6 Days in the hospital...

Wow, that was a rough one. My veins are so damaged from all the surgeries, procedures, and hospital stays that I went through 6 IV's in 6 days, blew the first one while still in the ER, right as the RN gave me medication in it, just blew right up :(
By the end of the stay, the IV therapy nurses had been in my room 3 times in 2 days and were just struggling to get a line even with the ultrasound guided method.  It's so frustrating especially when you are there to get pain/nausea control, and it's interrupted by a blown IV and then waiting hours for someone else to try and get a line started, it's like trying to drive a truck through quicksand.  I was so weak and shaky after getting home from the hospital that it hurt to move.  I'm just "coasting" until my surgery on July 6th in Cleveland...Thank you again for all of your kind thoughts and prayers, they really do mean a lot to me :)

Your an amazing woman and I am not sure if I could ever be as strong. I've read your posts but it's not clear why you are sick, what happened and why do you need the revision surgery???
This is all new to me.. having my surgery GB next week and I know the risks but here on OH it's really eye opening to see those risks come to life.

I wish you well and will pray for you.

Roxy

 Roxy, my blog is really long, but it took a long time and a neutral set of eyes to figure out that my vagus nerve has been severed/damaged during the previous surgeries. This nerve is responsible for digestion and many other things. There were other things too along the way that were really mishandled to say the least. If you are having any kind of weight loss surgery, one of the questions I would ask your surgeon is "what do you know about the vagus nerve, and explain to me how you will isolate it during surgery so that you don't cut it or damage it" Also, ask what process they went through to be trained to do WLS. I read recently that there is no such thing as a certification in Bariatric surgery, it's just a 6 week fellowship on top of the surgeon's base knowledge, and if their base knowledge of the inner workings of the digestive system is minimal, then you can see where this can all go wrong quickly. I have learned from this website that one of the common threads is that these surgeons can physically perform the surgery (sometimes), but they lack the true knowledge to recognize and correct the complications (and I'm talking about beyond death, leaks, blood loss, and infections...their Bariatric coordinators will show you all day their picture perfect stats on those issues, it's the patients with repeat surgeries, PICC lines, feeding tubes, and all the other stuff they don't tell you about. Maybe some do, obviously I had one that failed me in many ways). I'm.very thankful for Dr. Kroh and the staff at Cleveland clinic for doing what they can to help me attain some sense of my life back. Good luck, and just the fact that you are looking beyond the info sessions and the hype tells me that you will be able to make a more informed choice :)

Thank you for explaining it too me. I already had a question on my list for my surgeon regarding the Vagus Nerve because of what I read on your blog. Now I'll add this one too. You have given me a lot of information and it's been very helpful. I am off in just a few mins to see my surgeon for Pre-op appt. I am much less nervous about the whole process now thanks to everyone on OH who has been very helpful, encouraging and supportive. This is an amazing place!

I have had a rough time since I had my rny in 04...I got down to 82 lbs I looked and felt like I was at the end of the road... Not even enough water to take my much needed meds...even jello would come back up...I ended up in the hospital many times with a small ulcer I was told and the pain was so unbareable I couldn't eat or sleep I walked the floor's...
I was put on a PICC line for 4 months for nourishment and all the nourishment was 1,000 calories per day and it was making me sick...my blood sugar would go up to 500 then it would drop to the 40's...I ended up with a temp of 102.9 in the ER and blood work came back of my white count being 1,700 which ment an infection and thank the Good Lord for a PCP that cared enough to treat me so out came the PICC line and here I am with pneumonia waiting to get some better before another endoscopy and looking like a feeding tube...if not I will be sent to Duke to have a complete RNY reversal -6/7 foot of intestines that I don't have...
Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers...

 Sandy,
That's horrible! I hope they get this figured out & quick!! If not, I think a trip to Duke is the best plan, very scary road you are on and I will keep you in my prayers for sure. I'm actually getting ready to head over to Cleveland clinic this am to check in for surgery. Take care hugs to you

Hi my name is Jennifer and I was up searching for other people that might have had the same issues with Gb that I had.  I'm not quite sure of your story but I had Gb on 3/6/06 & after 3 weeks nothing but complications that required me to have my bypass reversed on 5/27/11.  I was hoping to hear about what has been happening with you? 

 Hi Jennifer. I'm sorry that you had such a rough go of this, to say it stinks isn't enough, but I hate to swear. I know my blog is pretty long to read, but it's a pretty accurate record of what has happened and I try to keep it current. There are gaps sometimes, probably because I was in the hospital or incapacitated somehow. I would suggest keeping a blog. I started keeping it as a way to express what I was feeling, to vent, and I still do. I never thought it would help anyone, but I've met many people like you that were struggling and felt alone, and when they did searches on their symptoms my blog would come up. For me, just knowing I wasn't alone was huge for me. Keep the faith, know that you aren't alone, and I hope the reversal has helped you to regain your life, if not, don't give up! No distance is too far to find the right doctor that can help you get back to normal. By the way, there's no such thing as "your body didn't like this surgery" I'm not sure if you've heard that, but if you have, it's BS! Take care and feel better :)

(HUGS).... you hang in ther. praying it will get better for you...

Wow Jules.......I just read your entire blog and I can't imagine anyone having to live through all of that!  I will be praying that July 6th will bring dramatic change and improvement to your long-term complications.  You and your family have endured far too much, for far too long!

I just stumbled on this forum today and cannot imagine what you have suffered through.  I am glad to hear that you were hired again.....still working ED? (Health permitting, of course.)

Best wishes to you.  I look forward to seeing you post some positive results! (She says, fingers and toes crossed!)