Question:
HOW MANY OF YOU HAD TO HAVE MORE THAN ONE OPEN SURGERY AFTER WLS SURGERY?

I had my surgery May 20-2002. It was open RNY and I also had a gigantic hernia removed at the same time. Two weeks later I had an abdominal abcess. Once again im admitted for emergency surgery and sent home 2 days later with an open hole in my abdomen which had to be packed every morning and every evening. During this time I never ate. I couldnt it hurt too much. Yet I never lost any weight! Okay now two more months go by now I have 3 new hernia's develope they are shaped just like a snowman in my abdomen. I have to insist to my surgeon to put mesh in my abdomen to try to keep me from having so many hernia's develope. Now you wont believe this but not more than two months went by and I had yet another hernia. Now they had to open me up again remove the mesh that my flesh had already begun to grow through remove the hernia and insert even more mesh because my abdomen now lacked over 12" of skin just to close me up. Im so depressed now. When I lie down I can feel my intestines and the outlines of other organs. Im terrified if im ever in a wreck im a dead girl. Skin sags and sags I have been cut open over 8 times in the past few years of my life. My abdoment is shot and my body looks like a Frankenstein reject. Im still not losing weight really and truly my ENT ordered tests one day because I kept staying sick and the blood work came back twice that I was malnourished. I take my supplements, proteins and I dont lose. I feel so lost and alone. Most of all I feel like a freak and a major failure. Sorry to be such a bummer to you all. Thanks for listening. Im basically about ready to give up on all of this. Nothing is working and I just look awful. I cant stand to look in my mirror even more so now than before my WLS.. Write me if you like. I would love to hear from any of you. Hug~~~ Avis    — Avis D. (posted on September 12, 2003)

September 11, 2003
Hi Avis! I do feel for you and understand being depressed about multiple surgeries. I've had complications as well and required more surgery but I don't think it had anything to do with the WLS surgery. I had WLS surgery 3 years ago and since had battled anemia which a hysterectomy cured. I've had 2 breast biopsies (negative :)), and three weeks ago had emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction. At that time they also fixed my hernia. Those people close to me realize how upset I've been because it feels like I'm going thru a major operation once a year. I hope nothing else happens and am doing my best to stay healthy, but sometimes it feels like everything is hitting me at once. To top it off, my children remarked that my stomach looked like something out of a Frakenstein movie. Because of the verticle and horizontal surgery scars, I look like I've got a big plus sign on my stomach (my son jokingly remarked that it looked like an upside down crucifix and that's why I feel like my luck won't turn around). On the plus side, I've reached goal and am in great shape. No one would ever guess that I used to be 120lbs heavier than I am now. The only thing is that I do need a tummy tuck but for obvious reasons, do not want to go thru another operation for a long time so I guess support hose will have to do. I know it's hard but try to keep your chin up. Thank God for this site, it's gotten me thru some tough times!
   — Mary A.

September 11, 2003
Avis, I'm so sorry you have had to endure all of this! My first comment is to please get into counseling as no one should have to go through this alone - it's just too much for one person to bear. It may even be a good idea to take a low dose of depression meds to help you through this time. Don't get me wrong you reaction is TOTALLY understandable but sometimes a little medicine will help us deal with things like this better and learn to accept it more. <p>I do know of a woman who experienced something just as severe. She had open surgery in another state and stayed there for a little over a week. They sent her home and by 2 days later she was going to the local ER passing out and being delusional etc. She had infection rampant through her body. Long story short, she had 27 surgeries in like 5 months. She spent 2 months in the local hospital and then 3 more months in the University hospital in Madison. She lost like nothing during that time. She did end up losing about 160 lbs in 1 year, but all in the last 7 months. Once she was finally healed and the infections were gone and could eat like she should, it fell off. Up till then they needed to get a certain amount of calories in her to heal, losing weight was not the priority. <p>Because of so many surgeries she has no fat etc. over her abdomen and must wear a support garment the rest of her life to keep her organs were they should be. So I think she is in the same boat. For her, living was so touch and go, with all the infections (they had to keep cutting away infected/dead tissue), that she is okay with what happened. She said she is so much healthier and got to her goal weight and actually would do it again, which shocked the heck out of me. But I do not suspect she got there on her own and without people helping. <p>Talk to your surgeon, but I suspect the lack of weight loss is all the surgeries you have had and all the fluids and high calories foods/liquids they likely put in you. I don't see how you really can give up as your anatomy is already changed. If you just started eating and gained a lot of weight I would think that could cause a lot of severe skin stretching, because so much has been removed, and really create some problems. I think you need to be having a heart-to-heart with the surgeon and maybe a dermatologist to know what has all been done, means to you long term. If you have excess gut skin (panni), or will when the weight drops, maybe it is possible to graft some of that over the abdomen for some padding and to improve appearance. It's amazing what can be done these days. <p>I'm guessing that the protein you are getting in is being used up for healing and that is why you show up as somewhat malnourished. Can you also do some protein bars or drinks to bump the protein intake? How long has it been since your last surgery? Maybe it's just too soon to expect the losing yet because your body is focusing on healing. Repeated surgeries really has to send your body into a tailspin. <p>Please consider some counseling and feel free to contact me directly if you wish, I'd be more than willing to provide some support. Blessings, Chris D.
   — zoedogcbr

September 12, 2003
Hi Avis. I hope that you are feeling better. I just got home from my third hospital admission is 10 weeks. I had my Lap RNY on June 24, 2003 and had to have emergency surgery for a twisted hernia and bowel obstruction last week. I feel as if all I've done this summer is recover. I have 2 small children and it's a lot of stress to try to keep it all together and not have my husband miss so much work. Each day I wake up though, I try to keep in mind that the pain gets less and that I will get back to "normal" at some point. I still have drains and metal staples from stem to stern, so I know a little how you must feel. I am a slow loser too, so I've really had to work at the weight loss. Now I don't have any appetite at all. I think it might be a good idea to tell your doctor how depressed you are. I think that it is perfectly normal in your case to be. Physical trauma usually involves emotional trauma as well. I hope that it helps that people like me care (I really do :)). Keep your chin up. Take each day at a time.
   — Holly M.

June 7, 2005
I know exactly what you are going through, and you've got it worse than I have. I am so sorry!! I have had a RNY open in June 2002, then the first hernia surgery in March 2003, then that surgeon screwed it up and she wouldn't fix it, so I had to go 150 miles south to find a plastic surgeon to undo the mess the first doc did, and she did a tummy tuck at the same time thinking that if the weight was removed it would help me heal - except i was on the table too long and I developed fat necrosis - and had to have emergency surgery in August 2003, and that left me with a opening in my gut the size of a softball and a hole inside of me about 2/3 the size of a football. I had to have my hubby pack me with gauze and saline three times a day and I just wanted to die, the pain was so excrutiating. After that my doc prescribed a KCI Wound vacuum to start the granulating of tissue in my stomach, so instead of me having to be packed for probably six months, it cut the healing down to 8 weeks on the vacuum. I was doing well, but the incision site is tender and never healed well, and I'm back to going to wound care clinic trying to get the site closed - but now another problem exists - adhesions! The spots where the skin regenerated have not separated, so when you try to move the skin on top of it, it's all one big piece, so they're trying to break the adhesions loose, and it hurts very very badly. IF I had to do it all over again, I don't know... I hope you are doing better. I feel lost and I'm scared I have another hernia and I just don't want to go and get it checked out because I don't want more surgery again! Yes, I'm in deep denial. But I really don't care. My prayers are with you. If you're like me, the pain is so bad I could care less about plastic surgery to get rid of the extra skin. I don't heal right because I have rheumatoid arthritis. Deb
   — suitfugue