Question:
Anyone have staple line disruption and what were your symptoms?

I saw my surgeon yesterday and he is not happy with my weight loss in the last two weeks, since I am only 4 weeks post op. I lost 3 lbs since my last visit two weeks ago. The other red flag is I have no fullness when I eat or drink. Now, alot of people don't get fullness for several weeks, and some never get a fullness feeling, but he thinks since I also have a low weight loss in this early liquid stage, I might have a staple line disruption, he thinks it is disrupted along my old stomach, so food is going into my old stomach. So he is ordering an upper GI to take a look at my insides. I am glad he is checking it out. Has anyone else had staple line disruption? Does this sound consistent with your symptoms?    — DarlinIYQ (posted on December 4, 2002)

December 4, 2002
Hi Debbi, Yes I had a staple line disruption at 6 mos postop. I was NOT transected at the time. My surgeon fixed the staple line and transected my pouch at 11 mos postop. The only symptoms I had were that I quit losing weight after losing 68 lbs and I could eat a lot. Also I never felt full. But I thought that was the way it was supposed to be at 6 mos postop. The only way I really knew was that my twin sister, Carolyn, had been transected and she continued to lose and did not have a noticeable increase in appetite. Please don't blame yourself if you have a disruption. If you are not transected, this is a mechanical failure because non transected pouches do not seal like transected ones. You are not to blame! Some people have said on this website that it was caused by "overstuffing" the pouch. This is not true. The guilt that comes from "being a failure" (not true!) is terrible and it is hard to face another surgery to fix the problem, but it happens a lot. You must realize that more and more surgeons are realizing the failure rate of nontransection and are going to transection because it is permanent. I know I followed the rules 100% and never overate (even though I felt I wanted to when I had the disruption and before it happened). The second surgery was a lot easier than the first and I have now gone on to lose 115 lbs. Believe me, I have no where near the hunger now that I did when I disrupted. I am so glad I am transected now. Good luck on the upper GI. Let us know what you find out because it is important to let others know that if they are given the choice to be transected or not, transection is the best choice. Write me if I can answer any of your questions or help in any way.
   — Mylou52

December 4, 2002
I had mine at 5 yrs. I could not eat appreciably more (at 5 yrs, I was already eating reasonable small portions), but SUDDENLY, I had heartburn, pain at sternum level, everything. YOWIE! Because of that & the accompanying nausea, I didn't regain much. I drank protein shakes every 2 hours to hold down the pain AND the appetite.
   — vitalady

December 4, 2002
I hope your surgery is okay and there's no staple line disruption. I'm kind of wondering about the importance your surgeon attaches to the three-pound weight loss occuring during Week 3 and 4 following surgery. It's not unusual to experience plateaus during weight loss, even with surgery, and even at Weeks 3 and 4. I had the same kind of plateau -- lost three pounds total during those weeks -- and it didn't mean my staple line had disrupted (turned out just to be a plateau). I dunno. It just seems kind of early to be running tests looking for staple line disruptions already. I'd wonder why he was doing it so soon, and I'd ask him how often he's seen staple line disruptions.
   — Suzy C.