PLEASE HELP ME

had my surgery on Nov 4th 2009.  The surgery was suppose to take 2hours but it lasted 7 due to scar tissue from my lapband removal and my c-sections. I stayed in the hospital for 6 days unable to keep even ice chips down but the crazy thing is I did not have any pain just a little burning around the insicisions. my problem now even after 3 weeks I have a tremendous amount of gas that I can not get rid of  sometimes it builds up so bad it makes me throw up and I am still having trouble eating. My vomit smells so bad it can clear a room it smells like feces. I kept telling the doctor about the pain in my stomach I finally got him to take a cat scan on Dec 15th. The doctor just called me today to tell me that I have a hernia and that part of my bowel has leaked through an insicion that did not close so I have been throwing up feces I am scared and need to know what to do. I need to seek a second opinion who is a good surgeon in wisconsin please help me. The doctor also informed me that he left some of the tubing from the lap band inside my stomach. What can I do.

What's your doc telling you your next step is?

If you're looking for another surgeon, perhaps Dr Buchwald. i didn't see any in WI on dsfacts.
Please keep us posted.
Gina


 

Minnesota

Henry Buchwald, MD, PhD
Email: [email protected]
Sayeed Ikramuddin, MD *
 

University of Minnesota Medical Center
Weight Management Center
Phillips-Wangensteen Building
First Floor, Clinic 1E
516 Delaware Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-626-6666

Tasha,

I am woried about you but after reading the profile of your doctor who did not sound familiar to me I am scared. He only have made one open Ds. That is almost nothing, specially if you consider that the Ds is a complex surgery. He obviously did mistakes, like leaving a tubing inside you and not been able to prevent your leaking and not being proactive when you could not keep anything in your stomach. If I were you I will go to the ER immediately and also try to contact an experienced Ds surgeon for an opinion and maybe a revision.  After that, I dare to say that I will be suing your Ds surgeon for incompetence.

Take good care of yourself. I wish you well.

Peace and good.
 

These are the Doc's in Illinios (from DS FActs) that might be closer if you are looking for a second opinion.  I am really sorry you are going through this!  How Aweful!   Tell me they gave you some kind of follow up instruction for the time being!?  I understand you loosing faith in your surgeon.  Do whatever it takes to take care of you first!  Keeping you in my prayers!

Illinois

John C. Alverdy, MD *
Email: [email protected]
Vivek N. Prachand, MD, FACS *
Email: [email protected]
 

Center for the Surgical Treatment of Obesity
University of Chicago Medical Center
5758 S. Maryland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-834-8900
Fax: 773-834-0201

Office Mailing Address:
John C. Alverdy, MD
University of Chicago Medical Center
5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 6090
Chicago, IL 60637

Office Mailing Address:
Vivek N. Prachand, MD
University of Chicago Medical Center
5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC5036
Chicago, IL 60637

It sounds like you could have a bowel obstruction, either from part of the bowel being caught in the hernia, or from the scar tissue.  If you are still having these symptoms, head for the ER.

Larra

Did your doc tell you what he inteded to do about the tubing left in you and the bowel that leaked through your incision?

Is this the same person who did your DS?

I don't know much, but it would seem to me that bowel leaking and tubing left in is a VERY bad thing.  And will cause, if it already hasn't, major-major infection.  Possibly one that could threaten your life.

If you aren't getting much response from your doc/surgeon - and this seems to me to be an emergency - you need to seek out another surgeon.  I would contact a reputable DS surgeon.  Unfortunately there isn't one in Wisconsin.  I don't what is closest to you.  Here are a few state's worth of vetted DS suregons from www.dsfacts.com/North-American-Duodenal-Switch-Surgeons.html #il

 

Illinois

 

John C. Alverdy, MD *
Email: [email protected]
Vivek N. Prachand, MD, FACS *
Email: [email protected]
University of Chicago Medical Center
5758 S. Maryland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-834-8900
Fax: 773-834-0201

 

Indiana

 

Margaret Inman, MD, FACS *
St. Vincent Health
11725 Illinois St., Suite 240
Carmel, IN 46032
Phone: 317-814-4580

 

Michigan

 

Mustafa A. Hares, MD, FACS
3100 Cross Creek Parkway, Suite 160
Auburn Hills, MI 48326
Phone: 248-371-3199
Fax: 248-371-1930
Contact: Jacquelyn Smiertka, RN
Email: [email protected]

Paul Kemmeter, MD, FACS *
2060 East Paris Avenue, S.E., Suite 100
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
Phone: 616-956-6100 or 1-888-691-0050 toll free
Fax: 616-956-6637

Marek Lutrzykowski, MD
Email: [email protected]
10 W Square Lake Rd., Suite 200
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Phone: 248-322-1543
Fax: 248-322-1547

Bruce MacPherson, MD
Email: [email protected]
10 W Square Lake Rd., Suite 200
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Phone: 248-858-7666
Fax: 248-858-7601

 

Minnesota

 

Henry Buchwald, MD, PhD
Email: [email protected]
Sayeed Ikramuddin, MD *
University of Minnesota Medical Center
Phillips-Wangensteen Building
First Floor, Clinic 1E
516 Delaware Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-626-6666

 

Ohio

 

 

Rita M. Anderson, MD, PhD, FACS
5355 Southern Blvd., Suite 2250
Kettering, OH 45429
Phone: 937-534-0339 or 1-888-532-THIN toll free
Email: [email protected]

Brian Lane, MD, FACS *
Department of Surgery - Bariatric Surgery
3000 Arlington Ave., Floor 2C
Toledo, OH 43614
Phone: 419-383-3759 or 1-800-321-8383 toll free
Email: [email protected]

John P. Maguire, MD
Donovan Teel II, MD *
30 East Apple St., Suite 6258
Dayton, OH 45409
Phone: 937-208-5300 or 1-866-338-7546 toll free

I hope that helps!  I would stop calling and making noise until someone helps you and I mean fast.

Omg, Tasha, I am so sorry all of this is happening to you! That is so scary. I would definitely recommend going to another surgeon immediately if at all possible--clearly this man was unable to perform an extremely complex revision surgery to begin with. Is your present doctor treating this like an emergency situation at all? From what I understand of hernias, the bowel that has moved through the incisional site can become strangulated and then that would be a truly life threatening situation. I'm sorry I don't have any doctor recommendations. I truly hope that you are able to find proper treatment and have this resolved in the coming days. I have an icky feeling about the way your present surgeon seems to be minimizing your danger and stringing you along without providing treatment. I mean, why are you not being immediately admitted to the hospital?

No he is not treating this as an emergency he wants to schedule me for next tuesdsay to repair it but I am afraid because I have lived with this since Nov 4th I am going to go to the emergency room right now because he gave me an ultrasound twice and I kept telling him about the pain I was feeling and the smell of the vomit but he never treated any of my symtoms as  an emergency

Yes yes yes, GO TO THE ER! Absolutely! I am glad he wants to repair it, though I think it should be done tomorrow not 4 days from now. The more I hear about your doctor the more I dislike his care of you. I'll be swinging every critter I can find madly for you. Please please update us again as soon as you feel up to it.

I agree with you!  But if I was her I'm not sure I would let him touch me again!