Question:
How many fail because of permanent nausea
One of our members is getting a reversal June 29th. She is 8 months post op and has constant nausea. Its all the time and not just when she eats. Last night on the phone she told me she vomited mashed potatoes and was recently hospilitazed for dehydration. She is a intelligent articulate person and is truly confused as to the cause of this. Her surgeon keeps telling her it will get better but after 8 months with no improvement she has no choice but to attempt a reversal. Worse yet her original surgeon refused it help her, said she looked great and referred her to a gastroenterlogist who also has no explnation for her problem. Her new surgeon says that reversal may not fix the nausea and she will probably regain the weight too. If anyone has any ideas that could help her please post them or send me a private email and I will forward them along to her. She has problems coming here now because surgery hasnt worked for her. Being pre op I wonder how many other failures are out there that we never hear about? This is so sad...... — bob-haller (posted on June 7, 2001)
June 7, 2001
Hi Bob. I don't have an answer for you, but I wanted to let you know I
think it's great that you're there for Melissa. It sounds like she's
having a helluva time and I'm sure she feels like the only person EVER to
have a WLS fail. I think her surgeon should be reported for her lack of
care to Melissa. I hope someone can help Melissa find the very best
surgeon in PA to revise (not reverse) her surgery, if possible. Please
send Melissa my best and may God be with you both.
— careywatkins
June 7, 2001
Melissa's nausea is truly a puzzle. I, too, have been sick a lot since my
RnY almost 11 months ago...but I am very pleased to tell you that it has
been getting a lot better lately. For the first nine months I really
couldn't recommend this surgery to anyone. I was sick almost every day and
spent far too much time laying on my side on the couch trying to figure out
what I ate that made me feel so bad. When asked if I would recommend it, I
had to say that "the jury was still out". Although my weight
loss has been very good, I was always a little frightened that I would
never be able to eat normally again and would never again lead a normal
life. I decided I would wait at least a year before even considering
anything as drastic as a reversal. One thing is very clear from reading
the information on this site, everyone's experience with this surgery is
different, and everyone's stomach/pouch/digestion is different after
surgery. Some never dump. Some of us always dump. Through careful
evaluation (of course, I had no choice but to do it, and had lots of time
lying on the couch to think about it), I gradually compiled lists of foods
I could and could not eat. At first the 'could' list was very short...but
when I stuck to it, I felt great! I had always had a 'cast-iron stomach'
before the surgery so this new delicacy took some getting used to.
Eventually, I found I could begin to add foods to the 'could' list. At 11
months, I can now eat some rice and a bit of noodles. I am still lactose
intolerant and can not eat ANY red meat or bread. I will be able to some
day...perhaps in a couple of months, perhaps in a year...perhaps I will
just become vegetarian. I may never eat sugar again. or milk. Can I face
a world without ice cream? Yes, I think I can. Would I do the surgery
again? Definately I would.
My problems may be completely different than Melissa's, I don't know. I
know that with time, mine will go away. I hope that she can find out what
the cause of her problem is and that she can wait it out and not take the
drastic step of a reversal. What a shame to have to give up after coming so
far!
— Anne G.
June 7, 2001
Just to make it clear my refused to help meant that this doctor refused to
perform a reversal.
Now I will be asking MY surgeon about this because I want the confidence in
him that if things dont go well he will me there for me.
— bob-haller
June 7, 2001
Thanks, Bob. I think, though, that after reading other patients' comments,
this surgeon is lacking the follow-up skills to be a truly successful WLS
surgeon. Her job doesn't stop when she ties off the last suture....
— careywatkins
June 7, 2001
Bob, although I don't consider my surgery as a failure, I have had MANY
problems with it one of which is the nausea problem. I am 2 years post op
and have nausea almost every day. I eat, get sick, sometimes vomit and am
hungry within another hour. It's a cycle that I have come to know but
certainly don't like and hate living with. I have many many other problems
due to this surgery but definately DO NOT put it down for other people.
There are so many people who have been successful and have great lives
after surgery. I am just not one of them and definately would never do it
again. the vomiting is minor compared to my other problems. As for your
friend, Melissa, I can definately sympathize with her and see why she might
want a reversal but....my problem would be that the doctors are saying that
this might not solve her problems. i honestly would have to go to many
other doctors first and try everything else known to them before going
under the knife again for a mere "possibility" that it might
help. I often wonder whether this is a vitamin deficiency that causes my
nausea because I don't absorb anything well anymore. Has she seen a
nutritionist? Just a thought. I would also want to go to a leading
hospital and have a leading gastro doc look at me too. I understand her
wanting to feel better but I also know that she will feel worse if this
doesn't solve her problems AND she also then, gains weight on top of it.
Please ask her to contact me if she needs someone to talk to. At least I
understand her pain if I can't offer her a solution. I had the BPD/DS and
not the RNY so that might make a difference too. Good luck to you
"and" her.
— Barbara H.
June 7, 2001
Before everyone jumps all over the surgeon , let me say this. The doctor is
an assistant professor of surgery at the university of pittsburgh as well
as a baratric surgeon and trauma surgeon. She is MY surgeon and she saved
my life. Her follow up care was excellent in my case and if I had any
problems no matter how small she called me back personally to take care of
them. She has support groups and nutritional counceling available and works
with a psychologist who has made a study of the effects of WLS. all I am
going to comment on here is the skill , and compassion on this surgeon ,
there are 2 sides to every story. Lets not jump to conclusions.
— Rose A.
June 7, 2001
I can't help but wonder if this person's problem with nausea could be
related to some other problem. We are very quick to blame the surgery for a
lot of medical problems. This nausea could be an inner ear disturbance, a
brain disoder, who knows. Nausea is a symtom that warns us that something
is wrong in our body.
Before I would go through a reversal, I would have everything else checked
out. It may not be related to WLS at all. It may involve other kinds of
doctors (specialists) than the surgeon. Going right back for a reversal
should be the last thing to do after everything else is checked out. I hope
all will go well for her.
— Sag
June 11, 2001
Bob- It's amazing to me that your friend has been able to tolerate 8
months of continuous nausea. I had open RNY in October of 2000 and for the
first 4 months I thought I made the worst mistake of my life having WLS!
The nausea was so dibilitating that I couldn't move. I told my surgeon
that something is wrong, I shouldn't feel like this constantly and I should
be able to keep some things down at 4 months. I asked my surgeon for a
reversal and that I couldn't live my life feeling like this. I told my
family, friends, everyone that I made the biggest mistake of my life and I
would rather be 300 pounds than walk around with this horrible feeling.
After many arguements, pep talks, trips to the ER for dehydration, my
answer arrived....closed up stoma. I had to have my stoma dilated (camera
down the throat and the whole 9) and I went home after that surgery, slept
for four hours until the drugs wore off and believe it or not, nausea?
GONE! My best friend also had the constant nausea and wasn't able to hold
food or drink down either. She ended up having her stoma dilated SIX
times! I'm down 85 pounds and so happy I didn't have a revision. This may
not be the problem with your friend, but maybe someone who is in the same
shoes as I once was, will benefit from my story. Good luck to you both!
— Sandy V.
June 18, 2001
I have puzzled over her surgeons refusal to reverse her and the only thing
that makes sense is this. Surgeons depend on insurance approval and it
would look bad if they started reversing their patients. Kinda like wasting
the insurance companies money.....
Anyone else?
— bob-haller
June 30, 2001
Hello. I am Melissa, and the person this post is about. First, I would
like to thank Bob for caring about me, and tring to find out some answers
for me and for himself. I rarely go on this site anymore because I feel
like I am alone in my situation. Most people, including my surgen and
gastroenterologist make me feel like this is my fault. I suffer from
depression, or I eat the wrong things or I don't exercise; I'm always told.
I've followed everything my surgen and gastroenterologist has told me to
do and it still hasn't gotten any better. The thing is that as a pre-op I
did not have nausea or vommiting, and as a post-op I do. I am almost 9
months out of this and cann't keep down mashed potatoes. Anyone living
like this for this long would want help too, anyway they could get it. I
am not putting down my surgen, but the fact is that she has left me like
this for 9 months now. I understand how passionate some are about thier
surgens, but how would one feel if thier surgery had complications that
they recieved no help for. What I've come to understand is that people
that have not experienced any complications as a post-op can't understand
what is like to go through this, and that's not anyone's fault. I am happy
for those who go through this smoothly. I would give ANYTHING to be in
your shoes. Those post-ops who have had complications understand how
desparate I am.
— melissa J.
March 25, 2002
Jim had this also and had a reversal. He is a little better but is
probably permanently damaged. His nausea was not the stoma but evidently
damage to the vagus nerve during the original WLS which caused a condition
called gastroparesis.
— Jim K.
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