Pain from fluid at suture line of pouch and sm intestine???

sherry G.
on 7/25/11 12:29 am - MA
I had my original bypass in august of 2000. I had to have a revision because I had a ruptured staple line, a hernia on my esophogus, and erosion at the suture line of the pouch and small intestine. I had the revision done by a renowned surgeon in Boston in Feb 2011. The risks of leaks are common with revisions and sure enough I developed a leak the day after surgery that put me back in surgery to correct it then again the next day another surgery to correct the still leaking leak which put me in ICU for a day. I was then in the hospital for 2 1/2 months for observation because there was still a little leakage. On April 6, 2011 my surgeon felt it was safe to open me back up and go in and he re did the bypass and close up all the issues. I stayed in the hospital until April 23, 2011. I did come home with an open abdominal wound which needs to still be packed twice a day until it closes. The reason it is open is because they had to open a portion of the incision because of fluid under  the skin, also quite common but a pain in many ways. So needless to say I am 6 months on this revision journey and still healing my wound and getting more discouraged and depressed. I just need it to be done. MY QUESTION IS (finally LOL) : I started having a heavy painful feeling in my pouch that feels like a heavy bloated overful feeling so on one of my post op visits a month ago I told my surgeon and he sent me for a cat scan which showed a small amount of fluid at the suture line of the pouch and small intestine. He didnt seem overly concerned but did say if the pain got severe or a fever developed to come right to the emergeny room. It can be normal and should dissolve as i heal. Well I am so uncomfortable and am planning on calling my doctors office today to tell them I still feel awful. My next appointment is next week Aug 4, 2011. I want to know if anyone else has had this experience and if so if they could share their story with me. Thanks for listening!
sherry G.
on 7/25/11 6:09 am - MA
UPDATE: I did speak with my surgeon and he explained to me that the fluid is a small leak  which is the fluid that the cat scan saw and that the pain is caused because it puts pressure on my diaphram and possibly surrounding organs. I was in the hospital for 2 1/2 months because of leaks so this worries me. They scheduled another cat scan for next week I will go 2 hours before my post op appt, this will be to compare to prior cat scan and see whats going on at this point. Anyone else have pain/pressure/bloat from something like this?
Most Active
×