Anone here have a RNY ride like mine?

I had my open RNY (distal) in May 2002. I was out of the hospital in 4 days and thought I was doing great. The thing I found the most remarkable is that liqids even filled me up! Then, once home, I could not advance to a full liquid diet. Everytime I tried, I'd vomit. I told my surgeon this, and he had me go back on clear liquids a few times to allow everything to settle down. Then he went on vacation. Of course, I lived three hours from my surgeon, so my PCP had me come in to get rehydrated via IV every couple of days. Then my PCP went on vacation. I was given one bag of NS at my locala ER, and sent home, as the local surgeons didn't want to see me since they didn't do my surgery. This was on Friday. I spent Saturday and Sunday on my couch vomiting saliva into a bowl. On Monday my surgeon was back and I called as soon as they opened. My husband drove me that morning to him and I had endoscopy done at a different hospitla in that town. When I awaoke, I was in the hospital my surgeon practiced at. My stoma was gone, completely closed shut. No wonder saliva wouldn't go down. I ended up in the hospital with a central line and IV nutrition to build me back up. I had surgery again on June 28, 2002 to remove the scarred shut intestine and to make a new stoma. I was full of scar tissue. I had to stay in the hospital longer this time, as I developed a pretty big infection and ended up in ICU. When I got out, I was far more adventurous with food and my activity than I'd been the first time. My diet advanced quickly and I could tolerate anything, just in micro amounts. I dropped weight so fast! My PCP was upset with my surgeon for not being notified of the second surgery and refused to authorize follow up appointments with my surgeon. In October, I developed a giant abdominal hernia, but the weight still fell off. I was absolutely euphoric! I figured the hernia was also my ticket to an abdominoplasty footed by my insurance company. In February 2003, my weightloss stopped. I initially didn't mind, as I'd lost 160 pounds in such a short amount of time. I did start to worry when I developed a alot of bizarre food intolerances and began vomiting. When my weight began to go UP, I really began to worry. MY PCP wouldn't let me go back to my surgeon. I tried dieting to keep the weight off, even employing some of the protein shake only, no carb things people on OH do and talk about in chat. I felt like a wls failure and I didn't know why. I knew I couldn't overeat or I'd vomit. Heck, I'd vomit sometimes for no discernible reason at all. In February 2004, I'd gained 80 pounds back and wouldn't tell people I had wls. I was too ashamed. My husband is military and received orders to Montana. My PCP allowed me to go back to my surgeon to get my hernia repaired. My surgeon accused me of drinking hihg calorie liquids and grazing. I wasn't doing these things. He had me get an upper GI, which the radiologist told me was normal. In June 2004, I went to my surgeon to finally set up the hernia repair. He read the upper GI results and told me I needed surgery right away. I had surgery a week later, on June 9th. When my surgeon went in, he found a lot of adhesions, but something more. My small intestine, just a few inches below my stoma, had formed a huge pouch, stretching the walls of that intestine very thin. My food would collect there, continually being absorbed by my body, like a stomach. My stoma was small, my pouch was small. My surgeon removed this new "stomach" and I was rapidly on my way to some sort of normalcy after RNY. I had regained too much weight for abdominoplasty, but did get my hernia repaired. We moved over the summer and my weight was still falling off. In October, my hernia fell out. I was stunned! It too****il March 18th of 2005 for me to get the nerve up to go back under the knife for that hernia. My plastic surgeon here is amazingly talented and gave me a torso I never dreamed I could have. Now, I am very open about having wls. At the same time, I am terrified of it failing me, again! I am so glad I found this community at OH, as I have had an unusual journey and felt like an outcast. In chat, I never feel completely at ease speaking of my experiences, as those who all of this has gone perfectly for don't seem open to hearing the bad part of wls. Anyone out there like me?

oh my God!! Hearing your story makes me so nervous because I have only heard the good but not the bad. I am trying to pray everyday that I make the right decision. In my opinion you did not fail I guess no one fail. But do you believe your dr. was a good surgeon???? or maybe was it just something that happen. I believe this surgery will fulfill all my hopes and dreams of me losing weight.

Hi Earnestine! I had a fantastic surgeon. He's been doing wls since 1979 and has helped people even weighing over 1,000 pounds. I sincerely feel what happened to me was a fluke. Until I had my initial procedure, I really leaned heavily on this website for support. When I developed problems, the people who previously had been so helpful immediately assumed that I was somehow the cause behind my not so perfect wls journey and immediately started in harping al protein, no carbs, all water, and a ton of exercise. Those things couldn't help me. The lack of support and blind eye continued after my weight gain started, so I left OH, got rid of my once indepth profile. This is a truly necessary surgery. I know I had reached a crossroads where traditional starving and exercise methods were no longer working for me. Make sure you find a surgeon who can handle any complications that may arise. Make sure you have a better support group than I did. My family pulled me through this. I'm still not your typical wls patient and my goal is not to be. I've lived my life outside of the mold and will continue to do so. There are ways of being successful with RNY, and not just the way it is pushed on this website. Go make an appointment with a bariatric trained dietition or nutritionist and don't follow the advice preached by wls patients here. Just having gone through this doens't make us experts. You can lost the weight with wls. You can! I don't regret doing this for a minute. I do regret not putting my care and trust where it belonged instead of with the people in the chatroom here. Good luck! Have a wonderful journey and take lots of pictures. You won't believe the changes it brings out in you!

If you really haven't heard much of the downside of WLS, you should join the OSSG_gone_wrong list on yahoogroups. It's really important to have a broad view of the good and the bad and everything in between. Just hearing mostly good doesn't give a very balanced view and it doesn't prepare you for some of the possible problems that are often "flukes" but unfortunately, do happen. The human body is not a predictable machine... Nancy 394/275/180

My RNY was 2/02. I was 12 hours out of LAP RNY surgery and woke up laying in a pool of blood. I ended up back in the surgery to close the bleeders LAP again, 4 days later I was out of the hopsital. i went home and got weaker and sicker. I went back to the surgeon a few days later as i was so sick and weak. I was again hospitalized and opened up and found to have a massive infection. I was put on IV's and was discharged a week later. Then I kept getting diahrrhea. I was found to have C-Diff in my stool from all the anitibiotics. I was put on Flagyl, I was terribly sick and found to be allergic to Flagyl. I was put on vanco for 3 weeks. I was off work for 3 months. And I was sick another month after that. Now 3 years later and 125# off, I am okay but I still throw up on occasion ( like yesterday) from eating too much. i was 48 when I has surgery and the month following surgery I honestly wasn't sure I would live through it as I had been through 3 surgeries in a week's time and my poor ol' body was tired. I was 255# at 5ft 6 and now am 131 this morning. I have had an abdominoplasty, boob lift and next month am scheduled to go for a thigh lift consult.

Was it worth it?