Question:
I NEED EVERYONES HELP ON THIS ONE!

One of my dearest friends and a partner in the weightloss journey is having major post-op probs. She has her surgery 9 weeks ago (lap rny). the first few weeks went fine for her. Then at 3 weeks out she had her 1st of 5 strictures over the next 5 weeks. having them once a week caused her to be so nausious that she couldnt keep anything down, no food, water, suppliments, protein, NOTHING. she developed an ulcer and was even having a hard time treating that. she has been admitted 6 times. this past fri being the most recent and is still there. No more strictures but she is so DIZZY that she cant get out of bed without dry heaving. her vision is awful. shes nausious constantly eventhough they have her on meds for it. they are trying dift things but nothing seems to help. and GET THIS all her levels check out normal or HIGH??!!! but shes so weak and dizzy that shes been in the bed since friday night and with no relief or discharge from the hospital in sight. has anyone experience this or anything close to this? any advice is greatly appreciated!! i want my friend back so she can enjoy this journey with me and feel as great as i do.    — Kymberly H. (posted on November 19, 2003)

November 19, 2003
I am so sorry to hear about your friend. I am 4 weeks post op lap rny. I also had a stricture...it was terrible. I have no ans. but I can ofter prayers. Melinda-Largo, Fl Lap RNY 10/17/03 -43 lbs
   — melindainfla

November 19, 2003
I had a friend have lap RNY in June and was having the same types of problems. The first 10 days out she was so energized-never even took pain meds, was up out of bed hours after surgery. All of a sudden at 2 weeks out, she had her first stricture and it was a struggle for 3-4 months. She was so weak, she'd just cry in frustration. She never said that she regretted having the surgery, but her spirit was waning. She is doing much better now and is down about 70 (hard earned) pounds. I wish your friend the best. Hopefully the end is in sight.
   — Yolanda J.

November 19, 2003
Kymberly, I'm so sorry to hear of your friends troubles. I don't have any clinical evidence for my suggestion; however, I have experienced this to an extent and came up with my own conclusion. At three weeks post-op, I had dizziness,nausea, leg cramps so badly that I was admitted to the hospital. They concluded that I had an extreme amount of ketones, low potassium, and dehydration; although, most of my bloodwork was "normal". I also had this similar experience (minus the leg cramps) six months post-op when I was restricting almost all carbs and was in a high state of ketosis. My bloodwork came back "normal" but I felt horrible and came to my own conclusion that perhaps the overload of ketones in my system was more than my body could handle. I added carbs to my diet and within one day, I was feeling much better. Perhaps your friend is overloaded with ketones due to "starvation" and while her supplements(via I.V.) are enough to keep her labs normal, she hasn't had any carbohydrates which causes a build-up of ketones. Again, this is just my theory, but just maybe it can be helpful. I Hope that your friend is feeling much better soon. Denise P.S. I also suffered from multiple strictures which eventually led to a revisional surgery and finally I am feeling better. I'm sure things will eventually work out for your friend too.
   — denisel

November 19, 2003
I hope and pray your friends gets better real soon. Just my own opinion of course, but I'm wondering if she's having some type of adverse reaction to some medication as well as the other things going on. God bless and keep you and your friend.
   — Myrna E.

November 19, 2003
I do not have an answer but I just wanted to let you know that my prayers are with your friend. It is hard not to regret the surgery when you are having such problems. Tell her to keep her spirits up and she will see better days soon. I do have to agree though that the ketones, when in high levels, can cause extreme fatigue and dizziness. They can do a test for that (blood) to see. Hope she feels better soon.
   — horserider0146

November 20, 2003
Kymberly~ Your friend may be experiencing dehydration from not being able to drink any fluids. And although she may be getting "fluids" through her IV, nothing can replace actually taking in fluids by mouth. Also, if she is dehyrated a lot of labs will show high, only b/c they are not "diluted" with fluid in blood, it is actually called "hemoconcentration." And what that means is that the blood is not dilute w/ enough fluid, so the elements are going to read high when they are drawn and tested. I hope that makes sense...=) And as someone stated, by having an IV, yes her labs will probably show normal, as they are giving her all the stuff she needs to remain stable. If they happened to take her off of it, then her labs will probably plummet to abnormal values. Also ketosis...This is horrid thing that we go through. It a breakdown of protein in your muscles when you do not have enough carbohydrates to "fuel" your cells. Although a emphasis is made on "increasing your proteins" you just *CANNOT* do w/out carbs. Your body derives it's fuel for our cells by way of breaking down of carbs to simple sugars. This is actually what our cells need for fuel, and when they cannot get it from carb intake, then your body begins to go into "gluconeogenesis." And basically it's your body's way of "making" sugar from something that is not sugar-based. (gluco=sugar; neo=new; genesis=to make from) so your body is trying to find "new ways" to derive the sugar your cells need to function. I hope that your friend gets better and they can resolve her stricture problems. HTH --->
   — Marni

November 20, 2003
I had very similar problems. I had my surgery in July and have been hospitalized with strictures, adhesions, gallbladder and intestinal ulcer. The last time was in October and I was hospitalized for two weeks. I wasn't able to eat or drink much because of the pain. The ulcer was very large. I was so dehydrated and weak. With my last surgery, they put in a feeding tube. I had it for five weeks, in fact, just got it out today. If I hadn't had that, I think I would of died. I had to use Ensure and water until my ulcer healed. I couldn't believe how much better I felt once I was getting nutrition. I hope your friend gets well soon.
   — Melody B.