I AM 10 YEARS POSTOP!!...

I had my surgery 10 years ago April 21, 2004.   Dr. Freeman in Anniston, Alabama performed my surgery.  I had postoperative complications and was in and out of the hospital for 18 days.  The morning after my surgery they did the leak check using that thick black tar-like contrast which I swallowed.  Found out my bowel was "asleep" and I had a postop ileus, which is an area which stops  moving the food through and is actually a small bowel obstruction.  I vomited for days very hard.  I went home after 6 days but could not keep anything down so went back into the hospital dehydrated and still with the blockage.  I was starving and so very sick.  I was 4' 7" and weighed about 185 pounds but lost 22 pounds the first 3 weeks.  In less than a year I was down to 101 pounds.  At times I gained weight but always lost it again.  I weigh 103 pounds today.  I ended up having an incisional hernia probably from all the vomiting.  I had a repair about a year out from surgery.  About 3 years ago, in around 2011, after years of intermittent small bowel obstructions with vomiting, I had exploratory surgery and a large abdominal hernia was found and repaired.  I have had eating and intestinal problems, but I would never want to go back to carrying all that weight on my small frame.  I am still learning how to manage my diet, as I tend to have candida and an autoimmune disease that requires a special diet.