure this out, and he's not able to keep anything down, that might be the way to go for now.

[KellyDVess 3]

They have not suggested this yet but him and I have talked about it and we feel like if they don’t find anything during this next EGD that it may possibly be the next step. I have been doing lots of research on my own and since his surgeon suggested there may be Nerve Damage that’s been a topic that I’ve been really trying to investigate. I have read that there’s a nerve called the Vagus nerve that comes from the base of the brain/brain stem that branches out like a tree and runs to all your major organs. The heart, lungs, stomach, large and small intestines kidneys and liver. I’ve read that depending on where that nerve is damaged would determine what part of the body and organs it would affect. He hurt his back in 2015 and our stupid ER Doctors sent him home saying he had a pulled muscle. We found out after his gastric bypass surgery (last year 2021) by his Surgeon that his back had actually been broken. So I am really wondering if this could have caused damage to the left Vagus Nerve and is what is causing his problems. Even his lung problems because after he injured his back is when all his health problems started. He started having Migraines 2015), lung/breathing problems (2017), and the GI problems (2019). His surgeon has stated that he was at a loss with him and wants to send him to a Neurologist; however, Covid had things messed up for a while and now the surgeon has had a change in hours, locations, and staff. He even has a different Nurse so when we’ve called to find out if he’s sent a referral and what’s going on no one seems to know what we are talking about. We’ve yet to see a neurologist. He has spoke to his family doctor and instead of sending to a neurologist he has sent him back to his GI doctor who wants to do another EGD. So now we are in the process of having to get clearances again from his pulmonologist and his heart doctor (he doesn’t even have heart problemS but when he got sick with his lungs he had to start seeing one and has had 4 heart caths since 2017 and all 4 have been clear), now they want to do another stress test, another blood gas, and more blood work to clear him for the EGD. We live an hour and a half away from the pulmonologist and heart doctor. His GI ordered a stomach emptying test which makes the 3rd one and he couldn’t even finish it because he couldn’t hold down the radioactive eggs, since he threw them up the test was incomplete and they sent us home. Waste of time and gas. It makes no sense to me to send someone who can’t hold down a bite a food at all to have a stomach dumping/emptying test done that requires you to eat a small portion of a food. This is a 4-6 hour test and 20 mins in he’s thrown the tablespoon of radioactive eggs back up. Makes no sense at all. He has 12 appointments by the end of the month just to get cleared and have everything done before the EGD. I realize they have to be safe and the clearances are important but my husband is literally starving to death, malnourished, losing hair, teeth are in very poor condition, money is low, gas prices are high and these appointments are an hour and a half away and he needs answers now not 3 weeks from now. I don’t understand why they just keep redoing all the same tests over and over and over again. Instead of getting him in with a neurologist and atleast ruling that out. I feel like I am the only person who’s actually trying to figure this out and the doctors just want more money, more money, more money. My husband is a wonderful man. He’s been my best friend for 30 years but we’ve only been together as a couple for 3 years and only been married 2 years. He’s always been the strongest person I’ve known so to hear him say he doesn’t know how much more he has left in him or how much longer he can survive with no nutrition is unimaginably devastating. I hate even eating in front of him. I hate seeing him eat 4-6 bites of something in an hour time frame and then throwing it with in 5 minutes but most of the time it’s 1 or 2 bites and he’s pushing the food away holding his stomach and running to the bathroom just to throw it up. This is scary and hard and I just want to help him. I want to fix it for him and I can’t. I refuse to give up till I find the answer but I’m no doctor. That’s why I am here trying to find someone else who may have been through the same thing or something similar. I honestly think they probably should have already placed him on a feeding tube but for whatever reason they haven’t. Thank you so much for your reply. I apologize for writing a book in response to you. I guess I needed to vent and cry to someone. I just wish they would have done a more thorough assessment and job and found out what was wrong before they made his stomach the size of a walnut. I also wonder if the part of the stomach that they cut off and left in there is what is causing all this? It still has blood supply and nerves running to it so could that be the whole problem? Thank you for your time, reply, and for listening.

[I♡BypassedMyPhatAss♡ 804]

I'm sorry to read about what your husband and you, as his caregiver and health advocate are going through. I have no advice about the issues he's going through, but it sounds like you need a second opinion. I would head to an ER of a teaching hospital, one that hopefully has a bariatric program.

My bariatric surgeon is a professor and operates at a teaching hospital. And she sees patients who haven't been helped by "regular" bariatric surgeons. If you were to take him to an ER that is a part of a teaching hospital with a local university, they will likely admit him and call in their bariatric/neuro teams and whatever other specialists that they deem necessary. It's worth a try. Keep us updated on his progress.

I Googled and https://www.umc.edu/ has a bariatric program. Not sure how far away you are from Jackson tho.

I wish you and him the best!

[KellyDVess 3]

Replying to ShoppGirl. We have asked them to prescribe him nausea Patches but for some reason they won’t. We’ve asked specifically for Scopolamine patches and they say no I will give him zofran and/or phenergan. He tells them zofran never helps because it doesn’t and the phenergan helps some. We even buy Dramamine. But none of it helps when he eats. Even if he takes it an hour or more before he eat he still throws whatever he tries to eat up. We haven’t asked them recently though so Monday I will get him to call and try again. It can’t hurt asking again. Thank you for replying back. I really appreciate any and all suggests, thoughts, and opinions.

[KellyDVess 3]

Replying to ByPassingMyPhatAss Jackson is about 3 hours North of us but I would definitely drive it if someone would help him. I haven’t thought about going to UMMC. My dad and step mom lives in Jackson so that would be helpful. Thank you for your advice. I will definitely be talking to my husband about this. 💜

[I♡BypassedMyPhatAss♡ 804]

32 minutes ago, KellyDVess said:

Replying to ByPassingMyPhatAss Jackson is about 3 hours North of us but I would definitely drive it if someone would help him. I haven’t thought about going to UMMC. My dad and step mom lives in Jackson so that would be helpful. Thank you for your advice. I will definitely be talking to my husband about this. 💜

I truly hope you find answers very soon!

Teaching hospitals truly love to help those with challenging cases, because there's always resident physicians there eager to learn every atypical case out there. They're often at the forefront of the latest techniques and even do their own trial studies.

Best wishes! 💜

[SleeveToBypass2023 2,637]

8 hours ago, KellyDVess said:

They have not suggested this yet but him and I have talked about it and we feel like if they don’t find anything during this next EGD that it may possibly be the next step. I have been doing lots of research on my own and since his surgeon suggested there may be Nerve Damage that’s been a topic that I’ve been really trying to investigate. I have read that there’s a nerve called the Vagus nerve that comes from the base of the brain/brain stem that branches out like a tree and runs to all your major organs. The heart, lungs, stomach, large and small intestines kidneys and liver. I’ve read that depending on where that nerve is damaged would determine what part of the body and organs it would affect. He hurt his back in 2015 and our stupid ER Doctors sent him home saying he had a pulled muscle. We found out after his gastric bypass surgery (last year 2021) by his Surgeon that his back had actually been broken. So I am really wondering if this could have caused damage to the left Vagus Nerve and is what is causing his problems. Even his lung problems because after he injured his back is when all his health problems started. He started having Migraines 2015), lung/breathing problems (2017), and the GI problems (2019). His surgeon has stated that he was at a loss with him and wants to send him to a Neurologist; however, Covid had things messed up for a while and now the surgeon has had a change in hours, locations, and staff. He even has a different Nurse so when we’ve called to find out if he’s sent a referral and what’s going on no one seems to know what we are talking about. We’ve yet to see a neurologist. He has spoke to his family doctor and instead of sending to a neurologist he has sent him back to his GI doctor who wants to do another EGD. So now we are in the process of having to get clearances again from his pulmonologist and his heart doctor (he doesn’t even have heart problemS but when he got sick with his lungs he had to start seeing one and has had 4 heart caths since 2017 and all 4 have been clear), now they want to do another stress test, another blood gas, and more blood work to clear him for the EGD. We live an hour and a half away from the pulmonologist and heart doctor. His GI ordered a stomach emptying test which makes the 3rd one and he couldn’t even finish it because he couldn’t hold down the radioactive eggs, since he threw them up the test was incomplete and they sent us home. Waste of time and gas. It makes no sense to me to send someone who can’t hold down a bite a food at all to have a stomach dumping/emptying test done that requires you to eat a small portion of a food. This is a 4-6 hour test and 20 mins in he’s thrown the tablespoon of radioactive eggs back up. Makes no sense at all. He has 12 appointments by the end of the month just to get cleared and have everything done before the EGD. I realize they have to be safe and the clearances are important but my husband is literally starving to death, malnourished, losing hair, teeth are in very poor condition, money is low, gas prices are high and these appointments are an hour and a half away and he needs answers now not 3 weeks from now. I don’t understand why they just keep redoing all the same tests over and over and over again. Instead of getting him in with a neurologist and atleast ruling that out. I feel like I am the only person who’s actually trying to figure this out and the doctors just want more money, more money, more money. My husband is a wonderful man. He’s been my best friend for 30 years but we’ve only been together as a couple for 3 years and only been married 2 years. He’s always been the strongest person I’ve known so to hear him say he doesn’t know how much more he has left in him or how much longer he can survive with no nutrition is unimaginably devastating. I hate even eating in front of him. I hate seeing him eat 4-6 bites of something in an hour time frame and then throwing it with in 5 minutes but most of the time it’s 1 or 2 bites and he’s pushing the food away holding his stomach and running to the bathroom just to throw it up. This is scary and hard and I just want to help him. I want to fix it for him and I can’t. I refuse to give up till I find the answer but I’m no doctor. That’s why I am here trying to find someone else who may have been through the same thing or something similar. I honestly think they probably should have already placed him on a feeding tube but for whatever reason they haven’t. Thank you so much for your reply. I apologize for writing a book in response to you. I guess I needed to vent and cry to someone. I just wish they would have done a more thorough assessment and job and found out what was wrong before they made his stomach the size of a walnut. I also wonder if the part of the stomach that they cut off and left in there is what is causing all this? It still has blood supply and nerves running to it so could that be the whole problem? Thank you for your time, reply, and for listening.

Never feel bad for writing a book when venting or crying or just explaining something. I know we're just random people on an online forum, but we're always here to listen, help when we can, and support all the time. This is an amazing place to come to. Maybe post this on the bypass section and see if you get more hits there. Also, I would look for new doctors. Since the ones your husband has aren't doing anything to help him NOW, I would definitely look at new ones. I'm not sure what insurance you have, but I think you wouldn't have too much trouble changing doctors. Definitely look for a teaching hospital and go to that ER. Have everything written down (or just copy and paste everything you told us in a WORD doc and print it out) that way they have a clear understanding and time line of everything going on. Please come back and let us know how your husband is doing and how things go.

[KellyDVess 3]

. 💜 Thank you all so much.

[learn2cook 580]

When there are multiple doctors with specialists and you are not a medical expert yourself a hospital can appoint someone to oversee the different people and make sure they talk to each other. You have to request it or they often won’t offer. Sometimes it’s a social worker who helps coordinate things and breaks down the results and sometimes it’s a physician. Just ask for a coordinator and someone to help with all the jargon because it’s so emotional for you. Like said above, teaching hospitals are there to teach across specialties so are more used to communicating. I hope this helps!

[Starwarsandcupcakes 2,060]

I haven’t read any of the replies but if the scope doesn’t show anything ask for a barium swallow. It has dye that can be picked up on X-rays to check for any kind of stricture that’s further down than a scope can see.