I don't usually post on here but I thought i'd share my story with everyone:

I was sleeved on June 27th 2011. I was doing great...only a few mild/normal complications like mild dehydration in week 1-2, and chest pain when swallowing soft foods. I contacted my doc every time something seemed weird to me and they told me that was to be expected and eventually i was able to take in fluids like a champ but still had problems with food. After two weeks of taking it easy i started light house keeping and taking more responsibilities with our two young boys and running errands and i felt fine doing all of that. By week three i was back to doing everything in my home that i had before surgery and by week four i had joined a gym. Things were looking pretty good. I still had trouble swallowing food...it was like it was stuck in my chest...no matter what i ate....pudding, chicken anything after 1 bite felt awful. They said it could be due to swelling and that I would be fine. I took four weeks off of work because of the type of job i have requires a TON of heavy lifting. I got cleared by my surgeon and the hospital i work for to go back finally last week. My first night back was rough but i expected that, i work 11p-7a as a CNA, so after work i went home monday a.m. and passed out. While i was sleeping i rolled over in bed and felt this sharp stabbing pain under my big incision....i sat straight up and almost screamed it hurt so bad. I tried to walk it off around the house thinking it was a cramp but it still hurt. I relaxed and took it easy monday night but by tuesday a.m. i was still in pain so i called the surgeon. They said it was most likely my internal sutures healing...that they might pinch and burn a little as they healed.....umm...ok....i felt like my pain was being ignored but they're the experts. Back to work Tuesday night....can barely get in any food or fluids because of pain but it was a busy night so i ignored it. By Wed at dinner i was throwing up everything i tried to eat or drink and work was awful...i could barely walk, i was snapping at patients because of my pain...things were no good!!! Thursday i woke up and had to run to the store with my kids bcz hubby works evenings on Thursdays. while i was driving i started getting this dizzy feeling almost like i was buzzed....so we came home right away....as the night progressed my dizziness did too!!!! I was laying with the boys reading a book and my younger son ask for a drink. I got up to get him a drink and collasped to the ground. I actually at that point crawled downstairs to get my husband to come home. He had his parents rush over so one could stay with the kids while the other took me to the ER where my surgeon was gonna have his team meet me. But he couldn't think of anything that could cause this one month post op so i was preparing myself to get sent home with no answers.

At the hospital they did all kinds of tests and decided they would keep me over night for observation. They sent me for a swallow study before i got settled in a room so they could see if i had a leak anywhere but they were very doubtful of that!! After just dozing off around 4am, my room an hour later was full with 3 docs, 2 nurses, and my tech all preping me for what the resident was explaining as emergency exploratory surgery because my swallow study showed a leak somewhere. They had a long list of things that could "possibly" happen including: cutting my open fully, removing bowel, reverting my sleeve to a roux en y.....a horrible list of maybe's that i was prepared for!!!

When i woke from the operation I had tubes and drains coming out of every body part they could. They had so much trouble finding veins for IV's bcz i was so dehydrated my arms were black and blue. When my husband came in to see me for the first time he got the look of terror on his face. They told us that they found a tear in my stomach and they luckily fixed it laparascopically but they said i threw a curve ball at them. They told us that only 1% of sleeve patients past one month post op have ever had this happen and that i was the first patient of theirs to ever have this. So they kept me for 6 days bcz they wanted to take things really slow!!

But i am home now after lots of medications, tubes, needles and PAIN. I still have one drain that they are keeping in until i see the doc next week but for the most part things are going a lot better. I can drink fluids fine and i had some tuna with mayo last night and no chest pain when i swallowed!!! So for the next few weeks i'll be sticking to soft foods and liquids!!!

I just thought i'd share....please don't let the docs ignore even the smallest concerns you may have....it could be life or death!!!

Wow how scary! I'm so glad they have you fixed up! I hope you recover quickly!!

Yeah I read about the 1 percentile going through this complication. I happy they found the problem and I'm happy you are Feelin do much better...

Thanks so much for sharing this horrible experience. I am glad you are feeling better.

Wow, I was holding my breath during the entire story. I am so glad you are doing better. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you came on here to share your story. I am happy this is here, and I want to know what to expect. You are such a brave person for getting through this.

Wow! I'm SO glad you came out of this okay and without having to have your sleeve turned into a RxY or something equally terrible!!

That said… It makes absolute sense that you are grateful to the team for saving your life, but I believe they acted irresponsibly to start with!

When I had 2 days of being able to eat less and less until it started coming back up, my surgeon saw me immediately. Even though I could still drink Water just fine. It turned out to just be a spike in swelling, but what if it hadn't been? My surgeon told me to drink cold liquids only and if it didn't better in 24 hours, or if it got worse, to do another leak test.

Your doctor should have treated you like that, too. Maybe then your surgery would have been less urgent and less scary, and you would have suffered much less!

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and compilments.....I am doing much better!!! Its amazing the difference I feel when eating and drinking!!! I actually ate more than two bites without it coming back up tonight!!! I ate half of a tilapia fillet and actually got a full feeling and stopped. I feel like this is the begining of my weight loss journey now that everything feels normal again!!! I do have plans on at least bringing up my concerns that i called several times about different symptoms throughout the first month at my app. next tuesday!!! I will let everyone know how that goes!!!

Good luck to everyone else!!!!!

I don't usually post on here but I thought i'd share my story with everyone:

I was sleeved on June 27th 2011. I was doing great...only a few mild/normal complications like mild dehydration in week 1-2, and chest pain when swallowing soft foods. I contacted my doc every time something seemed weird to me and they told me that was to be expected and eventually i was able to take in fluids like a champ but still had problems with food. After two weeks of taking it easy i started light house keeping and taking more responsibilities with our two young boys and running errands and i felt fine doing all of that. By week three i was back to doing everything in my home that i had before surgery and by week four i had joined a gym. Things were looking pretty good. I still had trouble swallowing food...it was like it was stuck in my chest...no matter what i ate....pudding, chicken anything after 1 bite felt awful. They said it could be due to swelling and that I would be fine. I took four weeks off of work because of the type of job i have requires a TON of heavy lifting. I got cleared by my surgeon and the hospital i work for to go back finally last week. My first night back was rough but i expected that, i work 11p-7a as a CNA, so after work i went home monday a.m. and passed out. While i was sleeping i rolled over in bed and felt this sharp stabbing pain under my big incision....i sat straight up and almost screamed it hurt so bad. I tried to walk it off around the house thinking it was a cramp but it still hurt. I relaxed and took it easy monday night but by tuesday a.m. i was still in pain so i called the surgeon. They said it was most likely my internal sutures healing...that they might pinch and burn a little as they healed.....umm...ok....i felt like my pain was being ignored but they're the experts. Back to work Tuesday night....can barely get in any food or fluids because of pain but it was a busy night so i ignored it. By Wed at dinner i was throwing up everything i tried to eat or drink and work was awful...i could barely walk, i was snapping at patients because of my pain...things were no good!!! Thursday i woke up and had to run to the store with my kids bcz hubby works evenings on Thursdays. while i was driving i started getting this dizzy feeling almost like i was buzzed....so we came home right away....as the night progressed my dizziness did too!!!! I was laying with the boys reading a book and my younger son ask for a drink. I got up to get him a drink and collasped to the ground. I actually at that point crawled downstairs to get my husband to come home. He had his parents rush over so one could stay with the kids while the other took me to the ER where my surgeon was gonna have his team meet me. But he couldn't think of anything that could cause this one month post op so i was preparing myself to get sent home with no answers.

At the hospital they did all kinds of tests and decided they would keep me over night for observation. They sent me for a swallow study before i got settled in a room so they could see if i had a leak anywhere but they were very doubtful of that!! After just dozing off around 4am, my room an hour later was full with 3 docs, 2 nurses, and my tech all preping me for what the resident was explaining as emergency exploratory surgery because my swallow study showed a leak somewhere. They had a long list of things that could "possibly" happen including: cutting my open fully, removing bowel, reverting my sleeve to a roux en y.....a horrible list of maybe's that i was prepared for!!!

When i woke from the operation I had tubes and drains coming out of every body part they could. They had so much trouble finding veins for IV's bcz i was so dehydrated my arms were black and blue. When my husband came in to see me for the first time he got the look of terror on his face. They told us that they found a tear in my stomach and they luckily fixed it laparascopically but they said i threw a curve ball at them. They told us that only 1% of sleeve patients past one month post op have ever had this happen and that i was the first patient of theirs to ever have this. So they kept me for 6 days bcz they wanted to take things really slow!!

But i am home now after lots of medications, tubes, needles and PAIN. I still have one drain that they are keeping in until i see the doc next week but for the most part things are going a lot better. I can drink fluids fine and i had some tuna with mayo last night and no chest pain when i swallowed!!! So for the next few weeks i'll be sticking to soft foods and liquids!!!

I just thought i'd share....please don't let the docs ignore even the smallest concerns you may have....it could be life or death!!!

Wow, I am so sorry you had this happen to you! Did you develope a leak or have a actual tear? If it was a tear was it from lifting?

Here is to a speedy recovery. I am sure Tiffikins will be along with some great words of wisdom and support as she had a heck of leak post op.

wow i have hiezer and there strict and if somethin like that happend i knw i wouldnt suffer long. that really sucks

I am so glad you are doing better now. Thank you for sharing your story.

Thanks for sharing your story and I hope you have a speedy recovery. I had complications while I was in the hospital right after surgery but have been A/OK since. I think its important to share the good the bad and the ugly with everyone so that others can be well informed and know everything that can happen. Happy Weight Loss to you and a speedy recovery.

I wish you a speed recovery!!!

Wishing you a speedy and joy filled recovery!! My internal med sux had a similar story and not only highly recommends the procedure but also his doc. He took a full year to recover fully and was super super sick with multiple complications. I am impressed with your positive attitude and I know that makes the biggest impact on recovery. Grateful prayers that you are doing great!! Keep us updated. Blessings, Joan

So glad you are feeling better! Sending hugs to you