Lightweight newbie with a surgical complication

Hi, I am very much a newbie here.  I came into surgery with a BMI of 36.  I had hypertension and GERD and high-cholesterol and was hoping to avoid what my Mom went through after her menopause (triple bypass surgery).  Obviously have tried to lose weight many times over the years and I would lose 20 lbs and within a year, gain it back and then some.

After much research and in depth talks with a friend who got the Lap band 2 yrs ago (she has had an excellent experience and is 2 yrs in). I decided to use the same very reputable surgeon and also have the Lap band.

I had my surgery on 12/20 and was very pleased with the hospital care, etc.  Two days post op I started to swell at my port site and suddenly get bruised all over.  By the third day the swelling and bruising were so bad that I got an emergency appt with the surgeon (I was now running a fever).

I suffered an abdominal hematoma which is bleeding into the abdominal cavity.  I don't know why but it supposedly happens sometimes with laparoscopic proceedures, including hysterectomy and gallbladder removal.  I am still terribly swollen and in pain.  I am barely able to tolerate my 3 fluid 'meals' per day.

I am just so sad that I am not back on my feet as I expected.  While I have already lost 10 lbs I am sure it is more from the stress of my body healing than anything else.

I have been told that if the blood does not reabsorb within a few weeks that I may need to be reopened and have the blood evacuated.  

Lately I have been reading all kinds of horror stories about the Lap band.  I was afraid to get a VSG b/c I was not comfortable losing a good portion of my stomach, esp with a lower BMI.  I was only comfortable getting something revisable/removable.

Has anyone else suffered any post surgical complication? How have you dealt with it?  I'd love some Lap encouragement. It is Christmas and I would have loved to have felt a little bit better than I do.

I'm so sorry. I've heard more bad stories than good about the band but we've had at least 3 successful Lightweights with bands here on this board. Unfortunately, they don't post here any more as they are off leading their lives running marathons and weight lifting  in small competitions. I hope the docs can get you sorted out and that you will be yet another successful bander.

--gina

Welcome to our board.  It's too bad that it is a slow recovery for you - I hope everything works out well.  Keep us posted on your progress!

Take care
 

Hopefully you will be feeling better each day.  Any surgery is major surgery and you will take a while to recoup.  I hope the band ends up being everything you want it to be.

There are several of us who had very low BMI considering surgery and we ended up with DS, RNY and sleeves.  Since I can remember, only 1 has had a hard time stablizing her weight and that was after a revision, not the initital surgery.  It took a while but she is doing great now.

For positive Lap stories and help with complication, you may want to check out the Lap board since their experience is more likely to relate to yours.  But come here anytime and call us home.  We support all surgery types and will help anyway we can.

Oh I am so sorry you have had these problems. I only know of one successful person with the lap band and she did have complications too (not like you are having though) unfortunately she is ont on OH but in a FB forum that I belong to (she is also a long time friend) We are here for you though. If you have FB the name of the group is just "WLS" You can friend request me and then I can add you (delete you too if wanted) and we can get you some added support. I am Stacey Hull Noble on FB

Jana, welcome to the LW board.

So sorry you are having issues...I hope they clear up as soon as possible and you can get back on to normal healing/losing!

Liz

Well, I am not going to be running any marathons or lifting any weights anytime soon. I just want to feel good and do a moderate amount of healthy activity - not striving to be "super" anything.

Not sure if I want to ask how many people were initially banded and then revised surgeries a few years out. I am afraid to hear the answers.

Thank you all for your replies and I wish you a wonderful Christmas.

 Hi Jana,  I'm sorry about your complications.  They can happen with any surgery.  I initially thought I wanted a band but changed my mind and got a sleeve when it became available at my Kaiser, instead of the band.  I did my initial research at. Lapbandtalk. .com. You might find a lot of support there.

Good luck and welcome to the LW board. Nplease let us know how you're doing.

Yes, Lee is right. Complications can happen with any surgery.  Especially a hemotoma. That's not band related at all.

As for the band, while I also chose not to get one after initially thinking I would, we do have to keep in mind that the majority of bandsters do fine. It's easy to get pesimistic when you see all the revisions on your surgery board, but of course the successful bandsters aren't on the VSG, DS and RnY boards!

There are also a few studies with a scary high percentage of reoperations, but in the end what really matters is your surgeon's percentage. My surgeon has only had 3 erosions in 10 years of doing about 1500-ish bands and revises about 10% of his band patients and not all of those are because of complications but at least some are because of not losing enough weight and those are his SMO patients who he advises not to get a band to start with but they don't listen.

Hi Jana,
Welcome to the LW Board.  Sorry you had the complication.  Hope everything clears up and you can enjoy your progress.  Keep us updated.
I have a good friend that had lapband and has been very successful for over 5 years so far.
Linda