My surgery experience. Would I do it again?

One4you2belike · May 13, 2008

I was banded on April 16th. Surgery went well. I was so excited. I was taken to my room for my overnight stay... Thru out the night I got up, did my walking but noticed I was having a lot of pain, not port pain as most describe but pain on my right side. I tried to get up again to walk at 5:00 a.m. but my ears were ringing so bad I was soooo dizzy - I went back to lay down. Another hour had gone by and the pressure on my right side was horrible, I was having trouble breathing. Then all of a sudden my monitors started going off and my blood pressure dropped to 50/45 - It felt as though I was having spasms on my right side. My doctor had JUST come in to check on his surgery patients. He and the nurse promptly called ICU and the 'crash cart' - WOW do you know how scarey that is???? By this time I was in tears and asking them to call my husband. It was so hard to breathe. Outside the door to my room was filled with nurses from the ICU, student nurses etc. They took me for a CAT scan and discovered I had internal bleeding. Apparently 95 some percent of the people have arteries structured the same way - I am in the 5% that have to be different - There was an artery in my muscle that was cut during surgery. I lost a LOT of blood - ended up back in surgery and received blood transfusions and an additional overnight stay in the ICU. With all this said, I am not trying to scare anyone just one of the little things that can go wrong. Would I do it again? YES, YES YES... My doctor was wonderful and attentive and listened to me when I told him something was wrong.. If I had been in outpatient I would have died. Of course the only thing I was really worried about was how I was going to pay for the additional surgery since I was a self-pay patient. My doctor said he would waive his 2nd surgery fee. We shall see what happens with the rest... Thanks for listening....

kathystrick · May 13, 2008

Sorry you had to go through this, but glad things turned out ok for you! Is everything going well now?

Pix · May 13, 2008

Wow! Glad you are ok, and you had a doctor that would listen to you!!

NeNe967 · May 13, 2008

I was banded on April 16th. Surgery went well. I was so excited. I was taken to my room for my overnight stay... Thru out the night I got up, did my walking but noticed I was having a lot of pain, not port pain as most describe but pain on my right side. I tried to get up again to walk at 5:00 a.m. but my ears were ringing so bad I was soooo dizzy - I went back to lay down. Another hour had gone by and the pressure on my right side was horrible, I was having trouble breathing. Then all of a sudden my monitors started going off and my blood pressure dropped to 50/45 - It felt as though I was having spasms on my right side. My doctor had JUST come in to check on his surgery patients. He and the nurse promptly called ICU and the 'crash cart' - WOW do you know how scarey that is???? By this time I was in tears and asking them to call my husband. It was so hard to breathe. Outside the door to my room was filled with nurses from the ICU, student nurses etc. They took me for a CAT scan and discovered I had internal bleeding. Apparently 95 some percent of the people have arteries structured the same way - I am in the 5% that have to be different - There was an artery in my muscle that was cut during surgery. I lost a LOT of blood - ended up back in surgery and received blood transfusions and an additional overnight stay in the ICU. With all this said, I am not trying to scare anyone just one of the little things that can go wrong. Would I do it again? YES, YES YES... My doctor was wonderful and attentive and listened to me when I told him something was wrong.. If I had been in outpatient I would have died. Of course the only thing I was really worried about was how I was going to pay for the additional surgery since I was a self-pay patient. My doctor said he would waive his 2nd surgery fee. We shall see what happens with the rest... Thanks for listening....

Something similar happened to me. I actually blacked out, but I am well today and happy with my lap band.

One4you2belike · May 13, 2008

Yes, everything is good now... I have had minimal port pain which compared to others is GREAT.... The right side (since I had two surgeries) is still the most tender. Thanks for asking.. I appreciate it.. Now if I could get my head around not blowing what I eat on the weekends...:thumbup:

Jo Skinnie · May 13, 2008

Wow, I'm so sorry you went through that! I'm glad to hear you are doing better now. Hopefully this will be the most drama you have for a very long time!