Pouch ulcers - I'm scared

Hello gang. Sorry for the long post. I am a sad and scared person right now. One of my close friends who had the surgery a year before us is in the hospital because an ulcer in her pouch burst. She complained about her BACK hurting for about four days before she went to the ER on Friday night. We talked about it a lot when she had pain and we thought she wasn't getting enough water and had a kidney infection... neither of us ever thought it had to do with her pouch. This is truly frightening because the pain was in her lower back and was more achy than anything at first and got progressively worse... she was still working at 5pm Friday and decided to go to the hospital that evening. On Friday when she got to the ER about 10pm she was complaining about her back aching and thought she was being a wussy (it didn't help that her soon to be ex told her she was being a drama queen and made her drive herself to the hospital 20 minutes away). She felt severe pain when they gave her barium to drink for a scan and was screaming in pain immediately. They did emergency surgery Saturday morning to fix the pouch and take out her gall bladder which was now 4x normal size. The poor thing just had a tummy tuck in October and a breast job in March and they had to slice her from breastbone to pelvis because they had a hard time finding the hole in her pouch at first... it was on the back side. Apparently this is why her back was hurting since the acids were going down her back. She still has a tube down her nose into her abdomen to suck out the gunk. She is still not allowed to eat or drink and when she sucks on ice chips it gets sucked back out immediately. I feel so bad for her and although she is going to be OK there are some things to think about. She now has a nasty scar going straight down after self paying for the tummy tuck. She is stressed about having stress do this to her again... a nasty cycle. I'm stressed because I'm scared for her and scared for me too because I don't handle stress well. I end up bottling it just like she does. The poor girl is going through a nasty divorce and apparently the stress caused the stomach acids to eat through the pouch. I found this strange because I thought the stomach acids weren't in the pouch to break down the food. Her soon to be ex is not being kind or nice to her or anything EVEN WHILE SHE IS IN A HOSPITAL BED. She was hoping to stay with her parents while she heals so she is in a stress free environment but he won't let her take the kids and said if she goes without the kids he will claim abandonment. She is stuck with this man in her house because he refuses to move out until the divorce is final and he is ordered out. I think this may kill her because of the stress and games he is playing. I have another friend that is a nurse that works with two other RNY patients... they have both had ulcers too. I'm going to try to find out more from them but I have plenty of questions for my surgeon... again. So now that I have scared everyone ... anyone heard how to avoid the ulcers? I'm going to go back on the Nexium to be a little safer.

Sorry to hear about your friend. My doc had me take famitodine (pepcid) on a daily basis for 6 months or so, but now I don't. I will pray for your friends healing. -Kt

Thank you Katie. I appreciate your prayers!

Laura, I'm so sorry to hear what a hard time your friend is going through! It really is scary to think about long term complications like ulcers. At least we can learn from these experiences not to ignore ANY symptoms. You and your friend can vent to each other to deal with stress and not keep it inside anymore. Her soon to be ex sounds very insensitive and I hope she starts a healthy and happy new chapter in her life without him. I hope your friend feels better very soon and let us know if you learn anything from your surgeon about avoiding ulcers down the line. I sometimes worry about the vitamin c tablets I chew to make my iron supps absorb better.

Sue, Thank you, I appreciate your concern. I think the thing that scared me the most is the symptoms she was having didn't clue either of us into it being pouch related or a dangerous situation. We have vented to each other but I still feel myself getting worked up so I am going to have to find a way to manage stress better. I keep thinking I should get hypnotized like the guy in OfficeSpace... LOL! Oh well, I guess I need to read some stress management books or see a therapist or something. I will let you know if I find out anything from my surgeon. I think that his behavior cinched the divorce. It is a shame that he couldn't be compassionate at least during this time KNOWING that this is stress induced. Good riddance to him!!! Thanks again!

Geez Laura, I'm so sorry about your friend's situation. Her soon to be ex sounds horrible. She is better off without him. I will keep her in my prayers for a quick recovery and an easy divorce process. My surgeon prescribed an acid reducer which I take every night, it's called Ranitidine and I take one tablet. I think I'll be taking it for the rest of my life. A month's supply is only $5. Your friend is fortunate to have you for support! Hugs, Sandy (268/158/136)