KJencius

Today is 2 weeks since my surgery. I had complications from day one. On my 3rd attempt at taking a walk in the hospital, I almost passed out. My heart rate shot up, I turned sheet white and the conclusion was I had a "bleeder". They kept me in an extra week and it was slow going for the doctors to get any numbers to go up. I had urinary catheter in, 2 IV's, etc. I even had trouble getting food in me, because I would gag. As my numbers started going up, they sent me home. Since being home, I can't sleep a full night, found I am having reactions to anything with fruit and dairy. Terrible gas pains that Gas-X and Alka-Seltzer gass relief don't even touch. I had called my surgeons office on Friday and his assistant assured me it will get better. I go back to the doctors office today for my first appointment. I am glad cause I want them to see me.
All in all I am miserable and feeling this was the worst mistake I have made. Anyone else with similar problems? How did you overcome them?
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Who the heck is telling you your uglier now? Get away from them asap. You did this for yourself, your health. Please don't listen to them. I am thinking you are their verbal punching bag and that you probably look so good now that your looks are threatening to others. Hang in there, and fine new people to hang around with.

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I was told by my surgeon to stop taking the antacid meds at 1 month then 2 weeks later I had awful acid reflux like you described so he put me back on the medicine and it's a lot better now but not completely gone.
One thing to note is the position you are sleeping in. I noticed that the reflux is a million times worse if I'm not sitting up when I sleep. I have accepted the fact that I may never sleep laying flat again and I even went out and purchased one of those adjustable beds so I didn't have to sleep on the couch anymore. So if you're sleeping flat then try propping yourself up at night with some pillows and that will most likely help.

Sorry about your discomfort and concerns, but I just wanted to say that pic is PERFECT for reflux! Hilarious

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I hardly ever had heart burn before surgery but boy did I have it after. I had a swallow test and they found a small hiatal hernia. Certain types of foods actually still makes it play up but I can control it now.

Definitely speak to your surgeon about it. I had to be on omeprazole for about a month to sort it but eventually it has.

I haven't thrown up a single time since surgery.
However, there was one time that I wish I could have thrown up - about 4 months post-op and I had eaten too much of a good thing. I have learned that there is a very fine line between just enough and 1 or 2 bites too many. Some days I recognize that line before I cross it, and once in awhile, I don't and I'm miserable for about a hour.

I vomit a lot. Not fun at all. I get a lot of foamies too. My stomach is very sensitive to food and anything can set it off. Doesn't always have to do with eating fast for me. Literally can't eat eggs, cherries or the flavor and the list goes on

I had thyroid problems way before I considered weight loss surgery. The doctor found the problem, I went for a biopsy and it turned out to be cancer. I had my thyroid removed 2 1/2 years ago and have bern taking levothyroxine since. I was sleeved on April 24th. I have been consistently losing weight. I don't believe you will have a problem. Good luck!

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Every time I think I wanna join match I get cold feet so I need you Live vicariously through you guys... at least until after I get my surgery lol
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Badoo is a good one and free.
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Does anyone know where i can find one? It's suppose to keep food warm during our 20-30 minute eating time

I am 3 weeks post OP...and believe me.. I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND.... I laid in bed every night for the first few days wishing I could go back to before. I was wishing that I never did it. I thought that I had made the biggest mistake and was actually very mad at myself and kept telling my spouse how stupid I was :).... The reason I tell you this is so that you understand the level of regret that is NORMAL. I know its so hard to understand that you will get through the regret and end up being so thankful that you did it! But give yourself a few weeks and you will be comforting someone else on here and telling them how you got through the regret and are now thankful that you made it. Just remember , if we could have done this on our own,.... we would have. We needed help. Just remember why you did it. Find yourself something to do in those moments of regret.. Crossword puzzle, play games on on ipad, watch your favorite movies, call a friend and just talk... anything to keep your mind occupied.

yeah, i have been absolutely miserable and then just fine for the whole last week. I returned to work yesterday (after a week) and that helped. But honestly, not being able to eat with my family.. look forward to lunch, .. it sucks. still having regret.

Please hear me. I had vsg surgery in May 2016.
I did so willingly and earnestly determined that this surgery would be my saviour.
I am housebound and mostly bedbound from a chronic illness and the NHS bariatric team felt this surgery would "change my life". And it did,
Not for the better due to many life threatening post op complications and many predictable ones.
I own this because made the decision.
During this time, I was very vocal here about my disappointment in the NHS bariatric programme that I was a part of.
I have expressed my annoyance at lack of support from my "team" etc.
But please hear me, if this surgery is right for you, if you have studied, are supported, are confident, go ahead and take the chance.
For me personally, this surgery was wrong for me but for others, it might be the golden ticket.
Most of the die hard "happy sleevers" have blocked me so I get no hassle for expressing myself anymore, but for awhile, I did.
BP was a hostile place for me only because I dared to say, look, just really research the anomalies, people like me (the 5%) who found out that this surgery was a bad idea for them.
I still regret my surgery because the point was to become more healthy and more active. I am now less healthy and less active.
But that doesn't mean that it might not be right for others.
And regretting it doesn't really make much difference. Once the vsg has been performed, that's it done. Forever.
I just want folk here to know that some of us, really do think that this was a bad idea.
Pre op, post op, whatever. Just to know that someone thought it sucked and you can get support if you want it.
That's all really. Not all of us love our sleeve.
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I have fibro and will be getting sleeved on April 13th. I'm looking forward to the weight loss and Pray that I get some relief from the pain. I do know that the fatigue may get a little worse at the beginning as we won't eat much but hopefully the additional Vitamins will help. I hope that once we get down to a routine and get to know our bodies a little more then we can find something that work for us. Maybe talking to our primary care doctors to give us Vitamin B12 injections. I've heard some women get a boost from it. My ultimate goal besides from losing weight, I plan to get my pain medication to " as needed" and not every 8 hours. I also take gabapentin and I do get foggy. I pray for you all to have a speedy recovery. We should continue to posts in this thread to share and compare our experiences.
Much love
ck

I had thyroid problems way before I considered weight loss surgery. The doctor found the problem, I went for a biopsy and it turned out to be cancer. I had my thyroid removed 2 1/2 years ago and have bern taking levothyroxine since. I was sleeved on April 24th. I have been consistently losing weight. I don't believe you will have a problem. Good luck!

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I just had an injection around my coccyx. It worked for s couple days. The thought of removing it is not as foreign now as a month ago, but first I'll try another injection.

A pain management doctor administers the injection in a clinic. Wasn't very comfortable but not as painful as anticipated. Hurt more later just from soreness. But if it fixed it, because everyone is different, totally worth it.

I found the knee pillow became more comfortable the more weight I lost. I think it's just a thing to get used to.

I wish it was "free". We are taxed to the hilt for it so it's only free if you have never worked. Ironically, the same surgeons who do our bariatric work are also the surgeons who do the private bariatric surgery at the local private hospital.
Your statement about cancer patients does shock me. I do hope you blew the whistle on anyone who did that!
There are times when I have had good care here. Recently, not so much.
The reason I can't seek medical care elsewhere is because no one wants to touch another person's problems.
People do bring lawsuits here, but that is something that I wouldn't do. Any compensation I got would mean that someone else went without care.
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My point about the "normal and workable" stuff is that we were never given that information beforehand so our expectations were different than what happened to us. When asked questions, we were told not to worry, these things are rare. Would you want this surgical team and hospital to take out your gallbladder? Would you feel comfortable going straight back into surgery after finally absorbing an abdominal abscess?
Probiotics have not helped my diarrhea, so far.
I sip fluids from 7 am to midnight. Having diarrhea means that I am always behind in my fluids. I have accepted dehydration as yet another part of my new problems.
Hopefully, I can get a referral to someone in gastro quickly to find out why I am having cramps and spasms but I expect a six week wait.
As I have explained, we are all being treated by the NHS. These are not private doctors that we "hire".
We still have to depend on this service for our healthcare. We can't just make a complaint, then have our complaints addressed without consequence. We can even be removed from our GP surgery should our behaviour be deemed "inappropriate".
I have expressed my concern about my individual care, which is all I can do.
I get that expressing my feelings about my experience might not be popular but I will do all I can to make sure that anyone in the UK considering bariatric surgery, gets proper, genuine information from the NHS.
This surgery is not always right for everyone for many reasons.
Not everyone will move through the food stages normally. Not everyone will be able to get Protein in. Not everyone will be "eating normally" just smaller portions. Not everyone will ever eat meat, eggs, lettuce again.
We are told just to order our liquid meds from our GP, no problem. Getting your liquid meds for the six weeks after surgery may be almost impossible so prepare to go without a few days. Most GP surgeries will refuse to do it and the bariatric team won't pre order them for you. If your surgeon tells you to take large pills (as mine did), don't do it. They can get stuck and hurt you.
Not everyone will understand what a dramatic lifestyle change this will be. If thinking about food and dieting each day is too challenging, then thinking about food and Water in detail each day may be also.
I am disabled and find cooking hot meals awkward due to losing control of my hands and dropping hot things (even from the microwave). I used sandwiches and Cereal mostly beforehand for meals. I was told not to worry, that I could use Protein shakes, slim fast etc. Well no, I can't.
I want the seminars and meetings to say these things. I want the discharge booklet (that goes into more details about foods that might be problematic) to be available pre surgery.
I want people who have rapid weight loss due to complications to be given medication to protect their gallbladder.
The drug Cyclizine should be banned from NHS hospitals. Staff were overheard saying that they "pray each time they administer" this drug.
I also think that the incidences of people who have these surgeries and then later die of malnutrition or other post op complications, should be addressed pre surgery.
Then we can all give informed consent.
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We all had the same team but different surgeons. We are in Yorkshire, England. Why would I have an attorney?
I have read of complications here on these forums. Perhaps the ratio of people having WLS in the States compared to the population makes the incidence sound smaller.
I also think that people on forums don't want to sound negative so skim over complications etc.
We signed for a surgical complication rate of 1%.
But that is the issue. The statistics are split between actual surgical, post op, ward care, etc.
We feel that this program should be halted until we all are treated and are well and the reasons for all the abscesses etc are dealt with. But obviously, we are still under these surgeons care for the next two years so can't really complain.
I am lying here now with agonising spasms, cramps and diarrhea which I have had since Saturday.
No one from that team is interested so it will be up to my GP to investigate then send me to a gastro consultant. All which will take weeks.
As they didn't alter my bowels in surgery and the dietician doesn't think it sounds like a gallbladder issue, I am just left out here with no help.
This worries me.
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Each one of us attended a two year program where we lost weight if we could naturally, went to meetings, seminars, bariatric team discussions etc. We had exhaustive tests and each were either given the sleeve or bypass. My friend who had bypass was in a program that offered Excess skin removal after year one. They moved the goalposts to year two. Then they discontinued the excess skin removal agreement. She can only eat a few foods so lost all of her hair because she can't eat Proteins and has constant diarrhea. She is miserable.
All of us feel that during the two years, we were not given full and honest information regarding after effects. We weren't given any medication to prevent damage to our gallbladders nor were we warned they might have to be removed.
We weren't given information regarding food revulsion, inability to eat through the food stages, constant diarrhea, lactose intolerance etc.
We also were not told of the amount of people in our program who had complications after surgery, and we asked. My surgeon still says my surgery was "textbook" and declares his record as problem free despite my having severe complications and still being ill 8 weeks post op.
So we feel mislead. All three of us that had sleeves had severe post op complications. One had an abscess on her spleen and Fluid on her lungs and spent weeks in hospital on IV antibiotics. Her sleeve leaked and had to be re done. She is still really ill.
One of us was in intensive care for six weeks, had to have a tracheotomy and was on the critical list, he is still gravely ill.
I had a 6.6 cm abdominal abscess that nearly killed me, spent weeks in hospital, dropped over 60lbs in 4 weeks, which might have killed my gallbladder, was given a near fatal dose of Cyclizine which caused lingering stroke symptoms and I am still ill on fluids at 8 week post op and can't eat any Proteins, am now lactose intolerant, I will have my gallbladder out once the abscess clears, if I am brave enough. My wounds haven't healed yet from the sleeve op yet. I can't tolerate any Vitamins etc I am supposed to take. And the aftercare we receive has been awful and totally confusing.
We all also feel that we were not fully informed about eating after the sleeve. We were told that once we got through the stages, we would be eating normally, just small portions.
We weren't told how many of us die each year from malnutrition here in the UK.
On discharge, we were given a booklet regarding food stages and foods that might cause problems.
None of us would have had our surgeries if we had had this booklet before our sleeves.
So no, we can't get together as we are all at home, ill, mostly on antibiotics and other treatments, facing more serious ops and treatments, months after our sleeves. Most of us battling dehydration.
Another lady we know has lost over 120lbs in 8 weeks. She is still in hospital and they don't know what's wrong yet.
We feel that we have been made permanently disabled by this surgery and not given accurate information so that we could make informed decisions.
I researched this thoroughly and asked questions and was told not to worry, that they rarely had problems. They split the statistics up so that the complications are shown as ward aftercare etc.
Four out of four of us is not rare, but a 100% complication rate.
Yes, we will all have to accept our stupid decision. Our families will get over the trauma of us nearly dying from complications. I am in counselling via telephone.
We are all just hoping to be well enough to drive a car again, go to church again, eat enough food to live again. (I am still only getting 300 or so calories but I am up from 100 calories a day for six weeks).
I am not "fighting" this sleeve. I am learning to live with an elective disablement.
Maybe this is just the difference in healthcare between countries. None of us were above 250lbs, all of us could walk normally, only one of us had diabetes and still has it two years post op after all the weight was lost.
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Totally regret it! My three friends also regret it. But we can't change it now.
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Ive tolerated everything such as Water broth, Jello and Protein but I hate drinking the Protein Shakes. I find it too sweet now and it always take me more than hr to finish it. The thickness leaves behind a chalky taste and sometimes I have to wait a while to have another sip because I'm afraid that I'll start coughing. I coughed the other day and I swore I broke a stitch (I'm exaggerating) but it was definitely not a cool feeling.
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I'm pre-revision but Protein Shakes I have trouble with too. They basically cause me to flush within minutes of drinking them.

(I'm banded looking into ds revision)

Who the heck is telling you your uglier now? Get away from them asap. You did this for yourself, your health. Please don't listen to them. I am thinking you are their verbal punching bag and that you probably look so good now that your looks are threatening to others. Hang in there, and fine new people to hang around with.

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