Intra-Abdominal Abcess, Necrotic Incisions, and more...

Hello: I don't frequent this site like I did when I was pre and post-op. But over the last year or two (I'm 4 1/2 years post-op now) I've been gaining a bit and I recently thought revisiting this page would help me to get a boost and regain complete control again. This page in particular (COMPLICATIONS) I can relate to. I had just about every problem that you can have without dying. After my first surgery, the flouroscopy revealed no leaks, so they put me on a clear liquid diet. Three days later, I was running 104.5 fevers all the time and developed a critical level white cell count. The doctor missed a leak where my intestine and pouch met, which resulted in an intra-abdominal abcess. My doctor put in a naso-gastric tube to begin draining all of the fluids they could in what ever direction they could. I was dying. I was rushed to emergency surgery once they confirmed my problem with more flouroscopy. I woke up from surgery with several new holes and tubes. Still had the naso-gastric tube coming out of my nose, I also now had a feeding tube, which went directly into my resected stomach and I also had two new drains that were collecting drainage from my abdomen. As if that weren't enough, a few days after my second surgery, my incision became necrotic and began to open on it's own. My surgeon removed staples and let the wound open. About 4-5 inches of my incision were allowed to open. I was told that the abdominal sutures underneeth the skin were perfectly in tact, but the superficial staples were not able to hold the skin together enough to keep infection out. The tissue closest to my abdominal muscles was necrotic (dying) and needed oxygen to heal. Opening my incision was the only way to do that. A day later, another area of my incision a bit higher up started doing the same thing. So, they opened that part as well. At this point, I've had two major surgeries, almost died a couple times, and developed two very large open wounds that I had to pack with sterile gauze and saline three times a day. Little did I know at the time, but I was going to be doing this for the next, almost, three years. Over the 24 months that followed, I had 6 outpatient surgical procedures to help my incision close. They all failed. Ultimately, I had to have reconstructive surgery to close the wounds. I walked around for almost three years with two constantly infected wounds packed with gauze and saline. Fun! I was hospitalized initially for 20 days and lost over 50 pounds. Not so much because of the surgery, but mostly because of the infection that was ravaging my body. I lost just about all of my muscle mass and was weak as a lamb for months. It has taken years to recover from that point. In some ways I'm still recovering. Anyway, like I said, I'm now 4 1/2 years out and starting to gain a little of my weight back. I'm still struggling to build back the muscles that I lost as a result of the infections and it's a bit frustrating because I still have physical limitations that complicate my ability to exercise as vigorously as I would like. In time, I'll get there, but it gets a little frustrating. I suppose my message, if I have one, is that I do not poo-poo weight loss surgery even after my experience. In fact, for me I believe that my complications really are the reason I was as successful as I have been. If things had been as easy as they should have been, I often wonder if I'd failed in the long run. Who knows... Anyway, thanks for listening/reading. If another person who had difficulty has found this, and you're feeling down about everything, I guess it's my hope that this can be a message of positivity. I never gave up, and I never feared what might happen. I knew before my original surgery, I was going to die soon enough because of my co-morbidities. I suppose in the end, the struggle to loose weight that had taken such a toll on my body had to be difficult to take away. After all, there is no free lunch. I'm just thankful that I was strong enough to survive. I am now married to the woman who stood by my side through my entire ordeal, and we have a beautiful daughter. Life sure is great. Take care!

Kenneth, It's amazing that you still have a positive attitude about the surgery about all you went through, but bless you for sharing your positive attitude. As far as the weight gain, have you tried contacting a nutritionist/dietician to ask what you can or cannot do? Or even a personal gym. I know my gym gives you an appointment with a personal trainer to figure outa plan for you to follow for a nominal fee (like $30). I wish you the best of luck!! Dawn Ward