Question:
Had perforation in my intestines and marginal ulcer- just had emergency surgery- HELP

This might be long, sorry...I am 7 months post-op. Tuesday, dec. 17th I woke up from a nap in excruciating pain in my stomach, chest, left shoulder and neck. It did not go away, I was curled over and couldn't move, so an ambulance came and I was sent to the ER. The first hospital (i was at college)couldn't find anything wrong. Wed, I went to my local hospital, they took a CT scan. Thurs, I was sent to the ER again, and they soon told me that I had a perforation in my intestine, but couldn't see exactly where. They knew I had fluid and air leaking into my body and I needed surgery immediately. The surgeon there was unfamiliar with gastric bypass and sent me in an ambulance to my surgeon an hour away. They had to go in to see what was wrong- I had the perforation and marginal ulcer between my intestine and new pouch. After a few hours of surgery, I was put in ICU, and stayed in the hospital until Christmas Eve. Has this happened to anyone? No one knows what it is from. I might not have been alive today if I waited another day to have surgery. I am only 22 years old and this scares me to death. They think it could be from taking too much medication, I take over 20 pills a day, I've had a chronic illness (Chronic Daily Headaches) for over 9 months now. I see my surgeon in a week and will get my 25 staples out. Although I had LAP RNY, he had to perform this surgery open. If anyone can shed some light or share your experiences. I'm still in excruciating pain from the surgery, and can barely walk and sit long enough on the computer. Thanks so much in advance.    — Lezlie Y. (posted on December 28, 2002)

December 28, 2002
I'm so sorry you went through this! I hope you are on the mend! The reason I'm responding to this question, is because I too have chronic headaches, and have had them most of my life. I started taking a drug called Neurontin, and it's been a miracle! Maybe you could do some research on this, and take it to your doctor, to see if this is an option for you? I haven't had a really BAD headache since I started taking it! What all do you take for it now, if you don't mind my asking?? You can email me privately, if you'd like.
   — Diana L.

December 28, 2002
Lezlie, I just wanted to post and say how unfortunate it is that you have had complications. I ended up in the hospital for a week while they were trying to figure out what was wrong. they inserted a drainage tube which I had in for four weeks; then they decided they had to perform surgery anyway to figure out what was wrong. Luckily it was done lapriscopically although when I went under they said there was a possibliity they would have to open me up. My situation was a bit different than yours however I can totally relate to your fear and anxiety. turned out I had developed a post surgical hernia which had blocked my small intestine so very little was draining. I pray for your recovery. these situations definitely point out to all of us that there are definite complications involved in this procedure. Whenever I have any concerns regarding odd pains, etc. my surgeon is the first person I contact. I have found that even my gp is not familiar with my new inner wiring and my surgeon can immediately rule out that what is going on has anything to do with the surgery. I do hope you recover fully without further complications. Monika
   — Monika W.

December 28, 2002
I am curious if you had any symptoms prior to the onset of the pain. Did you have any acid pain before or did water taste metalic? Did you take any sort of antiacic before this? I am having issues with acid pain. My surgeon doesn't believe that you can have problems with stomach acid post-op! While I'm very, very sorry for your ordeal, I'm hoping that your experience can help prevent this in others!
   — ediecat

December 28, 2002
Sorry for your ordeal. Thank goodness you kept after it till they figured things out. I also used to live with severe atypical headaches. They would not respond to any of the usual meds etc. I spent 9 months taking lots of tylenol and then finally went to my family doctor about it. He switched me to prescription strength ibuprofen and fiorinal. Eventually I was taking the fiorinal too often and was actually getting a rebound headache. That's most likely what I was getting from the 9 months of tylenol also. So if you have not consulted a neurologist then please get to one. My neurologist would most likely have a heart attack at someone taking 20 pills a day for headaches as there has to be a better solution.<p>It took a while to find a treatment for me but we did and now I have been headache free for about 5 or more years. Now if I get a headache, which is rare, I take one of my Firocet and that's the end of it. If I take even 3-5 Firocet in a year that would be a lot. In 1994 when I first saw the neurologist, he was on the cutting edge of new treatments and was the only one in our area using Depakote for prophylactic treatment. Essentially it worked on reprogramming or desensitizing my brain to the headache pain. He told me it was a 3-5 year treatment but that most likely I would get off of the meds. Depakote is actually an anti-seizure drug. I ended up on a really huge dose at one point - 3000 mg a day. I also used DHE45 injections when the headaches were out of this world, but I was limited as to how many I could use in a week. I also could use Firocet/Fiorinal but again was limited as to how many. He told me I had to tough it through the mild to medium headaches and only use the Firocet and DHE45 when they were critical. This would make sure I did not go into rebound headaches. I also had to keep a headache diary for many many months. The other piece of my headaches turned out to be hormonal although there wasn't any test that said that. Since there was no clear reason for the headaches they made some assumptions about hormones that turned out right. I started on Depo Provera shots in May 1995 and am still on them. From May 1995 forward we kept playing with the frequency of my shots and settled on every 8 weeks instead of the standard 12 weeks. Over the next two years I was able to reduce my Depakote until I got off of it in July 1997. I continue with my Depo shots at 8 weeks and everything is wonderful. No bleeding or headaches for years. I don't care if the Depo makes me gain 5 lbs a year after I've lost my weight. That is something I am willing to live with because of all the other benefits. My GYN said once I'm down 100-150 lbs we will probably experiment with decreasing the frequency of the shots till they are at 12 weeks, if that holds my body well. If not we will go somewhere in between 8 and 12.<p>It took a long time to resolve the headaches but it sure was worth going along with the process. I used to have severe stabbing headaches that sometimes would send me to the ER. I'd be driving down the street and get stabbing pains in my temples. They never resembled a normal mirgraine. Please seek additional medical treatment for your headaches. Hopefully you can get to less pills and solve two things at once. Good Luck. Feel free to contact me privately if you want.
   — zoedogcbr