7th surgery since Gastric Bypass 4 years ago!

Hi, I'm so glad to have found this board since it's hard to post on the main boards. Everyone there is so happy with their surgeries that it sometimes seems there is noone out there who understands. I had RNY surgery in October 2002. Exactly 4 years ago. I did research the surgery and went to an education class and support groups. I really thought I was informed and ready. The main complications I heard about were death, leaks and not getting enough vitamins or protein. I guess since none of those have happened i should be considered a success. I was a success story for the first year. I lost 90 lbs, and felt great. One year out I had my gallbladder removed. This was something I knew could happen so I wasn't that surprised or upset. The next year I had an emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction caused by adhesions. They removed all of them and put in some kind of powder to prevent further adhesions..They said it was about 90% effective. I was one of the 10%, the following year I had another emergency surgery for the same reason, except this time my bowels had become twisted also. 6 months later I had my first hernia surgery, which failed. Next month I will have my 4th hernia surgery. I have not worked in 6 months and may lose my job. I have a job that requires lifting and the surgeon said that I will never again be able to lift more than 20 lbs. That also means never again lifting my grandkids. I'm sorry this is so long, I do love the weight loss, but no longer think it was worth it. Please noone respond with how happy you are with your weight loss and how great you think it is. I know that most are successes. I am happy for all of them, but that isn't going to make me feel any better. If anyone else has had multiple hernia surgeries, I'd love to talk to you. thanks, Susanne

Susanne, I am sorry you have has so many struggles. I too have suffered complications. I had a 7 month incision healing problem and I have unexplained severe abdominal cramping since my surgery three years ago. I have had successful weight-loss, and I have avoided any nutritional deficiencies due to an excellent dietitian and a great primary care physician who monitors my blood work on a 6 week basis...Tinkering with supplements as neccessary. I freely admit, I am not regretting my choice to have the surgery as I also suffer from a form of Rheumatoid Arthritis and I spent 10 months in a Nursing home after a serious medical treatment complication, and was wheelchair bound for 2 years...So anything is better than that but.... I hated the shiny happy people at my support group who always claimed that their only regret was that they didn't do it sooner or that they never had a moments regret...I thought it was all crap...I mean we all took healthy digestive systems, and rearranged them so we would sufffer from medically engineered malnutrition....Nobody is going to do this and not suffer some problem or another.... You, I must say have suffered more than most. I thought they were just kidding themselves, and sometimes I felt that all this happy talk just added to my depression....I wanted people to get real. I think far too many people are in a defensive mode about this decision and they get crazy when people admit that this stuff is hard and that we may suffer for having made this choice. I think they are so afraid that people second guess their decision, that they cannot tolerate dissent from the party line of "WLS surgery is good". We are doing ourselves and others, a huge disservice by never talking about the negatives...and it truly ****** me of when I see a poster get flamed for stating that their experience hasn't been one big party. I just wanted you to know that theyre was someone out there who supports and encourages your right to talk about your complications and your regrets.....Feel free to e-mail me anytime..... Kelly

hi. i'm new. i'm just reading up on all of these blogs. i'm not really new, i just haven't had surgery YET. when i hear stories like yours, i get scarred. am i doing the right thing, etc. then the little voice inside of me says, "yes". because you know that saying "this too shall pass". well, how quickly we forget what pain feels like. what i mean emotional pain. i'm in the boat now where "i hate myself for the way i look". i always feel like crap in the afternoon. i am sluggish, tired and have no energy. it's like having a baby and feeling so much pain. after a time, we forget the pain and have another baby. what i'm trying to say is "try to remember what you felt like right before your surgery". you had this surgery for a reason. at least i am. you must have felt pretty bad about yourself, right? so maybe in the longrun, you didn't make a mistake and it was all worth it. you have some health issues, right? maybe they would have been worse if you didn't have surgery. just to see the glass as half full instead of half empty. i'm sorry for you and am sending you a prayer. i feel like crap right now at this very moment and can't wait to get out of here and go lay down. God bless

Hi Susanne, I have had six follow-up surgeries all related to my bypass since i initally had it in 2/05...just so you know you are not alone. Email me anytime if you would like. Take care and feel better soon!

Hi, this is in response to your posting and others thus far. I have not had any major complications so I cannot empathize with you, but agree that everything about this surgery is not easy...IN FACT, SOMETIMES IT IS DAMN HARD. My problem is phycological. I am not regretting my decision...far from it, but I realize that I might face complications (after all you were a year out, right?) I wish you the best and hope you suffer no more negatives.

I just wanted to tell you that the powder used to "prevent" adhesions rarely work. My surgeon has been a general surgeon for decades. He said that there has been no proven way to prevent adhesions and most abandoned that powder stuff. Some people are prone to adhesions and that's unfortunate. I've seen and know people that have had numerous surgeries from adhesions (from intestinal surgeries, hysterectomies, etc). I hope you don't continue to have those adhesions! It can be a side effect from any surgery or injury. I hope your hernia surgeries go well too. If you get one hernia, getting another is not unheard of... but hopefully they use a large patch to repair it and prevent another one! You might want to find out what kind of patch they will use (I assume from an incisional hernia?)... Feel better!

I feel your pain, I have had 13 surgeries (3 of them for internal hernias) in 3 years (counting my WLS), it has been rough. I am doing better now, and in a couple of days I will be 4 years post op and my last surgeries where in Sept 2006! I am praying 2007 is surgery free for both of us! Hazel Lap RNY 02/05/2003