Hi all, I had my sleeve done 9 days ago and feel brilliant. I have just been reading the info supplied by my surgeon and it occurred to me that there is no clear info on the time that we are at risk of a leak. Does anyone know if this is a short term risk or something we are always going to be at risk of. I would really appreciate feedback on this one... Many thanks, Fiona

Hi Fiona,

My surgeon told me the greatest risk of leaks was up to 6 wks from surgery date. Cheers!

This is a great questions. I remember being told about a leak - meanin what percentage of people get them but I don't think I was given a time line as to when it could occur.

My surgeon said that if a leak occurs, it's almost immediate, although you can create one by not following guidelines for up to two or three weeks. He says the staple line is pretty well sealed by end of week three. He also says most that are found after that (6 weeks - months out) have been there all along and were so small it took that long for them to be discovered (build up of fluid, abscess, etc). Most who have leaks and they are found months out, look back and see symptoms they weren't aware of (constant shoulder pain, weakness) but not the usual strong symptoms of high fever, pain, etc,.

My leak was discovered 2 months out - my Dr said it was probably there all along and when my swelling went down it reared it's ugly head. My only symptom was shoulder pain.

hi all, i am pre-op 12/15/11 - i must admit the whole surgery experience scares me a little. I'm sure i'll be fine though.

This subject about leaks... well, yeah it scares me a little.

if you find a leak, what do you do? call dr. immediately, do you need another surgery? If not, what does doc do.? Don't mean to sound a little apprehensive - but i guess i am a little apprehensive :confused5: thanx

kathy

Yeah I would like to know too. My sleeve is Dec 16.@12:30

I had another surgery where they put in a drain and feeding tube. They don't sew up the leak or anything, just let it heal on it's own. Listen to your body - anything you feel is weird, call your doctor!! My shoulder hurt off and on since the surgery, started far enough out that I knew it wasn't gas pains - which I NEVER had. Finally pain got bad enough that I was taking pain pills. They kept telling me it was acid reflux side affect. Until I had a weird blood iron result and they sent me to a hematologist - who did a chest CT and saw and abscess in my abdomen. I have a list of things to go to the ER with - shoulder pain is not on it. Never knew it was related.

I am so sorry to hear about your ordeal MeMeMEE. I hope you get better soon and all this ordeal is behind you. Wish you luck!

I want to knw did anybody with an leak recover ok and is it rare to get a leak or how do it happen

I think leak risk is like 1%. I think you can make a leak by overeating or eating the wrong thing but also it can just happen - my Dr suspects mine was there from day one and when swelling went down it opened up.

My Dr told me today he had another patient who had a leak at 3 months but was a smoker - he said all bets are off with smokers, much higher risk of everything. (I don't smoke)

Leaks are 1% out of every hundred. Now whereas deaths the overall mortality (death) from vertical sleeve gastrectomy is 0.39 percent—which is lower than with traditional bariatric surgeries.

So that means your almost just as likely to die as get a leak. Isnt that something to read. Lol

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mememee, on a scale of 1-10 how bad was your shoulder pain? were you 'oversewn' on your stomach during surgery? how do you feel while being treated? i know it must be scary and the treatment a bit of a setback (or a big one?) are you in pain and in danger?

i need to research why they don't just go back in and fix it. is it more dangerous to do another surgery than to put in a drain?

leaks, blood clots & infections scare me so bad. i'm leaning on not having this surgery. especially after spending all day reading the memorial board on OH. ugh. don't know if this is a phase i'm going through or normal 'research' but i'm just obsessed with searching for deaths and complications right at this time. i don't even feel happiness in imagining weight loss anymore. when i first discovered the sleeve i met some people who had had it and they were SO happy and i wanted it so bad. thinking about how healthy and thin and fit i could become, even getting my mom to want it too. thought it would be a great thing for us to go through together. now i'm scared for her to have it and scared for me. and the funny thing is i've been through brain surgery, thymus removal surgery (cracked my ribs right open and operated near my heart) had a tummy tuck and revision plus two sinus surgeries and i somehow i think this is going to be the scariest surgery of all. i guess the thing about doing 'research' is sometimes you find out TOO MUCH info. i was excited to have brain surgery! i thought oh cool i feel special. how dumb was i? lol. i remember the doctors coming in with a brain and telling me if the surgery had complications i could lose my ability to name objects or have to learn language all over again, and that was the simple complications, death was the worst. never was scared. the doctors said they had never seen anyone recover so well and it was because of my attitude, i remember escaping the hospital with my IV bag and bald stapled head to go eat supper with my parents. and now? i've got 8 bookmarks on blood clot prevention and i'm just so anxious.

mememee, on a scale of 1-10 how bad was your shoulder pain? were you 'oversewn' on your stomach during surgery? how do you feel while being treated? i know it must be scary and the treatment a bit of a setback (or a big one?) are you in pain and in danger?

i need to research why they don't just go back in and fix it. is it more dangerous to do another surgery than to put in a drain?

My shoulder pain got to a 10 - that's where I was when they finally discovered the leak. I had went to my regular Dr 3 times in a week for it and he made me an appointment with my surgeon to check for acid reflux. In the meantime I saw a hematologist for an odd Iron panel result (high ferritin, low saturation and low something else). He did a CT scan and saw the abscess. I was scheduled for surgery 2 days later (exploratory) on the day I was suppose to have the acid reflux appointment. I woke up with full blown pneumonia the day before surgery. I was told at some point I was septic when I came in. They still waited another day to do surgery which is when they put the drain and feeding tube in. I don't know why they don't sew it up right away but I have spoke with others who have had leaks and this seems to only be done when the drain has made the leak "pucker." I don't believe I was oversewn, no mention has ever been made of that. After being out of the hospital from the drain/feeding tube surgery for a week I started having trouble breathing and my daughter insisted she take me to the hospital. I had Fluid around my lungs (infected) and was in for 3 weeks that time, leak officially seen during this visit. I keep hearing how bad off I was from Dr's and family. I don't remember the first several days of that stay. Very scary. I just knew I would sail through the sleeve and have no problems - boy, was I wrong! I know I am a very small percent and I am hoping in life this is the only bad turn I have.