Weight Loss Surgery Complications Forum

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leanforlife
on 9/29/08 11:17 am - CT

Topic: RE: Anyone with remnant stomach issues?

Sorry to hear you are going through this. I am of no help. I thought your avitar was cute. Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery.

Hugz, Karen

highest 315/pre op diet 299/surgery day 288

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

az
on 9/29/08 8:15 am - MA

Topic: Anyone with remnant stomach issues?

Would love to hear from others that have had issues with their old stomach. I just got home after 3 weeks of being in/out of hospital with severe left upper quadrant pain boring straight thru to my back. Nausea, bloating, belching, flatulence. Pain every time I tried to eat or drink. Had CT, upper/lower endoscopy; barium swallow and barium meal. All negative except it showed hiatal hernia returned and roux limb slow to empty. Doc did expl lap finally last Mon which showed my remnant stomach filled with fluid/bile/etc. Ended up with a GT to drainage (very painful but cleared up all of the other sx). Wondering if others out there are suffering too? She said she has not seen it before and not much in the literature about the cause/rx. I can't imagine living long term with the GT in.

az
on 9/29/08 6:53 am - MA

Topic: RE: Anyone had food get into their afferent limb?

Just found this forum and am currently struggling with the exact issue. Would love to hear more about your sx and rx Julie

lepricano
on 9/29/08 2:50 am

Topic: RE: muscle spasms

I too have severe leg spasms, but mine are of the lower legs. This has been going on for about 6-8 months. I have only had short periods of time where they feel better. I have recently been put on plaquanil to help. This has given some relief. I had all the blood work done for low potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc. All of which were normal. I then went to a rheumatologist whom informed me of this side effect from having the RNY. I was shocked as no one had ever told me this and I had never read it anywhere. I had the dr. show me where this research was, and he then pulled it up on the computer under clinical research. I was taken aback. The research also stated that the labs will be normal the patient is not dehydrated, and the etiology for this is not yet known, but it is a side effect of bariatric surgery. Hope this helps.

Erica K.
on 9/28/08 7:19 am - Levittown, NY

Topic: RE: Ulcers in remnant stomach and assoc with cancer

So sorry to hear you are having those problems too - only those who go through it can appreciate how painful that tube is - are you flushing it? or emptying it? If yes - do you have a lot of fluid?
Can you do a ph test on it - to see if it's acid or alkaline? Both can cause an ulcer in the pouch and remnant - but are treated differently. I was being treated for acid production - and continued to have hidden bleeding after the January ordeal - saw a hematologist with a huge work up and was told it was post bariatric severe anemia - hemoglobin down to 8-9 once - then this August I came close to bleeding out at home - I was alone - got 911 and ended up with 10 units of blood - the bleeding kept going and my hemoglobin was at 5 - so I agreed to have the remnant stomach removed. I was nervous about this - since I always thought I would be able to reverse the surgery if I had to.

After this surgery - I had similar nutrition problems like after original surgery - no appetite - nausea with certain foods - keep losing weight - now at 120 - looking gaunt - before removing the stomach I had been grazing all day and was going up the scale - 155 just before this final surgery. I'm a month after this surgery - doing better - nice to not have serious craving again - happy with the weight loss - ready to stabilize - hope your problem gets resolved without any major surgery - Keep in touch - there are only a small number of people who had/have problems with remnant stomach.
Erica

az
on 9/28/08 5:19 am - MA

Topic: RE: Ulcers in remnant stomach and assoc with cancer

I am going thru this very thing right now! Just got home from a week in the hospital. Had severe upper left quadrant pain straight thru to my back; unrelenting but all tests negative. Finally had exp lap and she found issues with the remnant. I have the GT now (VERY PAINFUL) and she will scope in 4 weeks to check out the remnant. I think I might have an ulcer in there. How did you make out long term? I can't imagine living with this damn tube for very long. Not able to work at this point either.

fortworthgal
on 9/27/08 11:03 am - Fort Worth , TX

Revision on 08/01/08

Topic: My complictions----blood clots.....

I had a revision from lap band to gastric bypass on Aug 1 and a week later I spent 5 nights in the hospital for dehydration. A week later I was back at the doctors with dehydration and severe pain. I was admitted to the hospital again. Long story short, I ended up spending almost a month in the hospital and needed 3 additional surgeries. They discovered I have deep vein thrombosis in my bowels.I dont completely understand it, but I have to be on a blood thinner for a year now. The third surgery was the worst because I was opened up, had a foot of intestine removed, woke up in the ICU with a tube down my throat, a central line in my neck, a tube up my nose and a feeding tube hanging out of my stomach. I ended up having a picc line first in my right arm and then in my left. The feeding tube was weird. Can you imagine liquids being poured into your old stomach through a tube hanging on the outside? Fortunatley I survived and got out of the hospital a few days ago. My abdomen is very swollen and I am too weak to go back to work. I plan to go back in about a month. Hopefully, my strength will be back then and my abdomen will not be so swollen. Im not telling this story to scare anyone, just wanted to share my story.

Brenda W.
on 9/26/08 5:56 am - Greenwood, LA

RNY on 04/21/09

Topic: RE: Peterson Hernia????

After reading this posting I am concerned because this is the type of surgery I have been scheduled to have. I have a hernia that needs repair and am not a candidate for lap band. Can anyone tell me anything positve about this surgery?

Kitty Kat
on 9/24/08 11:43 pm - Richmond, VA

RNY on 01/29/03

Topic: Looking for others to share their stories & input!!!

Good am/pm all,

I'm a regular on the VA Board and wanted to pop over here and post this message to everyone. To give some history I am a recovering alcoholic and I'm 13 months sober TODAY! I've struggled with Addiction Transfer after WLS. I'm extremely interested in helping others who are dealing with this as well. Please see below for my post. Also, please pop over and read my blogspot (listed in signature line) dedicated to this incredibly serious topic. :)

Please provide some important feedback, suggestions, concerns, etc. regarding Addiction Transfer. Please do so here in a reply or email at [email protected].

What suggestions do we have that we would like to see our surgeons, nurse practitioners, support groups, nuts etc implement in the weight loss surgery journey regarding Addiction Transfer?

What can we do to help them better prepare us as patients and them as doctor's throughout our journey to come TOGETHER and provide the best knowledge, support and care we can?

It's important that we come together as a community and really and truly give this a voice and do our best to provide one another with anything and everything we can to be as successful as possible during our journeys.

I appreciate everyone taking the time and effort to respond. This is an incredibly important topic of discussion and we will all benefit from the knowledge we will receive. So, let's be heard! I look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!!