Complications - HELP!

A few thoughts of mine on this, in no particular order. 

The gallbladder issue is probably not related to these other problems, as it is a fairly common problem seen with rapid weight loss, surgically induced or not. Some bariatric surgeons remove the gallbladder along with their WLS as a preventative measure while others will prescribe some medications to ease the effects (and others will do nothing - there is no single "best" course of action.)

I agree that malnutrition is a good possibility - ideal actually as it is the most easily corrected once identified. A couple of years ago in our support group, we discussed a patient (in full HIPAA compliance, of course...) a patient in their practice who came to them after a similar downward spiral of health issues, ending in an ultimate diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). The upshot of it was that he had not had the full labs done for several years so was actually suffering from a significant nutritional imbalance that had gone undetected by the routine tests done by the various specialists. Once that was corrected, so did his health.

The list of tests that Valerie provided is a good starting point, and gives a good indication of how extensive the testing should be to keep track of a malabsorbing patient's health. My wife's annual labs for her DS is usually around 16 vials, so the typical basic lab panel only scratches the surface.

After the kidney surgery, was there any follow up radiation and/or chemotherapy? Perhaps those, may have started this cascade of problems, possibly exacerbated by nutritional issues? There may be some medications that were used in the treatment, either chemotherapy drugs or pain relievers, that are incompatible with his bypass - the stomach/intestine anastomosis is a particularly weak point of the RNY configuration, and is the primary location for ulcers, and is why NSAID pain relievers are a big, red NO-NO with the bypass. There may be other incompatibilities beyond the commonly known NSAID problem.

Are the doctors that have been treating him familiar with the gastric bypass? I don't know how common it is in the EU, but often specialists aren't that familiar with procedures of other specialties, particularly if they look down on such things as weight loss surgery. If they aren't familiar with the different WLS procedures and their ramifications, you can mention to them that he has had a Billroth II procedure, which is the basis of the gastric bypass WLS and and is a basic procedure used for treating various gastro maladies (originated by Austrian Theodor Billroth some 130 years ago) and should bring back some recollections from their med school days.

Good luck in getting this resolved. It sounds like one of those things that has a simple root cause, if only one can find what that is.

Thank you all for the additional responses. I now realise that my husband should be the one on this forum and not myself... I just do not know enough about his surgeries or any of the follow up tests. I am doing this mainly because he has lost all motivation. I am doing this so that my children can have a father, and so that I can have a partner. Right now I feel so alone and it hurts me to think that my kids will never experience their father like they should...

To answer some questions:

He is 32 years old. He did not have chemotherapy or any other form of cancer treatment. He got the tumor removed and that was it.

I also forgot to mention that at his last surgery in the fall, he was in exruciating pain because his intestine grew into a portion of his spleen and they had to cut some of the spleen out.

I did not know about the medications that can worsen his ulcers. He does take ibuprofen but that is not strong enough for his pain. He is also addicted to a pain medication called
Tramadolhydrochlorid... he said it is as addictive as heroin and he is too weak to go through the withdrawl to get off of it. He went off of it last year but had to go back on in the fall when he had the spleen issue.

He also says that from anything he eats or supplements, less than 20% gets absorbed by his body? Is this true? He has vitamin sprays he takes daily and gets infusions and vitamin B12 shots from the doctor every month. He says that he eats a lot but he eats less than my 2 year old... if he was to drink a whole protein shake it would take him like 2 hours to get through it because he has to wait until every sip goes down.

Thank you all for the well wishes. At this point I am thinking that the doctors are an issue & are not taking his condition seriously. I will have to take this furthur to different hospitals around the country &/or continent :(

My only advice is to check his liver #s. I had similar issue's a good while back and everyone kept commenting on how high my liver levels were and wondering about my alcohol consumption. If his #s are elevated and he is not drinking then this can cause some of these symptoms. Mind fuzziness, muscle fatigue, seizures.

May I ask what the solution was to the elevated levels in the liver? He says everything comes back normal in his tests but if the levels are high then how is it lowered?

How horrible to be going through this at such  young age!

You'll want to start learning hard and fast for his sake about his nutrition.  There isn't a perfect formula for nutrition, despite what designer bariatric vitamin companies want you to believe.  The blanket statement of 20% absorption doesn't fit unless they did a stool analysis to compare what he is eating vs. what he is passing.  You need to know each level, compare it to normal, and adjust supplements accordingly.  If his RNY is distal, which has the largest amount of intestine bypassed, it still wouldn't be as much as the DS, but here's what we have statistically to give you at least an idea.  Your husbands rate absorption may likely be higher than this, but its something to go by:

Item                              Malabsorbed (%)

Protein                           50 % (we eat 100+g per day)

Fat                                 80 % (fat is our friend)

Complex Carbs (veggies) 40 % (most can be made up with from supplements)

Simple Carbs                   0 % - we absorb all of it

If the body isn't provided enough nourishment, it will start harvesting its own organs for energy.  This is where the body shuts down before dying of starvation.  Never accept shrugged shoulders from a medical professional without a curiosity to get to the bottom of it.  Scot is right in that a TPN to feed him nutrition through a tube would be necessary.

He could have Hypoglycemia or a thyroid problem.I would check in with the weight loss Dr and see if they can solve the problem.

Ok NEW INFO

I looked through his most recent blood work results (after his seizure) and everything showed up normal. He did have low blood oxygen levels but his hemoglobin and red blood cell count was completely normal. He said they also did a test for vitamins but he doesnt have the results on paper and he doesnt know which vitamins they tested.

ALSO! Last night he collapsed in front of me without warning. He said he was tired but he didnt know he was going to fall. He was able to catch himself a bit, so he didnt hit his head, but he did fall down and was shaking. He did not appear to lose consciousness.

BUT weird thing. He told me this morning that he thinks theres a connection between his muscle reaction and him falling. He said if he accidently hits his LEFT FOOT on anything (even very lightly) he loses all muscle control in his legs and kind of passes out for a second. Im wondering if this happened before his seizure and his seizure was a result of hitting his head as he collapsed. But he said that last night he hit his foot on a cable on the ground and thats why he collapsed...

I read something the other day about weak muscle reaction being a symptom of something but I dont remember exactly where I read it. It had to do with neurological complications after bariatric surgery though.