Search the Community

On August 2nd at revision from sleeve to gastric bypass. Can pancreatitis be a side effect ?

So as you all know, I had A LOT of complications with my sleeve. I ended up with gastritis, esophagitis, horrible gerd, and precancerous polyps all though my stomach and duodenum. I had 4 endoscopies to have them all removed. Then I had a colonoscopy and found 3 cancerous polyps (stage 1) and they were removed and I'm ok. Wouldn't have found ANY of that had I not had the complications from the sleeve. During that time, I also had a ct scan to see what was happening, and 2 large fibroids were found in my uterus. Well, now that everything else was taken care of and I had my revision from sleeve to bypass, I decided to deal with the fibroids (they are causing my stomach to be large, my uterus is HUGE, they cause discomfort, very heavy bleeding, etc) One is 12cm (roughly the size of a grapefruit) and one is 6.5 cm (the size of an egg). I also had an endometrial biopsy (those SUCK) and was diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia, which is precancerous. So now I have an appt to see what to do about all of this. Again, never ever would have found this if I hadn't had complications that led to all the testing to figure out what was wrong. Sometimes the fear of the unknown, the long road ahead, and the daunting testing and procedures to diagnose and correct complications can make surgery seem like a no-go. But potential complications shouldn't necessarily be seen as a deal breaker. I had several precancerous and cancerous conditions I knew absolutely NOTHING about, and I wouldn't have known about them until it was too late, had it not been for the complications from the sleeve. Trying to find out what happened inadvertently led to correcting not only the initial sleeve complication but also the silent and secret health issues that definitely would have creeped up on me and taken me out had it all not be found when they were. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Maybe hitting every speed bump on the way sucks and feels overwhelming, but at least now it's done. I'm already healthier than I have ever been, and I'm only getting healthier. I'm following dreams I previously let go, and being 45, I'm at the age where health risks start to increase anyway. Now I'm having it all taken care of and I can just do my thing and live my life. I said all of this to say.... don't talk yourself out of a life changing and life SAVING surgery because there's the potential for complications. Yes, they're scary. Yes, they suck. But YES finding and treating them early on (especially if you never would have known about them otherwise) is a blessing. We are doing these surgeries to get our lives back. And if that means finding and treating other issues that can/will cause us problems down the road, consider that a perk of the surgery.

Hi all, I am writing this for the >1% of gastric bypass patients who have the unusual complications that I had and, like me, couldn't find any information about it online to ease your mind. I had my gastric bypass surgery on September 7, 2022. I chose gastric bypass over the gastric sleeve specifically after months of research because of the higher rate of successful weight loss, particularly in women. My first week post-op went great, but after day 8 or 9 when I tried progressing my food intake from full-liquids to pureed foods I began vomiting and feeling really nauseous at every meal. I let my surgeon and dietitian know immediately and stepped my food intake back down to full-liquids. Pretty soon, I couldn't even take in full-liquids and was limited to hydrating fluids and chicken broth. I could keep down hydrating fluids and broth about 80% of the time, full-liquids 50% of the time, and everything else came back up. My surgeon was very responsive and had me get an endoscopy. Under general anesthesia, the endoscopy explored my new stomach pouch and roux limb connections that make up my new tummy system. Typically, gastric bypasses can result in constriction of the connection between the stomach pouch and roux limb, and my gastroenterologist was prepared to use a balloon to inflate the area to ease that restriction. In my case, however, that area looked fine, but further down the roux limb there was a stricture that was almost impassable for the narrow scope. This is what was causing my problem. I had an external compression on my roux limb that was making it impossible for anything more viscous than water to pass through. My layman's understanding of what had happened is that my surgeon brought my small intestine / roux limb up to meet my new stomach pouch through the transverse mesocolon. This involved cutting a hole through the transverse mesocolon to put the roux limb through and then stitching it up a little on either side to make sure nothing else will slip through the hole and cause a hernia. Apparently, this is typically sufficient and there is space enough in the hole in the mesocolon for scar tissue to form but still allow the roux limb to operate appropriately. Not in my case! xD My body and over-active immune system saw a hole and decided that hole must. be. fixed! The scar tissue that formed to close the hole closed tight enough on the roux limb and it was tight enough that barely anything could get through. I had a second laparoscopic surgery on October 12, 2022 to remove the scar tissue and loosen the compression on the roux limb. My surgeon decided to remove the small stitches on either side of the hole in the transverse mesocolon to reduce the chance that any new scar tissue will close the hole up as completely again. Immediately after this second laparoscopic surgery, I felt tons better! I stayed overnight in the hospital and was put straight on full-liquids, which I was barely tolerating before! The reason I am writing all of this out is because, in the month-long interim between surgeries, I couldn't find anything in my online research to figure out what was wrong, or what I could try, or what the next steps looked like, or how long, or why this was happening. I went for more than a month on little to no substantial nutrition, and I found so little information on what to expect or how long I would have to live like this. I even looked in these forums to see if anyone had asked about symptoms that are similar to mine and I didn't find very much information. So, I'm writing about my experience and using as many of the keywords I can think of that I've been searching for over the past two months! So! If you had gastric bypass and you start experiencing nausea and vomiting after what seems like typical food progression, please speak to your surgeon. It could be an internal stricture of the roux limb or the connecting bits, or in my case an external compression of some sort. From the very few resources I could find online, my type of external compression of transverse mesocolon on the roux limb seemed to occur in 0.9% of gastric bypass patients and it seems to happen within the first month. My surgeon pretty much immediately knew what was wrong, and her PA said she had seen it before, but not often, and it was new for my insurance caseworker. The inability to eat made it very difficult to complete normal daily tasks like my job, housework, walking the dog, etc. I wasn't in pain, I just couldn't get enough energy to do anything! My doctors moved quickly to get me back in for surgery, but it still took 4-5 weeks from starting to vomit at each meal to waking up from my second surgery feeling much better. I am so thankful that my surgeon was able to fix what was wrong with the scar tissue compressing around the roux limb; it made a world of difference! I'm not out of the woods quite yet, however. Six days after the surgery to repair the hole in the transverse mesocolon, I had a bad food day and nothing stayed down. I immediately reached out to my surgeon's office and today went in for an upper GI in which I intake contrast dye while a doctor observes how it flows through my new gastrointestinal system with an X-ray. That doctor said it looks like the connection between my stomach pouch and roux limb looks stenosed now. I am grateful that they found something and that there is an explanation for why everything I put in my mouth makes me nauseous and that there's a reason why I don't want to eat anything. I will be having another endoscopy in the following couple of weeks and, as ever, I am hopeful that this will be the last surgery that I need for my gastric bypass.

Hi. My name is Lee Ann and like many others seems like I’ve been on a diet for the majority of my life. It’s been a constant battle. At one point in my life I weighed over 400 lbs and I was able to lose and get back some of my confidence. In 2010 I had a major car accident when a driver ran a light. And I became disabled because of the injuries that caused. With the injuries I was unable to get around like I once did and then some of the medications I was on added weight and my weight issues truly started getting me depressed so I decided to go through with gastric surgery. So about 6 years ago I started the process. Frustrating because I was having to restart 3 times because of either the scheduling or not having a dr appointment for 6 months in a row either because of how I was feeling or because the doctor was booked. Seemed like I wasn’t ever going to complete it. Then finally 4 years ago I had the gastric sleeve surgery and at the beginning problems started. I was so sick and my stitches started to open and I received no support from the doctors office and then the pandemic hit and my calls and emails went unanswered for 2-1/2 years. So when we moved so I could help my mom with her everyday life I looked into seeing a different gastric doctor. I’m still getting sick all most everyday and night plus the weight is coming back and I don’t understand how. I’m not sitting around eating just whatever I want. I am trying to get more food in but it’s hard when I hardly ever feel hungry. So after talking with my doctor about everything we’ve decided to go through with getting the gastric bypass. I’m hoping this will correct the issues and hopefully it’s soon.

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.

I’ve been trying to do my home work on WLS and my first appointment is Monday I’m 5-7 like 263 I’m reading a lot of complications post op losing hair, nausea throwing up foam !? I’m questioning if it’s worth it ? I want to be healthy but I don’t want to mess my insides up ? Please advise

I really didn't have any pain at all. In fact, at first I thought they hadn't done the surgery! Pain is all across the board with these surgeries, but I've been hanging out on this site for nine years, and from what I can tell, most of us experience very little pain. If you're one of the ones who DOES have pain, they'll give you pain killers to keep on top of it. They're pretty effective and the pain shouldn't last for more than a couple of days. I also would not worry about complications. Techniques have improved immensely over the last few years, and complications are pretty rare.

like the DS, it's not a common surgery - but in addition, it's also fairly new - which is probably why you haven't seen much about it. It supposedly as fewer complications than the DS (although it's sort of a new-fangled version of it)

I had my gastric bypass surgery March 19th. Due to complications, they had to cut me from breast bone to belly button! I know it will all be worth it, but having my kids and back surgery sure beat the snot out of this surgery!

there have been people on here who had the SADI (some might still be on here). It's sort of an altered, new-fangled version of the DS. There would be more potential complications with that than with the RNY or VSG, because it's a more complicated surgery, but on the other hand, I think that like the others, major complications aren't that common. And like with all the WLS surgeries, you'll hear about horror stories because people are much more likely to post when they have problems than if everything is hunky-dory. It's because they're usually looking for support or advice. one thing to think about is that regular (PCP) physicians are all pretty familiar with the RNY and sleeve since they're so common, but you might come across some who aren't familiar with the SADI - so if you have issues in the future, you MAY have to see a specialist, but then that might not be a big deal for you. On the plus side, people tend to lose more weight (and maintain their loss more easily) with that one than the sleeve and RNY, so there's that.

@Noelle74 Congratulations on your sons wedding! I'm also struggling with the one bit too many, and learning to eat slowly is complicated .... I've always eaten way to fast. Also, can I ask if any of you are still constipated and how you're dealing with it ? Thanks

If you're having your surgery in the US, your surgeon's office will do the follow up care. If you're having your surgery outside the US, most US surgeons won't do the aftercare because they don't want to be responsible for any complications that may come up. If there's any kind of complication that is emergent, you can go to an ER and they should take care of the immediate issue, but follow up care will likely still be a problem. If you have complications that are non emergent (like I did), you'll be hard pressed to find a surgeon that will take care of it. But again, if you have your surgery here in the US, none of this is an issue because your surgeon's office will definitely do all aftercare and treat any issues that may arise.

I had a revision from sleeve to bypass, but it was due to complications, not for weight loss. When you have a revision, the amount of weight you lose is a lot less than the original surgery, and tends to come off slower, as well. For example... with my initial sleeve, I lost 103 pounds the first 8 months. Since I've had my revision (and it's been 8 months) I've lost 57 pounds. I'm not complaining, by any means, but it comes off a lot slower and you definitely lose less. Also, with the initial surgery you tend to lose the most weight in the first 6-7 months. With the revision, I noticed it was the first 3-4 months. In no way do I regret it (as I said, I had some pretty gnarly complications, so a revision was a must) but it's just something to keep in mind when looking at a revision for weight loss versus because of complications.

I'm 52 years old and am scheduled for a RNY in 4 days. I am super nervous about post-op pain. It is so helpful to hear and read about all of these successful results. I have a hefty case of fibromyalgia, which intensifies the pain response. Do any of you have this complication as well?

My doctor originally wanted me to take 6 weeks. I I've been out 9 weeks so far and counting. I have had a lot of complications and am about to have a feeding tube placed so it's not a common result at all

I have a very physical job as well and understand how hard it is. I've been out of work for 6 weeks already and due to complications and needing a lot of Iv infusions I'm going to be out another 3 weeks. Hang in there

Has anyone needed post op care/follow ups/complication care in the US? Were doctors ok with doing so? Were there issues? This is the big barrier of going for my spouse and I. Thanks

Hi! I’m having revision from VSG to RNY in June. I’m 52, and had the sleeve almost 10 years ago. I did well with the sleeve as far as no complications, but I regained almost all of what I lost, so here I am now. I’m older, hopefully wiser, and my reasons are different this time around. Best wishes to you!

either one should do that. For some reason, DS seems to improve (or cure) GERD even though it has a sleeved stomach. And bypass has always been known to improve or cure GERD. You may be able to lose more weight with the DS because it bypasses much more of the small intestine, but then on the flip side, complication rate is higher than it is with bypass (but then again, complications with either surgery aren't very common). another thing that comes to mind is that most PCPs are familiar with bypass, but not so much the DS. So if you have issues, you may have to see a specialist. beyond that, either would be a good option. Check to see if your surgeon recommends one over the other.

Yes my date is Monday 1/29, starting the diet this Sunday 1/12. I'm having Loop Duodenal Switch. I am also pre-diabetic and have had GERD for a long time. I'm mainly nervous about surgery complications. I'm 68 years old. I think as long as the surgery is successful without any major complication I am strong willed enough to handle most anything after the surgery. As they say, we'll see.

Holy hell, that's an insane amount of complications!!! Do your doctors think they are from the specific type of surgery you ad, or maybe from having a major surgery in itself?

I'd contact your surgeon, especially since you were "fine" beforehand. It might not or might be stricture, I'm not a doctor so contact your surgeons office. Stricture presents symptoms that can "include nausea, vomiting, trouble swallowing, feeling fullness in the upper-middle abdomen, and trouble eating" "The patient may also experience pain when swallowing or experiencing difficulty swallowing." ** This is what you're describing!? "Generally, when a patient complains of feeling like food is getting stuck, or they are throwing up, we immediately assume it is an anastomotic stricture. An anastomotic stricture after gastric bypass is the most common complication. "Near 60% [of patients] present a mild stricture (with a diameter between 7 and 9 mm), [with] 28% asymptomatic. This complication is easily treated by endoscopic procedure if it is diagnosed early (3 to 4 weeks) after surgery. Routine endoscopy 1 month after surgery is the only objective scientific way to determine the real true incidence of this complication." You are better off directing your concerns to your doctor just to be safe!

HI all! @NickelChip great that you’re allowed to eat again. @Holly W. sorry to hear about the complications you’re having. I have had cystitis since the day before yesterday for the first time in years … I’m probably not drinking enough. I’ve got antibiotics but it’s a right bore. I had a five hour flight this morning from Paris to Cairo ( work conf) and it was excruciating… hope it passes soon!

Are there other factors why he wants to do the sleeve? Have you had previous surgeries that might complicate a RNY?

Hi! I was banded with a Realize band in 2008. Went from 235 to 150 and I've been between 150 and 165 for years. I'm now having serious complications with the band. Lots of complications but the worst is an "oozing sore" around 75% of my Esophagus. I've had such great success with the band and I'm nervous about going to a RNY. I really don't want to weigh less than 150. Is a revision just going to put me back into rapid weight loss? Any revision weight loss/gain stories are greatly appreciated. I need someone to hold my hand!