Question:
What to expect after Staple line Obstruction procedure?

Hello, to all. I had open RNY in 08/2000. And i had pretty slow weight loss and after maybe 8 months of my weight stopping i started taking Phentermine for my energy to get off those extra pounds that were not lost from RNY. I took the phenterminsee for approx2 months and stopped because it was false hope and i had that enough.Well i always felt sick alot and back and forth to the emergency room due to Constipation bowel problems.It was taking approx a week or so for my bowels to move,and i was in some major pain.Well my surgeon was so busy,his appts were scheduled 2 months in advance, and the doctors and hospitals did not see anything wrong.I went from doctor to hospital,test to test and specialist .I was very frustrated because i was ill and saw not help.I started to just drink liquids until my bowels passed and kept this going until i recently got so feed up of living like that. I called the doctor and got angry with them and they got me in a week later.After more test,it showed food being in the part of my stomach where it was being digested.When i asked how it got there,he says he does not know.Mind you i think this was always the problem.About 2 months after surgery i was able to eat a whole sandwich,when i told the doctor he laughed and said it was normal"but anyway i am scheduled for a endoscopy on july 6th,then after that i will have to undergo the surgey for correction. He says he is not sure if he will transect because of risk.He says the risk with transect are much higher and it's a call he will have to make once he goes in. Can anyone tell me about afterwards? is it like the first time? pain wise? and will i have to go through the puree stages again? Thanks in advance.Current weight is 260    — sauniee (posted on June 11, 2005)

June 10, 2005
I do not fully understand your post, but from what I can gather, you are having complications that will require a surgeon to go back in and do some work on your pouch. From my experience, even if all he does is refire staples, yes, you will have to go thru the graduated eating that you did when you were newly post-op. But that is totally up to YOUR surgeon. <br><br>Are you saying that the doctor ran a test that showed food in your 'old' stomach? What test did he do? And did they show a SLD with that test? Sorry for my confustion. Rebecca
   — RebeccaP

June 11, 2005
Sounds like a staple line disruption since you were not transected at the time of your original surgery. If your current surgeon is not willing to transect when he makes the repair, find one that will, otherwise you face the exact same problem sometime in the future. It is not too risky, there are literally thousands and thousands of post-ops walking around with transected RNYs and the DS post-ops even have their old stomachs completely removed. And yes, you will need to go thru the liquid/puree stages again. Your stomach will be trying to heal and you don't want anything to irritate it.
   — Ali M

June 11, 2005
I would find a doctor that will transect. SLD is a big problem and that is why most of the newer surgeries they will transect. If you surgeon thinks it's "dangerous" that tells me he's not very experienced. My suggestion would be to find a surgeon that knows what he is doing.
   — SJP

June 11, 2005
Many of us done the way you were done have had staple line disruptions (sld). It's quite common. To transect is slightly more risky than the original, true. But please do not go in and "repair" the existing staple line. Surgery #3 to REALLY fix it is even more risky. Patches do not work. The procedure that your doc does is what I had originally (diff doc), but my SLD at 5 yrs post-op. I built up for my revision nutritionally, and except for some pain and fatigue, it was totally a non-event.
   — vitalady

June 11, 2005
Thanks to everyone's comments,I appreciate them and they were very helpful. The first test,i forgot the name of it. It is where they put you up to a machine standing ,then they have you drink like 3 diffrent liquids, and take pictures,Then the machine lays you down and you turn to coat your stomach then they take more pictures. The test showed food in the part of my stomach that was not to be used.In other words, There must be a whole in my pouch.
   — sauniee