JustLynn

Leak in the sleeve staple line caused me to become septic. I was fine the day of surgery and then the night before discharge I was in so much pain and they kept telling me that it was gas. It was only after I literally could not stand up that they determined something serious was going on. After the sepsis was addressed (apparently it was pretty dire) he wanted to convert me to bypass to "fix" it, but I was still in the frame of wanting to stay VSG since that was what I decided going in. Most of the time we were just waiting to see if it would heal on its own and while it did leak less and less (after what felt like a hundred barium swallow tests) he ended up doing a shunt to direct the leakage back into the intestines. This was apparently the first time he had done this procedure, but he was confident that he could do it and that it would resolve the issue while still leaving me with the sleeve. It worked well and I recovered enough to discharge, which he did by "surprise" on a Friday evening 44 days post first surgery. I doubt the surgical floor had ever seen someone pack up so quickly. Seriously, without the awesome surgical nurses and techs caring for me 24x7 and Dr Fitzer or his staff coming to see me daily it would have been brutal. The hospital also let my husband stay in the room with me for the duration (he works remotely) and that was a HUGE thing.

I had a VSG in January 2019 with Dr Fitzer. I ended up with a complication and stayed at Reston for just over 6 weeks, but Dr Fitzer was amazing and his entire staff (and the AMAZING nursing staff and Roz at RHC) were great. Complications happen but Dr Fitzer and his personality made it as good as it could have been. I am fully recovered and my weightless is right on track. I still recommend him to people that ask.