Be your own advocate...bowel blockge is dangerous
What an evening we've had here on the beach. Susan M from Dallas is visiting with me and yesterday we had lunch on Beach Street, and she started having a tummy ache. We came back to the condo and it got progressivly worse. She called her surgeon's office, they said gall bladder and to go to the ER. So off we went.
Friday night, race weekend in Daytona Beach, Halifax ER.....NIGHTMARE. Poor Susan, she began vomit on the way to the ER and it was almost constant during our friggin' 4 day wait. (ok I made that up, but it was a loooong wait). I kept going to the desk and 'fussing' about the dangers of bowel blockage for gastric byapssers....but to no avail. When she was finally taken back and the doc came in, I made sure he was aware of bowel blockage. He ordered X-Rays....I said hallelujah. That's the best to find it if that's what it is.
THAT'S WHAT IT WAS.
Susan is still in the hospital, they did a nasty ng clean out last night and 'blew out' the blockage. I am about to call her and I'm sure she will get to come back to the condo today to recoup. "We" will most likely be on soft foods for the next couple of days.
I am going to write a letter to the hospital about this and I am going to write a letter to the local Bariatric Surgeon about the danger. Our good friend Vickie passed away from a bowel blockage because an Emergency Room blew her off.
Kathy S. had a good idea, and I plan to use it if it happens to me....again. BEFORE I go to the ER with abdominal pain, I will call my Doctor first and have her call the ER before I get there. Hopefully that will help me get seen quicker. If you have a total blockage, you only have a matter of hours before your intestine dies, then you die.
So, be your own advocate. I'm not trying to scare you, ok, maybe I am, but bowel blockage can be a killer, and I have a feeling we have lost a number of us from it.
Have a Happy and pain free Valentine's Day, and STEP AWAY FROM THE CHOCOLATE.....even the sugar free.
Hugs from the beach
Charlie
Friday night, race weekend in Daytona Beach, Halifax ER.....NIGHTMARE. Poor Susan, she began vomit on the way to the ER and it was almost constant during our friggin' 4 day wait. (ok I made that up, but it was a loooong wait). I kept going to the desk and 'fussing' about the dangers of bowel blockage for gastric byapssers....but to no avail. When she was finally taken back and the doc came in, I made sure he was aware of bowel blockage. He ordered X-Rays....I said hallelujah. That's the best to find it if that's what it is.
THAT'S WHAT IT WAS.
Susan is still in the hospital, they did a nasty ng clean out last night and 'blew out' the blockage. I am about to call her and I'm sure she will get to come back to the condo today to recoup. "We" will most likely be on soft foods for the next couple of days.
I am going to write a letter to the hospital about this and I am going to write a letter to the local Bariatric Surgeon about the danger. Our good friend Vickie passed away from a bowel blockage because an Emergency Room blew her off.
Kathy S. had a good idea, and I plan to use it if it happens to me....again. BEFORE I go to the ER with abdominal pain, I will call my Doctor first and have her call the ER before I get there. Hopefully that will help me get seen quicker. If you have a total blockage, you only have a matter of hours before your intestine dies, then you die.
So, be your own advocate. I'm not trying to scare you, ok, maybe I am, but bowel blockage can be a killer, and I have a feeling we have lost a number of us from it.
Have a Happy and pain free Valentine's Day, and STEP AWAY FROM THE CHOCOLATE.....even the sugar free.
Hugs from the beach
Charlie
Charlie!
Oh my goodness, I was so touched by Susan's plight. Thank goodness you were there to advocate for her. I wish her a VERY speedy recovery.
I had a similar story with my blockage. The attending MD in the ER did not believe I had one. Bad timing, it was Christmas Eve, but I was very adamant. What's more, I was in a hospital that was applying to be a bariatric center of excellence!!!! You would think they would have known better.
I had the x-rays and drank some contrast matter. Blockage confirmed, to the tune of three different and complicated kinks. My RNY surgeon was on his way to his Christmas holiday, but preempted it to operate on me. I wore a gastric bag for approximately two months afterward. it was not fun, but it saved my life. I was very thankful.
Making that emergency call to your surgeon is not only an excellent idea, it is a necessary step. I still contend that there is an ocean of unknowns when it comes to post-bariatric care.
I am so sorry for VIckie and her family. There are NO words! To think that it was totally preventable breaks my heart. We have a lot of educating and advocating to do. It has become my personal passion. Thank God Susan had a good outcome, in no small part to your tenacity.
Thank you for all your support and strength. You're a pistol, baby!
Best wishes to you, and to Susan too.
-Fondly,
Pam
Oh my goodness, I was so touched by Susan's plight. Thank goodness you were there to advocate for her. I wish her a VERY speedy recovery.
I had a similar story with my blockage. The attending MD in the ER did not believe I had one. Bad timing, it was Christmas Eve, but I was very adamant. What's more, I was in a hospital that was applying to be a bariatric center of excellence!!!! You would think they would have known better.
I had the x-rays and drank some contrast matter. Blockage confirmed, to the tune of three different and complicated kinks. My RNY surgeon was on his way to his Christmas holiday, but preempted it to operate on me. I wore a gastric bag for approximately two months afterward. it was not fun, but it saved my life. I was very thankful.
Making that emergency call to your surgeon is not only an excellent idea, it is a necessary step. I still contend that there is an ocean of unknowns when it comes to post-bariatric care.
I am so sorry for VIckie and her family. There are NO words! To think that it was totally preventable breaks my heart. We have a lot of educating and advocating to do. It has become my personal passion. Thank God Susan had a good outcome, in no small part to your tenacity.
Thank you for all your support and strength. You're a pistol, baby!
Best wishes to you, and to Susan too.
-Fondly,
Pam
Charlie
I am glad that you were there to advocate for Susan. Your idea of calling your surgeon first is one I would highly recommend.
When I had my pulmonary emboli, I called my PCP before heading to the ER. He told me what tests he wanted them to perform. They kept trying to send me home with a diagnosis of bronchitis, but I held my ground and insisted on the tests. They finally "humored" me with a chest xray and the blood clots were so big they showed up on the xray! Needless to say, I was in ICU before the evening was over. I would have died had I accepted their diagnosis and left! It was a major blockage that caused me to be on oxygen for 2 years. If something does not seem right to you, listen to your gut instinct and FIGHT!
I am glad that you were there to advocate for Susan. Your idea of calling your surgeon first is one I would highly recommend.
When I had my pulmonary emboli, I called my PCP before heading to the ER. He told me what tests he wanted them to perform. They kept trying to send me home with a diagnosis of bronchitis, but I held my ground and insisted on the tests. They finally "humored" me with a chest xray and the blood clots were so big they showed up on the xray! Needless to say, I was in ICU before the evening was over. I would have died had I accepted their diagnosis and left! It was a major blockage that caused me to be on oxygen for 2 years. If something does not seem right to you, listen to your gut instinct and FIGHT!
Cat Lady
I just want to add that its not just WLS patients who have this problem. My mom is currently in the hospital after having a portion of her colon removed due to a "perforated diverticulus" or some**** - which basically means she has little pockets in her colon that get filled with waste, then infected, then block her intestines, and the pressure causes the cooties to explode into her abdomen resulting in nasty septic things and near death.
She's not a WLSer, shes overweight by maybe 20lbs, she's healthy otherwise and this is her first surgery. She has a colostomy bag now - which will be taken away in 3 months when her intestines can be reattached to her colon.
Nice eh?
The saving grace here is a surgeon who took a second look at a CT scan (thank god they did one and didn't dismiss her) and saved her life.
The guy is a total asshole, but halle******glujah for ********
Anyway - tummy aches are serious bidness, even for the unaltered.
Lexi - Size 6-8 and holding.
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