Question:
How normal is a bleeding ulcer?

OK I am scared to death,,, I am having my open RNY on 9/26/02, and my friend had the same surgery on 8/22/02, and 1 1/2 weeks pre-op she ended up in the ICU from a bleeding ulcer and had to have 2 blood transfusions... how comen is this? I am getting a little scared, and I dont know who to turn to for information but to the people that have had WLS. HELP PLEASE, I AM SCARED,,, :-(    — Debi Z. (posted on September 6, 2002)

September 5, 2002
I don't think that they are too common. Did your friend take any ibruprofen products? I took some motrin and received a shot of it in the emergency room and ended up with 2 bleeding ulcers. I received 3 blood transfusions. I was in the hospital for a couple of days but was not in the ICU. I hope that this helps - Good luck. Tracy - Open RNY 1/10/02 -99lbs
   — tracyr

September 5, 2002
I don't know how common it is either but my husband just got out of the hospital from a bleeding ulcer. His never got to the point of being serious. He blood count only got down to 11. Just be aware of anything unusual and call your doctor. Don't dwell on what happened to someone else, it doesn't mean you will have the same outcome. I had my surgery 6 months before my husband and I haven't had any problems.
   — bbjnay

September 7, 2002
My mom had a bleeding ulcer when I was in high school. It had nothing to do with weight loss surgery (she was about 95 lbs at the time). I have not heard of bleeding ulcer's being a problem with weight loss surgery. Talk to your doctor. He can calm the nerves.
   — Lisa Marie D.

September 7, 2002
Having a marginal ulcer is fairly common. Having them bleed is not common at all. I had several, BUT I was an ulcer maker pre-op, too.
   — vitalady

July 29, 2003
Well I am 5 1/2 weeks out and this past weekend I had a bleeding ulcer that required 6 units of blood, had nothing to do with the surgery.
   — Dorothy T.