chowchows

Hi there, I replied to your other post in the other thread. Just wanted to add, if you do not get it out during the first surgery and you start having problems later on, I personally would insist they take it out as soon as it causes you ANY pain. Don't wait until you actually start passing stones, as that can permanently damage your pancreas and/or liver if they get stuck and block the ducts. In fact it can even kill you if you develop pancreatitis that affects your kidneys or heart. It's rare, but it's still not something you want to mess around with from what some of my nurses in the hospital told me. One of my nurses mentioned that they had just lost an 18 year old boy to it, but I think he let it go a LONG time before coming in to the hospital. I'm just hoping that as I heal they find that none of my damage is permanent, but I am still angry that they let it go for so long and let me endure so much pain. I don't mean to scare you...I am actually doing pretty good now. I just want to stress that sometimes you have to stand up for yourself and look out for yourself when it comes to health care. Take care!

I have read that there is such a thing as "innocent" gallstones. Basically, if they are not causing you any trouble, the recommendation is to leave them(according to what I have read on the Internet). WLS is a culprit (and any weight loss in general, or just being overweight in the first place) in developing gallstones, and if you already have them and they are not causing you trouble, your doc might think that there is no reason to perform another surgery unnecessarily. That being said, if you are having any trouble, I would talk to him about it again. Looking back, I realize that I was having pains from my GB as far back as January (had surgery the end of April). I just thought they were muscle pains in my back. They actually went away for awhile after my surgery (I'm sure from the reduced fat in my diet post plication). Knowing what I know now though, I probably should have had it out with my plication, as it was already causing issues. You can also try to request a HIDA scan to see if your GB is functioning. If it's not, your doc might take that into consideration and re-think taking it out at the same time, or he may still say no. I'm not a doc, but if you are not having any issues right now and you already have the stones, and your doctor thinks you don't need to remove the GB, then he probably has a pretty good reason for not messing with it. Whatever you and your doc decide, I wish you the best of luck!

Thanks for all the well wishes! I am feeling much better today. No issues with anything I have eaten and the soreness is almost gone.

It could be that...or it could be that there was never a ton of restriction to begin with. I've never been one of the ones who felt like they could only eat a couple of bites. I've never vomited or gotten sick after 'eating too much', so who knows. I'm not unhappy with it though. I've lost 45 lbs in 5 months with little to no effort on my part, so I can't complain.

The one in the top of my navel is slightly bigger than my largest plication scar, but the others are tiny...about the size of the smallest plication scar. Four of my plication scars are barely noticeable, so hopefully these will fade fast too.

No, the doc thinks I had the stones for awhile before the plication. I have only had the plication 5 months and he said stones take minimum of 6 months to form to the level mine were. They didn't really say anything about watching the fat consumption, but based on what I have researched I should be. I really have been lucky-my post surgery eating experiences have been wonderful...a lot of people cannot tolerate much post GB surgery, even long term. I feel so much better in that way than I have in about a month and a half! Even if I didn't have an actual attack, I was in pain every day before I had it out.

Just FYI, I contacted my doc's coordinator and asked several questions directly from Watkin's post about 'best practices' and here is what I was told: Does thedoc used interrupted (individual stitches with a knot tied at each location): or a running stitch (knot tied at each end of a long stitch taking many "bites" along the way much like sewing) on the plication? we use one line first with singles stiches. We do a second line with ininterruped stich to reiforce the fist line! Also, do you know what brand of stitch material he uses? Ethicon dermabon 2-0 first line! Prolene 2-0 by ethicon 2nd line. So it sounds like he followed best practices. I did also ask how far apart the stitches were and didn't get an answer on that one...I may try again.

Thanks for all your info, TP!

I'm trying to see the positive side of life with all that's been going on. Stepped on the scale today and I am down to 217...43 lbs lost, which puts me exactly halfway to my goal of 174 (just counting post surgery weight).

Long time lurker, first time poster (on this board. I'm a plicator so I always post on Sleeveplicationtalk.com). Spent the first few days of this month in the hospital with what turned out to be pancreatitis. MRI/CT revealed small stones and sludge in gallbladder and was told it would have to come out once pancreas enzymes reached normal. They think I passed a stone and it lodged in the common duct of the pancreas/GB, but they did not see anything still there when they did the MRI. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I am still waiting on surgery. Now that I am not dying from pancreatitis they are taking their sweet time and it looks like it will be Oct before I get it out. I have near constant pain on my right side that gets worse when I do any kind of activity. The problem is that I am also having some stomach pain and GI thinks I might have another problem so he wants to do an endoscopy before they take out GB. I have had three attacks (where I think I was trying to pass a stone) in the last three weeks. Even afterwards my muscles around my chest are so sore and tight that it hurts to wear a bra. It almost always gets worse as night comes. I am so over this...I just want it out. Did anyone else have pain also in their stomach area? It's not constant, and I know that the buildup of gas that comes from GB issues isn't helping, but it's more than that. After you had your GB out, did the pain/issues end immediately? Can anyone recommend anything that helps when you are having an attack? I am eating almost no fat, but still having them. I guess that makes sense though since I am losing weight and that is putting fat/cholesterol through my GB every day. Thanks for the info/advice.

Tried that dress on the other day and it pretty much fits..only problem is that the stomach is still tight, but the cleavage I had in it even one month ago is MIA!

Lol, I've been trying to figure out a way to use the ninja emoticon...he's great!

I'm not really scared of the surgery. I had a hyst many years ago and that was easy, so not too scared...just worried that the pain might not go away immediately since the pancreas has been affected. When you google abdominal pain you find all these stories of people who have had on-going, untreatable abdominal pain for years. Of course that just gets my imagination working overtime! I need to step away from the computer, lol!

LOL, I was just looking at this last night after I posted on our board. Great minds think alike. Honestly, at this point I am almost ready to take it out myself with a butter knife.

Kidney stones sound really scary! Is the pain instantly gone after they zap them?

Your doc sounds cool. I feel like I'm just stuck in a painful limbo right now with too many docs all going different directions.

I believe this doc is regarded as the 'father of plication'. I remember seeing things about him while I was first researching my surgery, but obviously I didn't see this article. I guess what really confused me is the next part where it states: "This means that patients after 4 years find normal weight and normal stomach without any finding of their operation (sutures) in their stomach."

Jenn, Thanks so much-I would really appreciate that! I was just checking right before I saw your post and saw that the average stomach holds 1000 cc's. As you said, that is still a lot compared to the 250cc's that the article mentioned the stomach capacity expanding to. As long as I don't go back to normal, or near normal, stomach capacity I think that I can be ok. As I mentioned, when I saw my stomach for the first time this week on barium swallow study, I realized my stomach was never as tight as I thought it was, and yet I still lost weight. So hopefully even if our capacity expands over time the restriction that still exists, coupled with better learned habits on food and exercise, will be enough. I was expecting an increase in capacity over time, but not that the stitches and plication would leave after 4 or so years. Thank you again for offering to get info from your doc!

Don't you love the get off/get back on 'check the scale' move?! LOL! Congrats! Hopefully not much longer till we are both in Onederland!!!

Thank you all for all the well wishes. I am hanging in there...some days are better than others...evenings are much worse. I have an endoscopy scheduled for early Oct. That is the soonest they would get me in as the hospital facilities are booked up until then. If my pain gets bad again, I have my doc's direct number though and am supposed to call him, day or night. They want to rule out 100% any other problems with my reflux or other issues, as I have had stomach pain too that they don't think I should be having with the pancreatitis/gallbladder. That being said, my docs did not realize that the hospital never checked my pancreatic enzymes again after I started eating, so at this point we do not know if my enzymes went all the way down to normal. Blood work should be in by Monday to tell them what everything looks like. Once we figure out if there are any other problems, gallbladder is definitely coming out and they will do anything else they might need to do at the same time. New GI doc says nissen wrap pretty much unnecessary as there are so many other ways to treat if reflux is still my big issue (which I'm not sure it is). As for the gallbladder, GP wrote in my chart that based on the look of the gallbladder he thinks this has been going on for some time and is unrelated to surgery, and more likely related to yo-yo dieting in the past along with obesity in general. All of my personal docs (minus one jerk female GI doc on call in the hospital) have been super positive about my surgery and weight loss. GI doc told me that I looked great and he thought it was a positive move for my health and well being. When I get sick I get very down and fatalistic...I haven't been on the boards in the last few days because I was in pain and didn't want to sound negative. Feeling much better today...I pray that it stays that way. My baby Chow girl (the one I used to have as my avatar) has to go in for two major surgeries, the first one Monday. She got sick during the middle of all of my issues, so that didn't help. My Chows are my kiddos, so I have been stressed about her, big time! I cannot tell you all how much I appreciate the concern and support. It has helped so much! I will keep you guys posted when I have more details. Best wishes, good health, and fast weight loss to you all!

Well, I guess my body didn't want to wait for my appt with the new GI doc. I had another attack just like the one here and decided to suck it up and go to the ER. Good thing I did because my pancreas was going insane. Normal pancreatic enzyme levels are apparently 100, mine were almost 15,000. They admitted me immediately with acute pancreatitis. I ended up having a CT Scan, MRI, ultrasound, and am scheduled to have a barium swallow xray. I spent several days in the hospital to get things settled down. Gallbladder is coming out in a couple of weeks as they think a small stone may have been lodged in my pancreas, causing the pain all along, and I passed it but they don't want it to happen again. Doc says it's probably unrelated to the plication., but at least now everyone knows about the plication and I don't have to worry about seeking medical care in the future. To be honest, all of the docs were very positive (including my old GP ) about me having the surgery...they were more curious as to the whys and hows more than anything and were impressed with my weight loss. So moral of the story, while these boards are great for moral support or general advice, if you are in pain get to the ER! (thanks Lena , you were right!)

Two times post surgery I felt really sick after drinking a chocolate Boost. It was just way too sweet for me! I thought the first time was a fluke, but when it happened again I knew. That being said, Mednar is right, if you continue to have strange issues ask your doc. I assumed something was normal for awhile and I am now regretting not getting checked out sooner. It wasn't really surgery related, but still, sooner rather than later would have been better.

I honestly wasn't tempted at all in the early days post surgery...a couple of months down the road is when my cravings started returning, although not as strong as before.

Thanks-may have to try this!