Gastric Leak

Okay, I had a Lap Band before my sleeve - 6 months unbanded and then my revision to sleeve.  What are you revising from?  You know we are more at risk than a virgin stomach because of scar tissue.

I was terrified of springing a leak but in the end you try to make peace with yourself.  I knew I was in the best hands and although I did not want anything to happen I was willing to take the risk and deal with what I needed to.

Oh God,  RNY is so safe - right lol!!!  We are all taking a risk.  Things can go wrong in life, that is life period.  We must believe that things will go well and move with that feeling.  The rest we deal with.

All best.

I had a lap band.  I would love to hear your feelings about the sleeve vs band if you have time!  My band experience was horrible.

My surgeon talked to us about leaks and every single one was due to the patient not following the plan, like not following the liquid diet and the modified diet thereafter.  His last leak was due to the patient going out and eating a burger soon after surgery.  They told us this to emphasize the importance of following their dietary instructions.  My guess is most surgeons are like mine and do extensive education on how and what to eat, so if you follow what they tell you leaks shouldn't happen.

I assure you, fear of a leak will keep me in line. Peritonitis is a scary thing. I certainly dont want it.

Hi CJ, I am going to weigh in as well because I DID HAVE A LEAK AND I FOLLOWED THE DOCTOR'S ORDERS AND THE DIETITIANS ORDERS TO PERFECTION.  That being said, after 5-6 days post surgery (when swelling started going down) I started to have pain at the top of my stomach on the left side that radiated up into my chest and shoulder point.  It was discover early because I was vigilant about taking my temp. at home.  One of the markers for a gastric leak is that your temperature will go above 100F.  They called it a "pinhole leak" and I had to return to the hospital for 11 days where they administered IV antibiotics through a pick line in the arm (that is how I ate as well because they did not want me to use my stomach).  I had 3 CT scans, an ultra sound and blood work every day (several times per day).  I am now 1 month out and feeling much, much better because it was caught early and treated aggressively with the antibiotics.  I tell you all of this because my best advise to you and anyone else is to GET YOURSELF A THERMOMETER AND MONITOR YOUR TEMPS!!!  It saved me a lot of damage and made my recovery exceptional.  I believe that we need to give ourselves as much of a fighting chance through this transition as possible and BE PROACTIVE.  I wish you well with your surgery and one more thing...I regret nothing, it was the best thing I could have done for myself.  If you have any more questions I will be more than happy to help you.

Ellie

Thank You so much for your response.  I hate that you went through all of that, but I am glad you are doing well.  Also, thanks for offering help with more questions.  It is greatly appreciated....more than you know.

CJ

CJ, you will be better than fine.  If you'd like to talk or something privately just let me know.  I don't have the energy to write about my Lap Band to Sleeve experience here right now.  But I can tell you that it was a great choice.  I have no issues at all like with the Band - my band story wow, you know!  It was a long 5 years.

Best,

Leila

I would love to talk sometime!

leaks can happen but are very rare and im ready to take that chance to have a healthier life RNY has many complications including leaks just follow the instructions and im sure everything will be fine :)

You should ask your surgeon what his leak rate is.  My surgeon's VSG leak rate was less than 1% -- and he said that most leaks occur with patients who've already had other surgeries ie. band, RNY or prior VSG.  

It's more important to find out YOUR surgeonn's statistics than national ones.  They keep track and will tell you -- just ask.