chowchows

I know of two cases of necrosis and Lena's leak. I was thinking a barium swallow might yield more info than a GI, since our stomachs are folded up. I didn't contact the doctor until this morning, and I am still waiting to hear back from him. I kept thinking it was something stupid, which I'm hoping it is and now it looks like it might be, but on day three when the pain was so much worse, I decided that I would risk looking stupid and I contacted the doc and posted this thread. Even if he just 'poo-poos' me, I am going to ask if he can give us some warning signs. If he does I will post them on here. Sometimes it's fun to be doing something not many people have done...sometimes it's scary and I think it's really good that we can share and look out for each other somewhat. Edited to add: pain has come back now a couple of hours later. :-( Guess that wasn't the problem.

Thanks Lena, I was hoping you would reply. I appreciate the info. I still haven't heard from my doctor, but I am actually feeling somewhat better. Maybe I did need the laxative...? I am still curious about all I asked, and I think it's valid concerns for all of us. I think, even if the pain totally goes away, that I will go get checked out. My insurance didn't cover any weight loss surgery, but other than that is surprisingly good and I don't need a referral, so I think a Gastro doc is the way to go. Thanks again!

The pain is definitely in front, right where my stomach is-pain radiates between middle of abdomen to left side. Did you go to your regular doc and request the upper GI, or did you go to a bariatric doctor here in the US for that ?

Ok, So I have been having pain for 3 days now, and have an email into my doctor (this is when I'm thinking maybe the Mexico thing wasn't the way to go.) to get some advice. I got to thinking, would anyone on this board know what a leak felt like? I have been researching a leak for sleevers, and they note having a rapid heartbeat, fever and pain. I assume a leak on a plicator has the same symptoms. Then we have the necrosis issue to think about. I've re-read the threads for people who ended up with this, but I wonder if there are certain symptoms we should take notice of? On Sunday I noticed that I was having pain on the left side, mostly in my stomach, but some radiating upwards. My first thought was acid, but I have been taking 40mg of Prilosec daily, and take Gaviscon if needed. I then thought it might just be gas, but it has been going on for 3 days now, and the nature of it doesn't seem to be gas. I have regular bowel movements, but I even thought I might be slightly constipated since I eat so much less Fiber since the surgery. I took a mild laxative yesterday, but that hasn't seemed to help the pain. My appetite has really subsided (even more than usual after the surgery) and when I eat or drink I feel slightly nauseous and have more pain, but I have never thrown up. The pain seems to be almost cramp like, as it comes and goes, and can get worse. Being in certain positions can either make it worse or lessen it. Is it possible I have a leak, or a torn stitch, necrosis, or could it just be that my stomach is still adjusting (almost 7 weeks out). I would to think that it's just my stomach adjusting, but I am getting somewhat scared. I can function around the pain, but it is pretty intense at times. I have weighed myself the last few days, and my weight actually went up 2 lbs at one point, but it is back down to where it was on Sunday. I was thinking that if there was a leak, wouldn't our weight go up because the Fluid is basically sitting in the stomach? At this point I am not sure who to even go to if it continues. Do I go to my doctor who knows nothing about the surgery and is not overly nice/helpful, go to an endo doc, or just go to the ER. Since I had my surgery elsewhere, and was self-pay, if I have complications and issues, will my insurance cover my care to fix those issues? (not that this is a huge issue, but it got me to thinking about this question) Hopefully I am just being an overworrier. Anyone have any thoughts? Since it's something we all have a small risk of, maybe we should compile a list of warning symptoms or something like that....even if this does just turn out to be gas this time. LOL.

Does anyone here get pains from lack of fiber/constipation? That is one other thing I am thinking may be causing my stomach pain the last few days...although I didn't really think I was constipated, but I don't eat the fiber I did pre-WLS.

The scope part is interesting...I did not know that. I thought the only real revision plicators could have was the DS. I read that in several places. Can a plicator successfully revise to a sleeve? I figured all the scar tissue would prevent that, but maybe not. Edited to add: they are just discussing the revision to sleeve on VST, so I guess it can be done.

I think Genepha is Jenn on this board, I may be wrong though. She is doing exceptionally well with hers, and I believe you are correct in saying that she hasn't had a fill.

Donna, You might want to start a new topic so that people see it more. That being said, I will answer you. I am mostly happy with my plication, and would do it again. I too went back and forth on the sleeve vs. plication. I had several personal reasons for choosing plication. One of which, crazy as it may seem, is that you get to keep the part of your stomach that they use to make an "esophagus" if you get esophogeal cancer. I had a friend's husband go through this, and I suffered from bulimia for several years and have bad reflux, so this is just a reason I thought the plication was better. I also liked the idea of losing a bit slower (although not as slow as it sometimes goes, lol) so as to give my skin time to rebound as much as possible. That being said, I was perusing the sleeve boards last night, and I am very inline with the amount of weight loss several sleevers that are 6 weeks out have. That kind of surprised me, because I thought I was losing slowly. I have lost almost 24 lbs in just over 6 weeks. I have no problems eating anything that is on the "ok" list at 6 weeks. I have been having pain in my stomach the last couple of days, not sure what that is about as I have had no pain for a month, and then this suddenly showed up. I think it is reflux though, or gas, but if it continues I am going to get it checked out. I have never been sick once, even in the hospital. My recovery was pretty easy. My cravings (and boy did I have a sweet tooth and a junk-food tooth pre-surgery) have subsided 95%. I feel restriction, but am still able to enjoy (on a small scale) my favorite foods. On the bad side, I have had two really long stalls which concerned me and depressed me. That being said, I lose really fast post stall, but the stalls really get me down. I have really had to work to not question (and you will see in my posts that I have questioned) having the surgery during those times. Overall though, I would do it again and am about 75% happy with the plication. Feel free to ask any particular questions and I will try to answer. Take care, CC

When you did tell your doctor, did they do any particular post-op care or checks?

For about two weeks I had pain in my stomach area, that came and went. Doc told me it was the stomach fighting the stitches. It went away, but now (6 weeks out) I sometimes get a pain that just 'sits' in my stomach area. Not sure if its the same thing, or might be reflux issues, but does anyone else have anything like this?

Interesting article on memory and WLS: article I just thought my memory was bad from stress. I've noticed I'm less forgetful lately, maybe the WLS is paying off. LOL!

LOL, I like your doctor...maybe I need to start seeing her! I wasn't wild about my doc pre-surgery, and I have been avoiding him post-surgery. I know that someday I either need to get another doc, or bite the bullet and go break the news to him.

I actually gave myself a "gimmee" day since we were celebrating, and ate out at Longhorn Steakhouse (although I had chicken and only a small portion) but I had chocolate and was bad...and I'm down almost a lb. today too! Thanks for the encouragement! I'm actually starting to see some patterns to my stalls and losses, so maybe next time I won't feel so bad when it happens.

Again, it might just be coincidence, but I was getting around 1200 and added a couple hundred more approximately.

I really think maybe I have been eating too little calories. I took FattoPhat's advice and upped my intake, and I seem to be losing again. Maybe it's coincidence, but I'm hoping that was the reason.

BTW, my weights were similar to yours Kim. Highest weight about 270, surgery weight about 260, current weight 238. Not exact, but similar enough to give you an idea of where I came from. You lost the 30 lbs very quickly...could your body just be taking a break to adjust?

Hi Kim, I am 6 weeks out. Lost 12 lbs very quickly, stalled for two weeks, lost six lbs, have been stalled (and even put on a lb or so) for most of June and have been very upset, but I have started losing again. I don't know what to think or say, because as you can see from some of my recent posts, I have been very worried about not losing anymore as some others have experienced. This long stall thing, and then losing in short fast spurts, is strange to me. I didn't believe I was going to start losing again, but I did...could you just be in a long stall? I'm happy I am starting to lose again, although we will see for how long and how much I actually lose, but I am still not sure how I feel about the whole situation. I have though, always felt restriction. I can eat large amounts of certain foods, but most things I can feel a pretty decent restriction with. I have never gotten sick, even in the hospital, but sometimes I hurt if I eat too much. I know what you mean about thinking that this might be the biggest $$ mistake of your life. I guess time will tell...

I had an issue with acid reflux pre-surgery and the doc told me I would definitely need it for awhile after surgery, as it would get worse before it gets better.

I've heard similar stories on other boards about people not losing after a month or so. I hope you do start losing again! Good luck!

I had the same experience post surgery. I never sleep on my back, so it was a strange experience. I ended up sleeping on my side, but putting several pillows around my body to kind of support my stomach when I was on my side. It seemed to work. I noticed issues with the sleeping for the first three weeks or so, then after that things seemed pretty much like normal.

That's what I am afraid my doc is going to say to me. That's pretty much his opinion.

FattoPhat, Thank you for your reply and thoughts. You may be right, I HOPE you are right. I don't want to discourage anyone, just scared because I have seen several with the same issues of not losing. In theory, to me at least, this seems like the perfect surgery. I am fine with losing slowly, as long as I lose. It's scary though to think that after all of that effort, it might not work.

I'm just curious how everyone feels about their plication. Feel free to elaborate via post.

For those that had their surgery in Mexico, or in a place other than your home country, did you tell your primary care doc about it beforehand? If you didn't tell them until afterwards, how did they react when you told them about the surgery?

So you don't feel any restriction? Have you talked to your doctor about it? I feel plenty of restriction, but have been at the same weight for 4 of the 6 weeks post surgery. Are you eating the way you did pre WLS, or trying to diet still at this point?