ChreeMiriah

On 06/23/2023 at 14:53, ChreeMiriah said:

Update: today I had my second dilation and I’ll keep you guys updated on if it’s working. I’m having another in 2 weeks because they can stretch it all at once.

@Bariiime Thank you for reaching out. I hope you are feeling better and able to keep food and liquids down now. This is what they are telling me will help. Please let me know how you are doing as I am in this alone. I’m also happy to share anything that would help.

Update: today I had my second dilation and I’ll keep you guys updated on if it’s working. I’m having another in 2 weeks because they can stretch it all at once.

After being back in the ICU for 5 days we finally discovered what the issue was. The 3 surgeries had caused my cortisol to drop severely low and I had been in remission of adrenal insufficiency for 2 years. They pumped me full of steroids and now I’m on 100 mg a day feeling better. They discovered my stomach was twisted and they need to widen the sleeve mouth so I will be undergoing 4 dilations so I can keep down my food. I want to point out that I have read some medical journals that say adrenal insufficiency is a very rare side effect of Bariatric surgery so if you have had a history of your cortisol dropping please be cautious. On to some good news, My doc says I am 2 points away from a heathy bmi of 25 so maybe in the end it was all worth it. I want to thank all of you who read my story and offered your solutions and support when I felt like their was no hope. I will come back and post what happens after each dilation. If you are continuing to struggle don’t give up and be your own advocate by doing your own research. Hang in there everyone.

@Misssouri-Lee’s Summit Thank you kindly friend, this brought a smile to my face.

@SuperGuuurl Thank you my friend for taking the time to read my story. I too hope you find answers and am here to listen.

After being back in the ICU for 5 days we finally discovered what the issue was. The 3 surgeries had caused my cortisol to drop severely low and I had been in remission of adrenal insufficiency for 2 years. They pumped me full of steroids and now I’m on 100 mg a day feeling better. They discovered my stomach was twisted and they need to widen the sleeve mouth so I will be undergoing 4 dilations so I can keep down my food. I want to point out that I have read some medical journals that say adrenal insufficiency is a very rare side effect of Bariatric surgery so if you have had a history of your cortisol dropping please be cautious. On to some good news, My doc says I am 2 points away from a heathy bmi of 25 so maybe in the end it was all worth it. I want to thank all of you who read my story and offered your solutions and support when I felt like their was no hope. I will come back and post what happens after each dilation. If you are continuing to struggle don’t give up and be your own advocate by doing your own research. Hang in there everyone.

Has anyone here had their sleeve done by Dr. Klem at Evans Army Hospital?

On 4/2/2023 at 12:46 PM, Mrs Roz said:

I am 5-6, 209lbs and on Wednesday, 3/15/23 I had an endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty aka ESG. I elected to stay over the first night and came home on Thursday, 3/16. I was in tremendous pain and could not keep Water down. On Saturday 3/8, I phoned an IV service to come and hydrate me. They couldn’t find a vein.

I knew I was need of emergent medics care so I called an ambulance. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, I was rushed into surgery and put into a coma. What my family learned is that my Bariatric surgeon had left a hole in my stomach and punctured my lung. My thoracic cavity was mixed with various fluids and I was slowly drowning as my lung capacity diminished

Days later they found another hole in my stomach and I underwent a third surgery to correct that. Had I not called the ambulance when I did, I would have died

Fortunately the hospital kept me fed and hydrated intravenously. Today is my first day home and I’m doing everything I can to sip enough Water and Protein. I wonder if life will ever be the same for me

i have one more follow up procedure which I’m dreading. I deeply regret the decision to do this surgery, it almost cost me my like and the trauma is endless

On 4/2/2023 at 12:46 PM, Mrs Roz said:

I am 5-6, 209lbs and on Wednesday, 3/15/23 I had an endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty aka ESG. I elected to stay over the first night and came home on Thursday, 3/16. I was in tremendous pain and could not keep Water down. On Saturday 3/8, I phoned an IV service to come and hydrate me. They couldn’t find a vein.

I knew I was need of emergent medics care so I called an ambulance. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, I was rushed into surgery and put into a coma. What my family learned is that my Bariatric surgeon had left a hole in my stomach and punctured my lung. My thoracic cavity was mixed with various fluids and I was slowly drowning as my lung capacity diminished

Days later they found another hole in my stomach and I underwent a third surgery to correct that. Had I not called the ambulance when I did, I would have died

Fortunately the hospital kept me fed and hydrated intravenously. Today is my first day home and I’m doing everything I can to sip enough water and Protein. I wonder if life will ever be the same for me

i have one more follow up procedure which I’m dreading. I deeply regret the decision to do this surgery, it almost cost me my like and the trauma is endless

@Mrs Roz I am so sorry my friend, you too are in the one percent who have to struggle with immense pain before seeing the light at at the end of the tunnel. It feels hopeless now, but it has to get better for both of us. We both took it upon ourselves to say something isn’t right even when the doctor said otherwise. By saving our own lives we are voicing that this procedure has more risk than they ever let on. I will keep you in my thoughts as you continue to have more surgery’s as I too just had two emergency surgeries due to complications. Hang in there my friend.

9 hours ago, hills&valleys said:

I am so sorry. To feel so bad without answers is disheartening and scary. I can imagine the fusing of your stomach sleeve and gall bladder could cause severe constriction and complications.

It sounds like your gall bladder surgery was recent. Your body is still healing from the repeated surgical assaults over the past six months and your sleeve needs "rest and relaxation" from being stretched and contorted from the stress and contortion of being stretched by the gall bladder fusion.

Be gentle with yourself. I hope things start improving for you. Please keep us posted on your progress. **Hugs**

@hills&valleys Thank you so much for your encouragementand and kind words. Hugs back.

6 hours ago, summerseeker said:

I wish I could hug you, You are having it hard. If you are in the top 1% then maybe I make the 10% club. I had nausea quite bad for the first 8 months. I felt the same as when I was pregnant. I don't think it is / was as bad as you are suffering. I could eat tiny slivers of cheese. I could eat deli meat in tiny bits and Jerky. I could eat Melba toast with soft cream cheese on it. I could also manage milk and Peanut Butter. So this is what I lived on. I never made my Protein or even the liquid requirement. I never was able to take my Calcium tablet. I survived but I was so lacking energy. My family were worried about me. There are still foods that revolt me like eggs, hummus and fish. I still eat a lot of dairy. I have no room for carbs.

Slowly I began to eat a little more and then the nausea became less and less. I have a huge restriction, I can only eat 50 grams of meat. I eat 4 small meals a day, down from 5. I can not eat late at night because of severe GERD, waking with acid in your lungs is nasty. I can drink big gulps now which is a blessing.

Just continue to eat what you can, when you can. Forget low calorie, try a big variety, some of it you might be able to keep down. Don't give up

@summerseeker This does sound a lot like me, except nothing stays down. You have given me some ideas on things to try and I’m the same with eggs, I think they are forever gone which is a shame because my grandma use to make the best runny eggs. Thank you for the inspiring words of hope that it may get better. Hugs my friend and I do hope your life is much better now.

I am so sorry to hear you are having a terrible experience, I am as well. For some it’s a blessing, but in disguise. Unfortunately that is what it is for you and me my friend. Hang in there.

@hills&valleys Thank you so much for your encouragement and kind words. Hugs back.

This surgey was not something I took lightly. I prayed about it and prepared for 8 months before I got the call for Dec 19, 2022. I made this decision purely for my health as I’m sure most of you did as well. I was starting to have heart problems and my knees would hurt as I walked down the stairs. I was told it would be life changing and when it came to the weight loss it has been, but the complications that have bombarded me has me questioning if it was worth it. I don’t want to scare anyone off, because ninety-nine percent get through their gastric sleeve and adapt after the initial healing, but I have always been the one percent. You see I was the one percent with my pain management as well because I took steroid shots to my back after giving birth to my daughter. This went on for 10 years and then I developed adrenal insufficiency because my body became dependent on the hormone. It could no longer produce its own cortisol so I was then on the precipice of dying if I didn’t start a steroid regimen immediately among my diagnosis. I literally was down to that one percent of cortisol in my body. For five years I suffered unimaginable low energy, adrenal crisis when my body was to stressed, countless hospital visits and of course massive weight gain from cushions disease. I thought nothing would ever be as bad as that time in my life when I finally recovered after those five years and stopped my steroids. But the damage was done and I was severely obese at my heaviest of 270 and on top of that my thyroid suffered in the process so I could never get the weight off. Thats what led me to the only solution my doctor had and the realization that their are things worse than Addisons disease, at least for me. Since my surgery I have not been able to keep any food down. I have had to be admitted to the hospital for days on end where I would go back to the liquid diets. A few weeks ago I had a little tuna and my body rejected it with a fury sending me to the hospital for five days where I had two emergency surgeries. The doctor couldn’t believe what he was seeing on my mri. Somehow so much scar tissue has devolved that it was causing my sleeve to be pulled by my gallbladder and they were attached so we thought that was the reason I couldn’t keep any food down. After I came out of that surgery I felt relief and I wanted to cry because another thing I forgot to mention is that I had been nauseous 24/7 since my sleeve surgery, but for those five hours after waking up from the anesthesia and pain meds I felt normal. The nausea was gone. But the next day it was back with a vengeance and more imaging found that my gallbladder was infected and had to come out immediately. So under I went for the 3rd time in 6 months reentering the same wounds that still hadn’t healed. And again for a while I wanted to cry out that it’s a miracle, it’s all better, but as soon as all the meds wore off I was right back were I started. I also had to have a drain put in because their had been blood pooling around my sleeve since the first surgery. All they could do was prescribe me 3 medications to control the vomiting. I lost 7 pounds during that hospital stay. When I got home after being on a liquid diet for a few more days I slowly eased into the soft foods, but to this day after every meal or healthy snack I make my way to that porcelain hell were I retch until the nausea calms. I then take my nausea medications and Valium to relax my stomach muscles. It usually takes about three hours and then I do it all again because I’m only eating twice a day to avoid being sick morning, noon, and night. The only thing that has changed is the constant nausea, it’s now only after I eat something. I’m literally living off of soft cheese and fruit, but more than a few bites and all hell breaks loose. I can tell how malnourished I am because my hair is falling out in clumps and my skin is dry. I’m drinking as much liquid as I can, but dehydration is always around the corner. My doctor says I’m loosing more weight than he anticipated so I always thought hearing those words would bring me joy, but I’m so depressed and have no energy for my family so I have to ask myself daily was it worth it? Will it get better with more time? Again, I don’t want to scare anyone because their are more good stories on here than bad. I simply want to share my story because there is no other like it and that scares me. My daughter is always asking if I could die, she did this when I was sick with addisons too? I tell her if things get better before I reach my healthy weight of 130 then I’ll be ok because right now even though i’m not getting the calories I need my body still has enough fat storage to feed off of, but at the rate I’m loosing- a pound every other day, I will be severely malnourished if it gets to that point. Most people say the surgery is a blessing, but for me it may still be, but a blessing in disguise. I have spoken with my doctor and he doesn’t have the answers. I have scoured medical journals and comment boards also with no answers. If there is anyone on here that is going through the same thing please reach out and if you prefer to talk in private my email is marsgirl22@gmail.com. I know this was truly a long post, but my journey has been just as long and I hope that my story can help someone else to get the answers that seem to allude me. Oh and just for clarification of how rapidly I am losing I started at 260 pounds two weeks before my surgery and now I am 175 pounds and counting down. Bless you all for taking the time to read my story and I sincerely hope you want hesitate to help me if you can.

I’m in the same boat and I’m 6 months post op. I eat about three bites of something Protein or really anything, veggies too and then I immediately throw up. Doctor has me on multiple medications for this and Valium to relax the muscles in my stomach. I also had to have two emergency surgery’s 2 weeks ago because my sleeve was stuck to my gallbladder with so much scar tissue so they thought that was it, but then a day after that surgery they saw that my gallbladder was bad and they had to remove it immediately. Still no change and I feel so sick all the time because I’m barely getting 300 calories in daily. I loose a pound every other day. I know for 99 percent it’s a miracle and worth it, but I have always been the 1 percent when it comes to my health. I have lost 80 pounds since Dec 19, 2022, but I feel like it wasn’t the right way and I’m worried I’m loosing way to fast. Anyone else suffering like this because my doctor says it’s unusual and I can’t find anything on the internet. Thanks for all the helpful replies in advance. If anyone out there understands my pain feel free to reach out to me through email- marsgirl22@gmail.com

I have only had one period in 6 months since my surgery, with two more follow up emergency surgeries due to sleeve complications. Anyone experience this?