Ulcers

A week or so ago, I posted a question for anyone who might have had blood in their stool following lap RNY.  Well I had it and it continued for approximately 6 days.  It started on 12/11, I called the office and they said to watch it and call if it persists or gets worse.  The next day it continued, I called my doctor and he sent me for blood work.  I still felt fine and didn't get my bloodwor****il after the weekend.  On Monday morning the blood in the stool persisted, I still felt fine.  I called my surgeon and they told me that my hemoglobin level was not much different then when I went in for my RNY surgery.  The nurse told me that she would speak to my surgeon and the next day would call me.  Like clockwork, she called me in the morning and told me that as long as I felt ok, I should see if it continues or stops and if it persists past Christmas, I should call back or, of course, call back if I felt worse.  So Wednesday night, it happens again, twice, and I feel awful.  A little lightheaded, really just totally shot.  I called the surgeon and they tell me to come in for blood work and to be seen first thing in the morning.  The next morning I go in and my hemoglobin is now low and I feel terrible.  Despite my size, I am a very active person and I was exhausted from just walking to the mailbox that morning.  So I was admitted to the hospital and started on IV fluids.  I also went back to clears.  I also was given 2 units of blood and started on some medicine for my stomach, Protonix and Sucralfate.  The next day I was given an endoscopy and a sigmoidoscopy which determined that I had an anastomotic ulcer.  The ulcer, at that point, was not bleeding but my surgeon feels that it was the cause of my bleeding.  Following my procedures, I received 2 more units of blood to bring my hemoglobin up.  It came up and stayed up, so I got to go home on Saturday night.  So far, since I've been home I've been doing ok.  Feeling tired easily but much better than I was.  I had a little residual blood in my stool last night and the doctor said I should expect that. 

So after that long post....has anyone else ever experienced this?  My surgeon says its just a little bump in the road and I hope that is the case.  I've lost 53lbs as of last Thursday and have been adjusting well to my new way of living. 

Oh my God!  The EXACT same thing happened to me.  The only difference is that I only had the 2 units of blood before the endoscopy and nothing after.  I can't believe this happened.  How scary huh??  I hope that the complications are behind us and we will be able to LOVE OUR RNY!!

Happy New Year to you!!  Keep me posted on how you are doing.  I was in the hospital for 4 nights then went home for 9 nights and then went back to the hospital due to the bleeding for another 8 nights. 

Well I have not gone back into the hospital and have been doing well.  Taking the Pepcid and Carafate that they prescribed and have had no further bleeding.  I had my follow-up appointment with my surgeon and he said it was likely that the ulcer was an area that was not healed and not caused by acid, but to continue the medicine anyway.  I feel much better and I look much better (was very pale before). 

Glad to know that I am not the only one out there that this happened too!  Hope you are doing well also and Happy New Year to you!

I'd like to encourage anyone who is experiencing blood in their stool to immediately go to the Emergency Room, regardless of what his/her surgeon says. Blood in the stool, whether fresh (bright red) or old (tarry, black) is a serious and potentially life-threatening occurance. It is a sign of internal bleeding, perhaps from a bleeding ulcer (super common post-WLS) or diverticulosis.

I had a massive GI bleed in June 2008, when I was nine months post-op. The only symptoms I had prior to bleeding out was 1) a general feeling of exhaustion that got progressively worse over the course of a week and 2) feeling lightheaded and as if I were going to faint when I stood up from a sitting, stooped or lying down position. Then, I passed a black, tarry stool (it's called melina -- definitely Google the term) and decided to go to the ER. My hematocrit was 17% (normal for an adult female is 38-46%) and I was very, very ill.

I was hospitalized for six days, had four blood transfusions and an IV iron infusion to combat the severe anemia. Seven months later I am still not back to 100% -- I am still struggling with anemia and it's greatly impacted my day-to-day existence. At my last blood test, my hematocrit was up to 27% -- I have another test next Tuesday.

Bleeding = Emergency. Period. Don't hesitate to seek emergency care, even if it turns out to be treatable on an out-patient basis.

While I didn't have blood in my stool, much surprise to me 2 years post op I woke up one morning with horrible abdominal pain, and to make a long story short, I ended up at the hospital having surgery for a perforated (bleeding) gastric ulcer. I didn't have any symptoms, so the best advice I can give you, and everyone, is to take meds for acid/GERD after gastric bypass. While the surgeon who did my original bypass told me nothing about acid medication, the doctor who did my ulcer surgery/revision told me he puts all post op patients on prevacid. It has been 2 years since that surgery and I am faithfully taking my prevacid! Take these signs seriously, because I had a harder recovery with the ulcer surgery than the WLS. Good luck!