I developed a fistual between my pouch and old stomach & required a 2nd surgery - they said they removed most of it the 2nd time.  Maybe that's why it happened to me.  I would ask what the risk is.

I have a call into my surgeon.... but just curious what are symptoms of gall stones?  was told I have gall sludge which may eventually turn into gall stones.... but now I am having upper abdominal pain, almost right in the center... sort of like a slight burning/soreness and also noticed alot of gurggling noises as well at the time (seems worse after eating?).... was also told I have IBS after having a colonoscopy and that coming back normal.

I am so thankful to find out that there are others out there who are suffering as I am.  I'm almost ten years out and my health has gradually declined to barely tolerable on a daily basis.  I've had cat scans, x-ray's, MRI's, barium swallows, etc., and they can't find anything wrong.  My bariatric surgeon quit doing these surgeries a couple of years after doing mine, and the treatment center closed down and there are no bariatric surgeons in my area.  The closest one is six hours away.
A few years ago, I started having pain that radiated from my chest into my arms everytime I would overeat any fats or sugars.  Instead of 'dumping' I would have pain that felt like a heart attack.  Now I have pain all over my body and my blood sugars are all over the place and are never stable. 
The only way I can feel halfway normal on a daily basis is to only eat proteins and veggies.  No carbs whatsoever or else my blood sugar levels go crazy and the pain starts all over again. 
I would give anything to go back in time and never have had this surgery.  I'm too far out to be reversed so I know I just have to settle for misery the rest of my days. 
I try to discourage anyone I can from having this surgery, but people are 'dying to be thin' and they don't listen to me.  All they care about is a 'quick fix' and to be thin quickly without hardly putting in any effort.  They don't have the courage to do it on their own without surgery and it just breaks my heart that these people are putting their lives on the line, even after I tell them what could happen to them.

Thank you for posting this and for all your replies!

Hopefully some great bariatric surgeon will find a cure someday and help us all. 

I am sorry you went through this.  My situation is different but thought I would share my experience with you.  In October I was rushed to the hospital (an hour away - local hospital couldn't help me and my surgeon is in NYC), so I went there.  I had been constipated for about 5 days and nothing worked, so my Gastro doctor sent me for a CT scan and I had a bowel obstruction - not sure what else or what caused it - it is a big blur.  I was rushed into surgery and it was fixed and thought all was fine.  After a week they sent me to rehab to get my strength back and recover. Well, all went downhill from there and that is when everything a total blur for me.  They tell me that I got much sicker and eventually was unresponsive.  They rushed me to the local hospital and ran tons of tests.  Decided I needed more emergency surgery but they couldn't do it. I then had a perforated colon, was septic and if I had the surgery at that hospital I had about  a 20% chance of surviving.  So, they transfered me back into NYC to the original hospital.  My surgeon was out of town but one of his associates operated.  They gave me a 50% chance of surviving.  They started the surgery - cleaned out my insides, fixed the perforation but I was too sick to complete the surgery.  They left my abdomen open, covered it with guaze and put me in ICU for 3 days but left me unconscious.  Finally 3 days later when I was a little stronger and they felt I could get through the remainder of the surgery, they completed it.  I am not sure which procedure they removed part of my colon but I do still have the remaining part.  They were forced to insert an ileostomy, a feeding tube into my remnant stomach and they didn't close the wound.  I was in the hospital for almost 2 months.  I am still recovering - in pain all the time and looking forward to having the iliostomy reversed on February 15th - after 3months.

I do have to share that we are the oppposite in one main way, I can't stop losing weight.  While in the hospital, I lost about 25 pounds and since coming home, I have lost another 9 pounds.  I am now too thin - never thought I would ever say that.  I can't eat anymore than I am eating, so to try to slow the weight loss down or atleast to maintain, I am trying to eat high calorie foods.  So far this week, it has worked.  I can't lose anymore weight or my surgery might be postponed and I might have to go back on the tube feeds at night - I hated them, they made the iliostomy go  nuts, I had to empty it every 45minutes to an hour.  Got no sleep.

I am not sure how the colostomy is different from the iliostomy, do find that the food comes out into the bag the same as you eat it?  I have been eating macaroni and cheese this past week and it is really weird, the elbows come out of the stoma - it is very annoying.  I really have no one to talk to about this.  I just read not to eat any fresh fruit other than bananas and I found that out the hard way - the other day I had a tangerine and that was actually painful - the entire pieces of pulp were coming out and getting stuck - I had to pull them out.  Never again.

I do hope you are adjusting better.  I know our situations are different but there might be some similarities. Keep up your spirits.

Kim,

I'm ten years out this year and I've had more post op complications than I could begin to put here.  My doctor quit doing surgeries within two years after mine and there are no bariatric doctors in my area so I have no one to go to.  I'd like to be part of your group.  Please contact me if you need to as I don't come here very often anymore.

Thank you!

Robin