Candice1222

I have a small contained leak. My body has built a wall containing the leak from my stomach. I now have one small leak. The radiologist says that this may be the best I can get it and will have a permanent leak for the rest of my life. He was the second doctor to tell me that. Has anyone that has had a leak been told that by their doctor? The leak has been going on for 15 weeks. How can you function normally with a leak in your stomach?

If you are worried u have a leak u can request to have one of those upper GI swallow test from ur doctor. I had multiple cat scans on my stomach that did not always pick up the leak but the swallow test always did. I had the unfortunate opportunity of having 14 swallow tests.

I felt so dehydrated and I could not even move or eat, I knew something was wrong. walking down the stairs was an ordeal.

I had the same as well as getting weaker everyday. I also had trouble breathing due to the fact that the fluid from my stomach was flowing into my lungs. It does feel like acid reflux but it is actually the fluid from the stomach.

Wow, I hope I did not scare people too much with my leak posts. I am still very, very limited in what I eat 7 months out but I have no regrets. I had the surgery to repair the leak and was on TPN for 20 weeks.

It will get better. You have to walk before you can run. I went 13 WEEKS unable to eat or drink anything, on clear liquids for 5 weeks and was not allowed to have mash potatoes until 21 WEEKS after my surgery due to complications. I feel your pain but you are so close to where you want to be.

Update on Leak4Ever, After 18 weeks, I finally had my IV taken out and are no longer on TPN. I can now proceed to the creamy soup stage after being on the clear liquid stage for 5 weeks! I started taking a chewable multi-vitamin and my teeth are extra sensitive because I literally had not used them in so long. I still have a leak in my stomach but the doctor says that it is very small and contain so we are just going to proceed. This is great news for me because I do not have to have anymore upper GI’s and drink that nasty stuff again. I have literally taken that test 15 times.

I use the Google Chrome browser and it does the spell check for me.

From what I read on this forum, the odds that you will NOT have a leak is great. I seen some people say that the odds are 1-3% of patients will get a leak and that most of the leaks are caught while still in the hospital. I had my surgery done in a reputable hospital with an experience doctor. Every surgery has risks. You just have to decide if the risks out weighs the outcome. I have been ask if I regret the surgery because of all the complications I had and still have. I say absolutely not!

Your Girlfriend's stories sounds like mine,except I had no abscess and my PICC line is on my right arm on my inner elbow. I have been on IV fluids for almost 17 weeks now. I have been on short term disability for the last 17 weeks and is currently working part time only. Let her know that she is not alone! It may feel that you are the only person that goes through a massive leak but there are people here that have been through the same thing and can definitely relate. If she would like to send me an email, my email address is Candice1222@yahoo.com!

oh yes, I had the same problem and I throw up everytime I started freezing and shaking. My doctor told me to take some acid blockers and it helped.

The leak is not going into my abdomen, it just pools into this small area. My surgeon has not told me this, it was the radiologists performing the upper GI that told me about this.

As someone who had a leak and spent three weeks in the hospital, I too was scared about the medical bills. My hospital bill alone was $200k not including anything from radiology. I have United healthcare PPO and only ended up paying $470 for the hospital out of pocket. I am glad that you got your PICC line out. I still have mine in for 15 weeks and you have to extra careful and clean the lines vigilantly or you would get an infection. Don't regret the surgery!! Although you went through a lot, it could have been a lot worse. That's what you got to keep telling yourself.

I seem to remember some doctor or nurse telling me that if you do have a leak it is usually caught the day of surgery during your first swallow test. The rarity is after you go home (I guess I am rare) and the leak occurred. The only good thing to come out having the leak and being Nothing by mouth for so long is that I broke all my food addictions. Since I have gone so long with no food being around food doesn't bother me. I cook dinner every night and watch my family eat their dinner with no problems.

Has anyone else experience cold shivers after being sleeved? Recently, I have been getting the cold shivers attack that go across my whole body. They usually last about thirty minutes and it feels like it starts around my stomach area. Once I throw-up I feel better. I am currently nothing by mouth so it is not anything I am eating or drinking. If so, is there anything I can do to do stop the shivers?

I was told that after fourteen days the stomach should be fully healed as well. I had a massive leak about a week after my surgery and still have a leak 13 weeks later. I did not have shoulder pain but had pain in my chest that I thought at the time was heartburn. I was getting weaker and weaker each day and could not hold anything down.

As I have posted on a few other forums I had a leak since December 23rd and have been unable to eat or drink since then. When I have my swallow test every Friday I am allowed to drink that yellow yucky stuff. The last two times I had the swallow test, I can see it on the screen getting stuck in my esophagus. I try swallowing but it does not go down. I take another swallow of the yellow stuff and the stuck liquid goes down no problem. Has anyone else had this problem with something they eat or drink? Since I am not allowed to eat or drink anything, I am not sure if this something wrong with my sleeve, leak (which is still there) or is this normal? I can feel the stuck liquid in my upper chest.

I did have an esophageal hernia removed when I was sleeved. Maybe it is related to that.

I did not know Benadryl was highly addictive. Good thing I stopped taking it.

I also had the elixir and baby aspirin. The baby aspirin seem to help me the most because it made me so relaxed. I was afraid that I would become addicted to the elixir so as soon as I was able to get off the elixir I ask my doctor if I could take baby Benadryl. I was given that in the hospital and continue with it at home.

Thank you ladies for posting all the complication stories. I too have a leak that was discovered a week after my surgery. It has been six weeks after my emergency leak surgery and I am on TPM and nothing but mouth. I spent three weeks in the hospital with lung issues due to the leak. It is good to know that I am not alone and that it does get better.

I had pain across my upper chest around the diaphragm area and some shoulder pain. It turned out to be a leak and I spent 3 weeks in the hospital because the fluid from my stomach went into my lungs and the fluid became infected surrounding my lungs. I would go to the ER. Trust me, you do not want to spend 3 weeks in the hospital.

Hello Everyone, My name is Candice and I came across this wonderful website a few days ago. I am schedule to have my sleeve on December 14th, 2011. I am having my surgery with Dr. Paul Macik. Here are my stats. Weight 276 Height 5'4 I am paying for my surgery. I started on the insurance approval process and soon realize that UHC was not going to budge as I am a seemingly healthy person. I went through the surgery clearance process and found out that I have asthma! It does not run in my family and I always assume that I was out breath because I was just overweight. So in some ways I am happy that I went the route of paying for the surgery myself and having to have a pulmonary surgery clearance. My question I have for everyone is how long did everyone stay out of work before going back? I work in a cubicle so it is not very strenuous. Also, how do you cope going back to work after this major surgery?

Hi Laura, It is nice to know someone else going through the same thing on the same day. I plan on being off two weeks. It is what my surgeon's office told me. I just hope it is enough time. My boss was very understanding and said if I needed more time off I could take it.