Major Complications

[emily_0192010 168]

UPDATE: so they identified the bacteria that gave my fiance the abcess is called VRE and yesterday had a stent put and and they were able to repair the leak. Tomorrow they will do another cat scan to confirm. Today she has made a complete 180 and cannot wait to get the he'll home lol I am so happy she has had her life worth saving by god.

I am so glad to hear that she is doing better! I bet you can't wait to take her home after all of the struggles she (and you!) have been through! Chin up! It is almost over

[Day Dreamer 23]

UPDATE: so they identified the bacteria that gave my fiance the abcess is called VRE and yesterday had a stent put and and they were able to repair the leak. Tomorrow they will do another cat scan to confirm. Today she has made a complete 180 and cannot wait to get the he'll home lol I am so happy she has had her life worth saving by god.

TKD,

I am glad she is doing better. I am praying for you guys and her quick recovery.

I have to admit, I am shaking right now. This is a very scary case of complications. I am glad you shared - even though it scares the heck out of me. Keep us posted.

[dishdiva 5]

I am in the exact same boat......the leak, the abscess. Drains, Multiple antibiotics. Tests galore. If I heard NPO one more time.... Now home after 15 days in hospital... original surgery was in MEX. A pile of medical bills that will take me 20 years to get through. Yeah, I'd take my day of surgery weight back in a minute over all this -- but my mind may change if things stablize and improve.

For now, I have to WORK at no regrets -- know there's a reason I'm going through this and all will turn out for the best.

I hope your finance is better soon. Please keep us posted.

Approximately 2 weeks ago my fiancée had her gastric sleeve operation. The surgeon said to me she has perfect anatomy and the surgery went very well. She got home about 3 days later and felt fantastic and started her home clear liquid diet. a couple days later she started experiencing chest pains, back pains and trouble breathing. after reading issues after the surgery we thought this was normal. She then started to develop a fever of 100 that didn't fluctuate. She became lethargic but this only happened at night. The following morning she felt great. The 3rd day I got home from work with her sitting on the couch. She had a fever of 101, red faced lethargic and was crying as she stated "why did I do this to myself?" I rushed her to the ER immediately. In the ER they wanted to her to drink an oral contrast for a cant scan to find the problem. After taking two small sips she experience pain equal to that of a heart attack and couldn't breath. Ive never seen her in so much pain in my life and was so upsetting to see her crying and screaming "why do I feel like this please help me" They gave her 9 shots of morphine and 4 shots of Di lotted. This did not immense the pain at all. They admitted her over night. The next morning that did a cat scan with the contrast given to her through an IV. a few hours later the surgeon game in and said she had a leak that caused an abscess below her esophagus and above her spleen the size of a soft ball. They scheduled another operation in the OR an hour later to try and seal the leak. After the operation the surgeon could not see the leak because it was so small. They gave her two drainage tubes on each side of her stomach and an NG tube out of her nose. They said they wanted to dry her stomach out so the the hole could clear on its own because of how small it was. she was held in the ICU to keep her under constant supervision. 3 days later she started to develop another fever of 102. The surgeon then ordered another emergency draining in radiology from the abscess above her spleen. this procedure was approximately 20 minutes. Immediately she lost all pain and felt great. She is now currently in ICU still and draining her stomach out. Doing a lot better but can eat or drink anything (she is so thirsty she says). Every time they move her she feels pain on her incisions ( 10 total). They have to move her so that the tubes can collect all the fluids in her stomach. What breaks my heart the most is that shes wanted this for so long and so bad and now says she regrets ever getting it done and has suffered greatly.

[Jen Jen 6]

I too went through a leak. Just got my picc line removed and tube. I am doing much better. I spent alot of time in the hospital and regretted my surgery also. I cried most of the time.

Now I am where I should have been after my surgery. It was tough and I still regret that I did it, but mostly wish I wouldn't have had the leak. The sleeve part is what I wanted. I promise it will get better as many others told me. Finding others that have went through what your fiancee' is going through will help. I was sent home with TPN and hated that more than the hospital.

It is such a scary experience. I was terrified of losing my life and leaving my little girl without a Mom. I was lucky and had a wonderful husband to be by my side. Just as you are by her side. That is awesome. God and support from others is exactly what we need. God bless you and your fiancee'. Praying for a full recovery. Jen

[TKDBlackBelt15 0]

UPDATE: So guess whose home? ha ha yep my fiancée came home yesterday with the TPN and antibiotics. A nurse comes everyday and she showed me how to equip the Vitamins with the TPN then in the morning attach her to the antibiotics. They say the leak has closed however still has a couple more follow up appointments. I couldn't be happier right now. she desperately struggles and wants to have something to drink cause she hasn't had anything in two weeks. She wanted me to ask whoever when is an appropriate time to start sipping fluids? shes been licking watermelon and has some bizarre craving for fruit. please shed some light on this and experiences. Thanks.

[Caliblonde 25]

I am so glad to hear that your fiancee is home!!!! That is exciting. I'm also thrilled to hear that they fixed the leak and she's on the road to recovery.

In the hospital I experienced the same thing. They gave me nasty lemon swabs to moisten my mouth, but they made me sick to my stomach. Finally, I was allowed to rinse my mouth out with Water which was like heaven!! She may be able to rinse her mouth out with water or crystal light as long as she doesn't swallow anything, but I'm not a doctor so you probably should ask first.

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

Yes you need to check with the doctor regarding starting any fluids by mouth. I am glad to hear she is home and on the road to recovery.

Are you willing to share who her surgeon was?

[TKDBlackBelt15 0]

Yes you need to check with the doctor regarding starting any fluids by mouth. I am glad to hear she is home and on the road to recovery.

Are you willing to share who her surgeon was?

Dr. Balsama out of Stratford NJ under the Kennedy Health System and UMDNJ thanks for the input. The surgeon is absolutely wonderful and this was his very first complication.

[Jen Jen 6]

I rinsed my mouth with Water alot, but wasn't allowed to swallow. We have our silava that we swallow, but my doctor said absolutely nothing by mouth. I went 4 weeks without anything. It was extremely hard to do, but I always had Water to spit since my lips were so dry.

I do hope she recovers quickly. Sounds like she is doing much better. Good luck and keep us posted.

UPDATE: So guess whose home? ha ha yep my fiancée came home yesterday with the TPN and antibiotics. A nurse comes everyday and she showed me how to equip the Vitamins with the TPN then in the morning attach her to the antibiotics. They say the leak has closed however still has a couple more follow up appointments. I couldn't be happier right now. she desperately struggles and wants to have something to drink cause she hasn't had anything in two weeks. She wanted me to ask whoever when is an appropriate time to start sipping fluids? shes been licking watermelon and has some bizarre craving for fruit. please shed some light on this and experiences. Thanks.

[lunarose 97]

Leaks are just awful and scary it was my biggest fear going in. I am glad she is doing so much better. I know of four ladies here that have had one and while they all felt and said "what did I do to myself?" once they were healed and back on track the regrets went away. One word of warning is that the ladies I know had to stay on TPN and nothing by mouth for a couple of months hope your fiancee won't have to.

[Griselda 7]

TKD, you are a definite keeper!! I'm thrilled to hear she is doing better, God bless you both. You must be an absolute godsend to her. I hope we will be hearing about upcoming nuptials as soon as she is fit and mended!!

[dishdiva 5]

I feel your pain! After surgery 5/2, I ended up in ER with a leak on 5/10. In hospital for 2 weeks. Now home with IV's and drains. No quality of life. Haven't had a bite of solid food in over a month and will probably be another 2 months before I do. I'm kind of in shock that I'm losing days of my life. But I'm grateful to be alive. I had massive infections as well and Dr's also say I'm lucky to be alive.

No one has been as hard on me about this as me. My family and friends have been frantic. I second guess every decision. Today, I'd take back every pound and live with it. At least I was living.

I'm trying to change that -- be more positive, this happened for a reason, etc. -- but it's hard.

Assuming my stints are doing their job, when they come out, I will constantly live in fear of another leak.

I know there are former leakers on VST that recovered and are now happy with their sleeve. I hope to join their ranks one day.

In the meantime, everyone please keep those of us with leaks in your prayers... it is a very grueling process.

Health to All!

[KristeyK 3]

TDK...thank you for sharing this! I still have yet to be sleeved, but reading about what can go wrong is EVERY bit as important as knowing what can go RIGHT. I am VERY glad your fiancee is home and doing better. If she wants to rinse her mouth that badly, try finding the toothettes. (They make a mint flavored one, those are WAY better!!!) Just make sure she spits the extra saliva she makes. (Hopefully her Dr will allow her ice chips or something soon.)

I wish your fiancee all the best!