Lifeofpeach

Hello, so I hadn’t my surgery on the 25th of October 2018 and I had a gastric leak about a week post op. I have since been discharged two weeks ago and starting on soft foods; however whilst I’m eating I’ve noticed some discomfort, not really pain, and an aching feeling in my abdomen.. is this normal at all? I eat only a teaspoon or less at a time and I eat very slowly.. and I can only eat about 5-6 teaspoons of food and then I feel like I’m full.. I’ve also noticed that I burp and hiccup a lot when I eat as well... I don’t see my surgeon for another 3 weeks.. so just wondering if anyone has experienced this or have any ideas on what’s going on? Thank you

Hello everyone, I originally wasn’t planning on joining or posting on this forum, but I’ve decided I want to tell my story to help and educate others. I’m 24 years old and the gastric sleeve surgery left me with a leak one week post op. I will first explain my symptoms in order to aid others if they may experience the same as I believe we should be educated on knowing the warning signs so we don’t just shrug it off as dehydration as I did. It started of with abdominal pain and feeling light headed, at first I assumed I needed to drink more and rest. I could feel something wasn’t right as I was 100% pain and nausea free the previous days. The next day I woke up my left shoulder and neck was hurting but it went away as I stood up. I felt nauseous from the upper abdominal pain I ended up vomiting. I went to emergency and there I had a fever, my heart rate was around 120 I believe. They suspected it was gastro or dehydration so they hooked me up to iv fluids. Blood test results came back and my inflammation markers were over 300 (normal range is 0-10) I had a ct scan where they discovered I had a leak. I was transported to the hospital where I had the surgery per my surgeons request. There I had a picc line inserted and had an endoscopy. The endoscopy showed nothing, and the surgeon suggested the leak was the size of a pinhole. To keep this short and not bore anyone, this is my 7th week in hospital about to be my 8th. I was lucky as I had no abscesses, therefore requiring no surgical intervention besides the endoscopy. I’ve had multiple ct scans, blood tests. I am nil by mouth and TPN overnight. I also suffered from another complication during my stay, picc line sepsis which wasn’t fun and I had an overnight stay in icu. I’m now on 3 different antibiotics including vancomycin for the sepsis. Currently I’m allowed the bariatric diet (liquids) on day two and getting lower left back pain. It’s been a long, hard journey and everyday it’s difficult to stay positive as you think it’s never ending; but there will be an end eventually you just need to be patient and think about how strong you are for enduring this. Thank you everyone for reading.

As the doctor said, keep an eye if you develop a fever or an increased heart rate. Another significant sign of a leak can be pain in your left shoulder and neck; however you may have just over exerted yourself as your doctor suggested. If the pain doesn’t subside in a day or so or worsens, call your doctor and ask for an earlier appointment. If you have medical insurance there is no harm in going to the ER if you are very concerned and the pain is debilitating. We know our body better than anyone else; if something doesn’t feel right get it checked.

Thank you love

Hi love, I hope you’re going well with your battle! I’ve finaly been feeling ok without pain and the doctor said once my CRP levels are stable and low I can proceed to puréed food How is your TPN going? Wishing u all the best with your journey xx

Thank you 😊 xx

Thank you love xx

Hope everything works out for you! Sending my best wishes x

Hi love, where is your left side pain located? Do you feel nauseous at all?