Hi everyone. I've been a lurker for a couple of months now, learning about this procedure. You guys are tough and have been through so much, and I truly admire you.

My boyfriend (of only 2 month at the time of his surgery!) had a band to sleeve revision the 21st of June. I'm a nurse, so I was skeptical (having cared for some patients with some pretty gnarly complications) , but I read and read --and read and researched some more about the procedures and felt pretty okay with it. I was and told him I would be supportive, regardless of the outcome.

His surgeon chose to do the revision and removal all in one day. He did great for two weeks and was moving forward perfectly on his full liquid diet, just about ready to graduate to softs. Right around day 15 or 16, he began getting nauseated with some vomiting. Then fever, so I told him not to ignore it anymore. He went in. Was dehydrated. They did an upper GI series and abdominal CT. Was seen by a gastroenterologist. They sent him in for IV fluids to rehydrate him. And they also did an endoscopy. All of this within 3 days. They found nothing but did widen/ dilate his esophageal sphincter a bit due to the appearance of some narrowing.

By the end of that week, he was in the hospital. They did a CT there. Gave him IV fluids, IV antibiotics and came home 3 days later on oral antibiotics. He got through a 10 day round and started vomiting again, violently 2 days later. He went BACK in to the surgeon and he ordered another round of antibiotics, but he could not tolerate taking them in and by the time Friday rolled around this weekend, he was hardly tolerating very small sips of water and was vomiting several times an hour. The did another Barium swallow and found what they thought might be a small abscess, but the doc on call didn't want to treat it with his surgeon out of town, and then ordered the antibiotics again and told him to follow up in 1 week. One week and he would have been dead!

I talked him into going to the ER Saturday morning. He called me to tell me he didn't want to do that because he didn't want to be admitted. I did a little nurse magic, and told him they couldn't make him do anything. All he had to do was tell them he wanted to be hydrated only and go home. Luckily, when we arrived, they popped him a bag of fluids, zofran and a dose of pain meds and did a CT of his abdomen. They found the "abscess" but later determined the original CT on 7/15 (at the hospital) had been misread and he had a leak with some minor pooling outside of his stomach.

So now he has been in the hospital 5 days. He has a PICC line in for TPN, tons of IV fluids and antibiotics, is NPO. The gastro doc did the stent this morning, but I wasn't able to be there. She said she would be putting an NG (nasogastric) tube in as an alternate feeding source (in case the docs don't want to keep him on the TPN). He called a bit ago and has been vomiting pretty violently and the Zofran hasn't helped much.

Is the vomiting after the stent normal? He was doing it too much earlier to do the scan to check the stent's placement, so they are holding off until the AM. Someone tell me that this will get better? They found the leak without any major infection in his abdomen. No pain. No fevers. And it wasn't an abscess after all. Just vomiting. So, I certainly think that is a good sign overall, but I'm scared for him.

Thanks for listening-- to this book!!!

~worried girlfriend~

I am also very sorry to hear about this. I think he is lucky to have you! I hope he starts healing quickly and that he is able to get the nausea under control and have a sense of peace and calm. Hospital stays suck and I hope he is well enough to go home soon.

'but I wish they had pushed treatment on what they thought was an abscess at the time. Either way, he would be in the same boat he is now, because he was treated, just not as aggressively as they are doing now....'

"Any fool can see the danger once the damage is done" - Aristotle

I am sorry, But my sympathies are NOT with the medical profession as yours obviously are; mine are with this suffering patient who is lucky to be alive. It is NOT good enough that the doctor made a bad decision, a 'medical call." He made a MISTAKE that has caused the patient great suffering and almost his life. He got his money and moved on. This is NOT experimental surgery. I have never heard of revision surgery over unstable and damaged tissue. This doctor is looking at making a fortune doing WLS. His patient is looking at the rest of his life with problems and pain.

My advice: Get a lawyer.

The drain has made a heck of a difference since they put it in yesterday. The color in his cheeks has returned and he has some new spunk about him. I"m happy he is showing so much improvement. He will get to test out some drinking some fluids today and he is very excited about this.

Smkeller, I do appreciate your concerns, thank you. A lawyer isn't really a decision I get to make here. I'm just worried about someone I care very much about. Revisions are risky. Regardless of mistakes made, I want my boyfriend to feel better and get through this. I do not sympathize with the medical professionals, but my boyfriend. I also know that sometimes mistakes are made. Whether they were here or not, I would actually have to request and read tons of records from the past few months. At this point, that isn't my concern. Maybe at a later time. Maybe not. We are only concerned with his physical improvement right now.

Yes, you are right, this isn't the time. He is lucky to be in such good hands. (you).

The drain has made a heck of a difference since they put it in yesterday. The color in his cheeks has returned and he has some new spunk about him. I"m happy he is showing so much improvement. He will get to test out some drinking some fluids today and he is very excited about this.

Smkeller, I do appreciate your concerns, thank you. A lawyer isn't really a decision I get to make here. I'm just worried about someone I care very much about. Revisions are risky. Regardless of mistakes made, I want my boyfriend to feel better and get through this. I do not sympathize with the medical professionals, but my boyfriend. I also know that sometimes mistakes are made. Whether they were here or not, I would actually have to request and read tons of records from the past few months. At this point, that isn't my concern. Maybe at a later time. Maybe not. We are only concerned with his physical improvement right now.

So sorry that yall are going through all of this! My thoughts and prayers are with you and your boyfriend.

So, a month later, thought I would update on my boyfriend's leak. He got out of the hospital Friday, adding up to exactly one month in the hospital-- 4 full weeks. The first stent slipped into the stomach. A week later they put two stents in, one below the initial one to decrease the likelihood of slipping and migrating. They migrated-- one up and one down. So last Tuesday they put in 3 stents-- one stacked on top of the other and the 3rd one inside both of those. They stitched them in place. So far so good.

He was discharged 2 days ago with his PICC line, antibiotics, TPN, home health. No pain meds were ordered. His protonix (PPI) was ordered IV push, but when I went to fill the 'script, the med won't be available until Monday at noon. I tried 3 pharmacies and this was the best I could get.

No pain meds-- the doc didn't "feel comfortable dispensing narcotics IV" for me to administer and told him to see a pain management doctor. All in all, I'm pretty unhappy with the discharge. His PICC line was nearly clogged when I hooked up his TPN Friday evening (he was discharged at 4:30 on a Friday!!) and by Saturday morning, I couldn't get a single antibiotic bag to drip in. I requested heparin from the infusion company and they sent it out. I was hoping a good heparin flush would make the PICC line more viable. It didn't work.

So I took him back to the ER. His pain and acid buildup were off the charts and they admitted him last night. They are discharging him tomorrow. He has an appointment with a pain management doctor at 3 tomorrow afternoon, so I hope they do a better job than the discharge plans did of controlling his pain. He was getting dilaudid (morphine) every 2-3 hours almost the entire time in the hospital and then discharged him with nothing for 3 days. I'm not a happy nurse or girlfriend right now. Thanks for listening to me vent and I will keep updating you all. I'm ready for this to be a distant memory. :-/

So, a month later, thought I would update on my boyfriend's leak. He got out of the hospital Friday, adding up to exactly one month in the hospital-- 4 full weeks. The first stent slipped into the stomach. A week later they put two stents in, one below the initial one to decrease the likelihood of slipping and migrating. They migrated-- one up and one down. So last Tuesday they put in 3 stents-- one stacked on top of the other and the 3rd one inside both of those. They stitched them in place. So far so good.

He was discharged 2 days ago with his PICC line, antibiotics, TPN, home health. No pain meds were ordered. His protonix (PPI) was ordered IV push, but when I went to fill the 'script, the med won't be available until Monday at noon. I tried 3 pharmacies and this was the best I could get.

No pain meds-- the doc didn't "feel comfortable dispensing narcotics IV" for me to administer and told him to see a pain management doctor. All in all, I'm pretty unhappy with the discharge. His PICC line was nearly clogged when I hooked up his TPN Friday evening (he was discharged at 4:30 on a Friday!!) and by Saturday morning, I couldn't get a single antibiotic bag to drip in. I requested heparin from the infusion company and they sent it out. I was hoping a good heparin flush would make the PICC line more viable. It didn't work.

So I took him back to the ER. His pain and acid buildup were off the charts and they admitted him last night. They are discharging him tomorrow. He has an appointment with a pain management doctor at 3 tomorrow afternoon, so I hope they do a better job than the discharge plans did of controlling his pain. He was getting dilaudid (morphine) every 2-3 hours almost the entire time in the hospital and then discharged him with nothing for 3 days. I'm not a happy nurse or girlfriend right now. Thanks for listening to me vent and I will keep updating you all. I'm ready for this to be a distant memory. :-/

Thank you for the update. I was wondering how things were going for him....and you.

It's almost hard to believe what he's gone through. I understand your not being happy. It's so difficult when someone's struggle becomes yours even when it's someone you love. I've "nursed" my mom for years now and people who've had week long struggles don't understand that its very different when things drag on and on, especially when you don't see gradual improvements but more setbacks.

I do hope this all works out for you both and he begins to get noticably better each week. You both really deserve a break.

Wow, sounds like he's really been through the wringer, and I'm so sorry for both of you! How wonderfully fortunate for him to to have you there to help and support him, it sounds like he really needs you! Bless your heart for being there for him.

Hoping for smooth sailing from here on out ... for both of you.

WOW! I am so sorry this happened to him and that things are not 100% better yet. He is indeed lucky to be alive and lucky to have you to care for him. Thanks for sharing an update, although I wish it was better news. I will continue to keep you all in my thoughts...

I am so sorry that you and your boyfriend are going through this. I will definetly keep you both in my thoughts and prayers.

Thanks everyone for the warm thoughts. I always accept prayers, too. He should be headed back home tomorrow, but we may be looking into him going to a skilled rehab facility for a few weeks first. He doesn't live with me right now, so that makes it difficult for me to do things for him more than once or twice a day and they discharged him home with an antibiotic three times a day. Virtually impossible for me to manage, and I hope the doc makes a more likely decision to get him the care he deserves until he heals. I am angry, I know I am. I want my boyfriend back. He is so out of it I only get glimpses of him these days, and I want him well!!!

All I gotta say is I hope he gets better and I hope he marries you when its all said and done because you are a keeper for doing all this for him!!!!!!!

I don't blame you for being pissed off! I would be too. Hopefully they will do what is needed for your BF going forward. Thank God he has you take care of him. You have my prayers as well.

Well, he discharged from the hospital a few hours ago, so wish us luck. They changed a few meds so that things are more manageable for us to deal with at home. I hope he gets something decent for pain at his appointment today. We shall see!

I know it's been ages since I logged on or updated this, but now is a good time! My boyfriend had a heckuva time after my last post. He ended up back in the hospital after being home a month or so because of a PICC line infection and ended up staying a few weeks again. They decided to leave the PICC out and inserted a J-tube instead for easier, more manageable nourishment. He went home a few days before Halloween on the feeding tube and able to drink a few fluids here and there, and if my memory serves me, they removed the stents during this hospitalization. He did fine, tolerating the feedings pretty well, learning how to do a lot of it on his own and they allowed him to take all his meds by mouth, which was a huge relief for me. He started to get some self-esteem back, since he was able to manage more of his own care this way and feel more self-sufficient, even flushing his tube and adding cans to his bag each day. I even got a few days off from it, but never stopped visiting him. The weekend before Thanksgiving, he was feeling well enough to spend the night at my apartment, and hasn't left since. It's been great. The drain tube ended up getting yanked out over a period of two incidents-- one where he leaned out of his truck window to punch in the gate code at my apartment and he felt it really pull, and then 2 days later, he caught the tubing on his office chair and it was gone for good. The doc let it stay out since hardly anything was draining. J-tube pretty much the same way. He was eating small amounts and drinking plenty of fluids, and after a shower one morning, found the red J-tube laying on the floor by the commode.

Things went peachy ever since. He did have some residual drainage from the drain/ port site here and there. It would heal up for a week or so, then open up! We would hear it gurgling at 2am- so loudly it woke us up. He calls it Mt. Vesuvius, spewing unexpectedly after hearing some rumbly, hissing, bubbling sounds. He has had some issues with food intolerances, especially lactose, like straight milk and sour cream products, but cheese has always done him well. chicken, ground sirloin and cheese have been his main staples with a few carbs, like brown rice. etc on the side. He has done this since Thanksgiving without issue!

The past two nights, he started having increased weakness. Hard to stay awake and just tired. He has a shoulder injury that keeps him up some nights, so we both assumed he was just exhausted from not getting good nights of sleep the past few weeks. Last night, I put my hand on his neck and he was burning up. I fished around for a thermometer and his temp was pushing 103 degrees. He vomited most of the day, really just the "slimes" all day. He ate all day the day before without incident. Occasionally over the past few months, he doesn't recognize his full button and the excess would come back up, but nothing major, and we would move on with our day! Anyway, the temp hit last night full fledge. He had massive cold chills, shaking and shivering. I got phenergan and tylenol in him and his fever broke around 8pm and he was looking pretty dang perky. I poked around at that drain area and it was hard as a rock. I massaged it lightly, I heard it hiss, and tons of this goopy, brown drainage sufaced. Nasty stuff. His usual drainage was this lighter green/ yellow color, thin and watery usually. Not this. This was bad. He cancelled his endoscopy that was scheduled for yesterday, because he'd been feeling an increase in restriction when foods were going down. The surgeon said he had developed a gastric polyp, so we figured that was the reason for the restriction because the polyp (growth) had formed over the scar tissue from his leak at the esophagus/ stomach meeting juncture.

This morning, he called his surgeon with his symptoms, who told him to go to ER. Go there. CT scan. Definite abscess. They said they're pretty sure he has a contained leak, but I'm questioning it. He didn't show symptoms of that until yesterday. I am still crossing my fingers we are treating an abscess that never went away, not a leak too. I'm probably wrong, but I have to have some wishful thinking here.

Quick rundown:

His original surgery: Band to sleeve was June 21 last year. Began having symptoms a week into July. Hospitalized around the 13th of July, that weekend. And hospitalized with official leak July 29th for 5 1/2 weeks, then again end of September, first of October for around 3 weeks and got out a few days before Halloween. Here we go again!!! Prayers are so, so welcome right now.