Search the Community

There's no way to know. The odds of needing a revision whether it be complications, reflux, etc. is fairly low, but it still does happen. Can't avoid the risks. Just do what you can to mitigate any complications that could be caused by yourself. I have moderate reflux (GERD) and am going with 3 surgeons' advice to get the VSG done, with a revision option a year down the road (I believe it would be more like 2 or 3 but we'll see) to RNY. I too worry about getting worse reflux and the staging of esophageal damage but generally people can also take PPI's to help mitigate this by default.

I had a Gastric Sleeve performed one month ago after repeated failures at diets and exercise. It was causing great strain in our marriage. I had heard so much positive feedback on Gastric Sleeve - even my own personal Physician had had it done. 98% of people get through with only minimal discomfort, and manageable pain and nausea. I was one of the 2% that didn't. I can't be totally sure in what order things happened, but I think I was given a minimalistic version of the truth. My surgery started out as laparoscopic. Firstly, I went into anaphylaxis from the anti-anaesthetic med in recovery. They had to do CPR till they could reverse it. I went off to ICU, where after some hours they said my stats showed I was haemorrrhaging. Another LAP prodecure - "nick in spleen', stitched, glued. (This is where I have my doubts - I'm inclined to think the CPR and cracked rib caused a spleen rupture - not a "nick" because I have now been told 25 % of my spleen will atrophy. Back to ICU. A few hours later - she's still haemorrhaging". Back to theatre, this time open surgery right down abdomen. Vein on back of liver nicked, tied off etc, back to ICU. Next day a whole lot of packs removed from my abdomen. I spent a hellish week in ICU. On drip till I could tolerate a tiny bit of liquid. Another week and a half in ward. I do believe they cracked a rib doing CPR as I have a 40% collapsed lung on that side, cannot breathe in without pain, and one particular rib hurts like crazy. I spend most mornings in bed feeling nauseous till lunchtime. The pain is subsiding but I am bothered about that lung. I know it's only a month out, that I had an unfortunate series of events, but I'm hoping like crazy in 12 months I'll be able to eat without feeling sick. I have anti-nausea wafers but they don't do a lot. At the moment I cannot drive, cannot work, and don't know when I will be able to. i'm kind of glad it's done, and I have lost 16kg (mostly because I can hardly eat anything), but if I'd known in advance how bad mine would be, I definitely would have said no. I nearly died several times. Is being skinny really worth it? I was trying to improve my health, my blood pressure, stave off Diabetes. As it is, I don't know how long I am going to be out of action. However. As I said, I'm one of about 2% who have such nightmare complications, so listen to the people it worked for. After six months most of them are grinning like Cheshire cats at how great they feel having lost do much weight. In case you're wondering, the surgeon I had has one of the best reputations around.

I would most definitely tell your doctor. You don't want to have any complications during surgery in 5 days. Also they may be able to do something for your nausea.

You are not alone, lap-band complications almost took my life too before it was removed. I too gained the weight back, and was sleeved last November. Basically it's the same drill, you got this.

I was advised no flying for 4 weeks ( I travel a ton for work). Partially because of risk of blood clots, partially because they said most complications happen within the first 4 weeks so I'd be close by their care if something happened. My first flight it booked for right at the 4 week mark.

I'm want to share my story so that any of you who are in the fence about this can have a full picture of what can happen both bad and good. I had gastric bypass dec 2014. My surgery was very very painful. The first two days I vomited a lot of blood and they had trouble getting my pain under control. They gave me a lot of narcotics. My dr, dr Thoman from Santa Barbara, barely checked on me. I was at cottage hospital in SB. I went home after five days in the hospital. I was going okay but then. The mental challenge of not eating was no joke. It was something I was so used to. They had given me a ton of narcotics and I kinda used those to cope with the emotions of not being able to eat. About a week later I started to have major pain in my upper stomach. I went back to cottage and they found stones in my gallbladder so out it came. I went home but the pain remained. My doctor was very absent during this time. I told him about the pain and I kept taking more and more narcotics to deal with it. He blamed my pain on the narcotics but I felt trapped in a catch 22. Take them or not take them.. either way.. pain. Finally after several exploratory surgeries my dr decided to revert my surgery and make it into a gastric sleeve. After that my pain was gone but I was by now hooked on narcotics. I ended up having to go to a detox facility to get off of them. Worst week of my life. I could barely eat anything during this time and dropped weight rapidly. After I was free of the narcs and started to try and eat. But I could not get anything solid to pass through my stomach. Months went by and finally I said- okay something is wrong. Every time I ate solids I threw up. I elected to go to a new doctor after my bad experience with dr Thoman. I just felt he didn't care and no loner trusted him and his bedside manner was terrible. I went with dr Swartz in Fresno and he was great. I diagnosed me with a sever structure and did an endoscopy which opened it up. He said I had a ton of scar tissue from dr Thomans style of revision. After that I gradually began to eat some solids and after many months is continued to approve. Needless to say I lost a huge amount of weight very fast and was loving that. However I had severe malnutrition. My hair fell out in clumps and my legs went numb. I have dumping syndrome and I also still Sometimes vomit if I don't chew enough of just having a bad day or mix liquids with solids etc. I feel the American health care system to be very lacking in post operative care. Also they pass out narcotics like they are candy which had a lot to do with my issues. It's been over 2 years. I went from 240 to 115. I've since gained back to 129 and am holding there. I no longer diet, I just eat to fullness and try not to think about food very much. I run and lift weights daily and that has been the key for me to feel comfortable without having to stay on a diet forever which is impossible to do. Reaching maintenance was the hardest part of this process and I had very little advice to help me besides to stay on a diet forever. Ones appetite does return and one is able to eat much larger quantities that early on. For instance, now I can eat almost a whole chipotle burrito. I decided dieting wasn't for me and embraced intuitive eating philosophies instead which help me maintain in a place I am happy with. I still live with this surgery in a daily basis. Food gets stuck at least a couple times a week and I have to throw up do to the pain. I can't eat too much or eat with liquids or I will have dumping syndrome. (Yes you can dump with a sleeve). I am happy but good is always an issue. I feel quite sick after I eat sometimes. It's always a struggle for me. I'm not sure if this is due to my complications or just the surgery itself. My best friend had bypass and she says the same thing. On a positive note I have an amazing body. I really really enjoy my body and my energy and health and I would do it all again even though it was hard. I can run, chase my kids, work my active job, wear any clothes I desire. I feel very attractive. If you are considering this surgery because you aren't able to live a healthy and energetic life at your current weight, than do it. It won't change how you feel about yourself on the inside and it could end up being replaced by other dependency issues... but at least you will be physically stronger and healthier. I suggest therapy for anyone that is going to do this. Healing comes from within. Remember you will never again be able to eat to your hearts content. You won't be able to feel like you do now when you eat. This surgery will not help you maintain your weight loss forever and it's vital that you have realistic expectations. Try and make peace with food. Don't see it as an enemy but as a vital component to health. I dealt with very little loose skin. Mostly on my neck and tummy. I am now having plastic surgery for it in Mexico which I will post about in the plastic surgery section. On a side note, I you are considering vsg surgery in Mexico, I would highly recommend it. My care here has been extraordinary.

Glad to hear you're getting it sorted out. I never had a solid explanation as to why my heart rate & temp stayed elevated the first week at home. I could only assume it was due to the complications I had after my little spleen bleed. Definitely stay on top of his water intake and keep an accurate measurement of what he's getting in to take out the guesswork. Hope after this he's onto a speedy recovery.

The day of surgery, I was told to drink one of those little plastic medicine cups each hour, then bump up to two of those cups later that night. I haven't had any difficulty with maintaining fluids and keeping everything down so far has been a breeze. I guess because I was doing so well (no nausea, walking the hospital floor a lot, no complications) they gave me the green light to go home the next morning. It's typical at my hospital to release patients the next day if there are no complications.

The long term complications I've read about after gastric bypass and/or sleeve gastrectomy are nerve issues, dental problems (resulting in root canals, implants, dentures), reactive hypoglycemia, strictures, fibromyalgia, ulcers, fainting spells, chronic anemia, osteoporosis, etc. I don't know if MGB has the same issues as these other weight loss surgeries as there's a lot less info available online. One thought is the perception of risk could be skewed if more people that have issues post their experiences than people that don't have these issues. So I could be getting scared about possible outcomes that are very low risk. It's a conundrum I need to work through.

Hey again Darcia, Well, upon your recommendation, I switched to Dr. Gagner and had my telephone consult with him this morning. The face to face consult that the other clinic wanted was over the top for me, especially since I'm so low-risk. He was also able to discuss a growth on my liver since he is also a liver specialist!! That part was extra cool. Hoping for a date in April. Thanks again SO much for your input. Hope all is well, no problems or complications with you. I'm excited, but have the dreaded Surgery Fear as well. Are you on 'Gastric Sleeve, the New Me' on FB? Love seeing the pictures on there, the changes are dramatic. I wonder if I'll finally start to look like the person I imagined I was...

Yes, constantly. I also had a complication with my gallbladder. I had it removed exactly 4 weeks after my sleeve surgery. After that I was drinking and had little to no sick feeling. I also realized most of my nauseousness was actually acid reflux. It's gotten a lot better. After about 3 months post op I had no issues.

I travel a lot for work and my surgeon advised 4 weeks of no flying. He said I could do it at 3, but 4 weeks is the time most risk of complications have passed. Your timing looks just about right.

What have you read ? You're getting the mini bypass? Do you think the complications may be worth the reward ?

April 10th with Dr Kelly. I must admit I'm getting cold feet about the surgery (not the surgeon who is amazing) after reading online about complications that may occur years later.

Holy crap man...my complications are a drop in a bucket to what you went through. I think it's great that you're still positive about it all despite going through all of that. Glad to hear that you are doing so much better and for sharing your story. Best of luck to you!

So I was sleeved on 3/13. Today is 16 days post op. I have lost around 20 pounds so far. I have been able to increase my Protein intake as well as my Water and I am so happy about that! No complications so far. So glad I got sleeved. My bmi was 46.1 due to me being so petite. At "4'11" my highest weight was 235! I am currently 211 pds and I am already seeing the difference. I have had NO complications thus far. I went through the phase of regret for a few days but as days went on it got better. I feel like the new normal "me". I plan on using this tool to create a more active life for myself. I feel lighter now and more energized than ever! My doc gave me the green light to start going to the gym so I plan on doing that monday which will be (3) weeks post op for me . I will continue to share my progress with my fellow sleevers. Thanks to all who have HELPED me so far.

There are always going to be side effects and risks with any surgery. They can't go listing every single possible thing that might happen. 6 days out is a bit early to be in any sort of "regular routine." It takes time to heal from this. I had an elevated heart rate and minor fever the first two weeks, but I had some complications a few days after surgery. Even when I was back home the feverish feeling and higher heart rate continued. Our doc had us monitor our heart rate and temperature. If either one was over 100 that was when he wanted a phone call so the office was at least aware because it can be a possible sign of infection - possible - not a guarantee that it is. After a few days things leveled out for me and I was back to normal.

This surgery can beat you down as much mentally as it does physically. I spent my first week in the hospital due to complications, but the first week at home was rough too. Went through the same thing - tired easy, ran out of breath from doing the simplest things, down in the dumps...had it all. You have to keep positive and remember that this is only temporary. Soon you'll be looking back and thinking this was no big thing. Hang in there!

So I have been thinking of having weight loss surgery for a long time. I have been obese the majority of my adult life. The one exception is when I was diagnosed with bone cancer, and lost quit a bit of weight. Sad to say I gained it all back when I was able to eat again lol. So out of the blue I emailed both my Oncologist and my Primary Doctor at Kaiser to see what the process was, am I even qualified and even more importantly how much will it cost? So that same day, I found out yes I qualify, yes I can afford it, and yes my oncologist will sign off on it. This was done on Monday 3/20/17. I was scheduled for the first available weight loss class...2 hour class on April 4th. My doctor said after the class i will meet with the surgeon. I have many questions but I guess the most important right now is what happens after I meet with the surgeon? I know there will be labs, but does the surgeon schedule more classes, or pre surgery weight loss? I'm not looking for more complications, it just seems this process has been too easy. I am open to know what others think or know lol.

Hi actually meet with dr today And have date of March 5! really not sure he never mentioned 2 surgeries. I Think it depends on what band complications you have, and maybe your general health. He said it will take 1.5 to 2 hr total. My band has been empty now for a few months now.

I've been waiting to post my story because I'm afraid it will come out too negatively and may scare off folks looking into surgery. Now that I'm where I am in the recovery process, I feel like I can tell the tale. Plus, I think the stories that are tough are just as important to the discussion. I had RNY on October 5th 2016. I had it at DHMC in Lebanon NH with Dr. Truss, they have an excellent program and great safety & success stats there. I did months of Dr. supervised diet, psych visits, and all the other Insurance prerequisites. My program weight was 413 lbs and I was 45 years old. On the day of surgery I was 385 (mostly thanks to the 2 week pre-op diet), my blood pressure was perfect and I was in high spirits. I went into surgery, came out and felt good. I had the broth and Jello they give you, then immediately started feeling pains in my stomach which my Doctor at first judged to be "normal." But it got worse, and that's when things start getting fuzzy. I remember going down for a scan where I was standing and drinking a liquid so they could watch it flow through me. I remember sitting down in a chair after this... and that's the last thing I remember for over a month. Long story short, everything that could go wrong, did. I had blood clots in my remnant stomach, no one knows why. They split me open and went in to clean that up. I got sepsis. My fever spiked and they couldn't bring it down. One of my lungs collapsed, and my kidneys started failing. Everything was going very badly. They put me in an induced coma because I was trying to pull tubes out and they needed me resting. They filled me full of fluids adding nearly 100lbs. to my overall weight. I was grossly bloated (I've seen the pictures). The skin on feet shed like a snake. They put in a trach. A couple weeks one very insightful Doctor suggested that maybe I was allergic to the very common paralytic they gave me. They stopped giving it to me, administered an antidote of some sort, and my condition began to improve. No one had any idea I was allergic to it, I'd never had surgery before. All in all I had 11 surgeries. I have a piece of biomesh holding my stomach muscles together. They expect that to dissolve by fall and the Docs expect me to develop a hernia at that time so they are planning on another surgery in the fall. My wife says I was trying to communicate, with open eyes, long before I remember waking up. She has pictures of me and my eyes are open but it's clear there's no lights on. When I woke up, I didn't understand where I was or what was going on. I had been out so long, and pumped full of so many drugs, that I had been living in a dreamworld in my head. I thought I'd gone on a drug-fueled bender and crashed my car. I thought I was sleeping every night on a battleship, or a space ship, I had a million crazy theories and thoughts and they all seem totally real to me. My hallucinations lasted well into the time I was in rehab. They put me on an anti-psychotic developed esspecially for patients who had prolonged ICU stays and it slowly cleared my head. I couldn't speak because of the trach. I had lost over 100lbs while in the ICU for nearly 2 months, mostly muscle wasting from my legs and arms. I couldn't stand or walk. My hands where so shaky that I couldn't write. So I mouthed words and my amazing wife and friends did their best to read my lips. It was so frustrating. Every time I asked my wife what happened she'd start crying so it took a long time to get the full story, and even longer to accept it. Because my hallucinations were so strong, they bled into reality. I didn't know what was real. My wife had a steady stream of friends and family visiting me, sitting with me so that she could do some work, or take a break. My in-laws are full time RV'ers who spend winter in Florida, instead, they moved into our house and took care of my wife and son. They kept his life as "normal" as possible with school, dinner on the table, basketball practice, etc. I'm forever indebted to them. As my health improved, I moved to stage 2 of the trach where I could finally speak if I held my finger over my neck. This was AMAZING. I have always been chatty, plus I sing and play the ukulele. I thought I'd never speak again, much less sing. Thankfully that has all come back. I was able to finally have conversations with my visitors and start sorting through everything that had happened. I would frequently ask "Real? Or not real?" about things I remembered. I took advantage of the massages and total care and eventually started PT and OT. My emotions where another challenge. I would cry at the drop of a hat. When I wasn't in tears, I was very flat emotionally. Everyone, nurses, PT's, OT's, family & friends could see it but I thought that was just my new "normal." It was only after I was home that the fog truly lifted and I started feeling like myself again. On December 6th I stood up for the very first time (see attached photo). That was a GREAT day. All in all I was in the ICU for nearly 2 months, then a regular hospital room, then off to rehab for almost 3 weeks, then back at the hospital for an abscess next to my pancreas for 2 weeks, then back at rehab for a week. Now I've been home since January. Things were tough at first. Our bedroom is on the 2nd floor and I couldn't do stairs yet so I had a rented hospital bed in the living room for a few weeks. We all had the challenging of having me back home, re-integrating me into everyone's lives. it wasn't easy at first, but over the last 3 months we've found our way. I'm doing weekly outpatient PT, I've ditched the crutches I came home with and warm weather meant I could finally do laps of our neighborhood. I'm getting stronger every day, my head is clear, my smile is bright, and I'm loving life. The only hiccup since I've been home is that I went out to breakfast at a local diner just a few days after returning home. I ate a tiny bit of food, but halfway through breakfast, I passed out. My wife said it looked like a seizure as I was shaking , and my eyes rolled back in my head. When I awoke, my friends (who we were dining with, one of them was my OT) were already calling 911. I left for the hospital in an ambulance. What the Docs there found after 2 days of monitoring was the the blood pressure medicine that DHMC had put me on was unnecessary, and my B{ had crashed, causing my fainting. They took me off those meds and I've been fine ever since. So... take away all those complications and the question I get from everyone is... "was it worth it?" I can say now, that yes it was. I've lost 150lbs and will continue to lose. I currently weigh around 260lbs, I've lost 14 inches off my waist and I'm down 3 shirt sizes. It took a while to learn what my pouch likes and doesn't like because the hospital and rehab controlled my eating and portions for so long. Though I'm 6 months out from my surgery, I really am only 3 months out on my own, making my own food choices, and mistakes. Mostly, I can eat what I want, just in very small qualities. I don't really get hungry any more. I eat small portions of healthy food, avoid fried food and sweets, try to get enough Protein, take my Vitamins, and exercise. The Gastric Bypass worked, it was the complications that nearly killed me, and they are rare. My wife kept a Caring Bridge Journal if you want the play-by-play. It, and the pictures she took, have been an invaluable resource as I've recovered and tried to piece together the time I lost. https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davemorin/journal/index/0/0/asc In conclusion, I hope this story helps someone here. I got a lot of great info from this forum before my surgery and my intent is not to slam RNY, my caregivers, or try to discourage anyone. I just hope that it can be educational about some of the risks.

Hi there! I had surgery last July. I had it done on a Tuesday and came home Thursday. From the time I got out of surgery I didnt take any pain meds. Dont get me wrong I was sore but I just dont like them. You can have them in the hospital. They offer them to you. I didnt even take Tylenol so it was bearable. The first day of surgery I slept about all day. I only got up to walk a few times. 24 hrs later I felt much better and was up sitting in the chair. I was just very sleepy. When I came home I slept in my bed that night and never did take any Tylenol. By Saturday I was moving around great and out of the house. I was moving slow then usual but felt good enough to be out and about. Usually only for an hour or so because I would still tire easy. I had 2 C-sections years ago so I dont know if that made it easier on me or not. Im happy to say the last time I weighed I was down about 65 pds and I have never had one complication at all. It went so much easier then I ever expected. You will be fine and good luck.

That's true. I mostly mean getting back on program and tracking and exercising more again! Thanks! I'm sad I ever let myself get to the point that I have to lose 340 pounds. I know I need to look at the future and focus on how far I've already come but it's hard not to remember how trapped I was. I do need to work on my emotional eating still and am working with my therapist on it but it's a process. I go through phases of feeling proud of all I've done to feeling like a failure because I'm not losing as much or as fast as I thought I would. I feel like my "magically fast" first 6 months was stolen from me since I had so many complications and had to be on tpn infusions to get my fluids and nutrients for the first 5 months.

GM, my Bariatric family!!! This is a quick update on my progress!!! I AM 100 days/ 3 & 1/2 Months POST OPP!!!! Sleeve Date 12/15/16 by Dr. Luis Cervantes of Tijuana Mexico, Water as directed, old habits trying to creap back in, but the surgery kicks in when u fall weak!!! No matter what and how much u crave something, you cant eat more that 4-5 bites w/ no liquid at same sitting, make sense? BUT HEY THATS WHAT WE PAID FIR , RIGHT??? (OVER A PERIOD OF TIME food WILL BECOME A HASSLE MORE THAN AN ENJOYMENT! I just had a BBQ @ my house & i grilled over 50lbs of meat & i ate 1 rib & 1 pork chop (in intervals) and sipped some my championship lemon iced tea!!! am finally @goal weight 250, my new goal is 240, over the next 30days! 10lbs a month is a significant decrease from 30lbs a month when your on liquids, so take advantage of that time , you need it to heal properly & thats the majority of the Weightloss! My money was well spent, im a cash patient & i had absolutely no complications in mexico, call me if you skeptical about going out of the country for the procedure, dont miss your blessings lunch, i ordered soup or salad, i had bout 10 bites of salad ( you hv to let it get soggy, sorry) and about 3 oz of Soup, we sat for bout an hour so i was able to take my time!!! Photo is from my Pre Bday Photo shoot ! & yes i had my tummy tuck b4 the sleeve

Yes, the complications of the bypass was too much. She gave me paperwork for both procedures and after reading the bypass I know in my heart I don't want that.