no one knew what a sleeve was! They had to google it!

I was having terrible chest pain/ abdominal pain that got so bad that I couldn't take te pain anymore so hubby took me to the local ER. We r vacationing down in the Jersey shore. when I got to the ER, the triage nurse asked for my history, and I told her I had a VSG, and she looked at me like "what?" I explained to her the basic premise of the procedure & why I had it and she still looked a little perplexed. I was in so much pain at that point I didn't care i she got it or not.. I just needed some pain relief!! (2 doses of dilaudid and I was still in pain... Stoned, but in pain lol) The ER doc knew what the sleeve was (thank God) and he thought this was unrelated but they did a ct scan just to make sure there was no issue.

When the next nurse came to me, she asked if I had any problems since my bypass, and I explained to her also what the sleeve was (I was so drugged on dilaudid that hubby had to tell her towards the end of the story lol) . Then a 3rd nurse asked me of the band may have slipped and AGAIN I explained that I didnt have a band. Uuuugh.

my Final diagnosis was "gastritis". They think I have an ulcer in my esophagus. I can assure you that I have become very close to my esophagus and sleeve, and this pain was no where near that. It was the worst pain I ever experienced and I pray that it never comes back. I am going to see my surgeon next week and will make an appt with my GI when he can see me.

In the meantime I told the ER staff to look at my ct scan and see the sleeve and what it looks like. I was surprised that no one knew what it was!

Sorry for the novel lol

Along the lines of misinformation and lack of information -- after the surgery (I was dropped by a friend as hubby had my 2 yr old twins to look after) I was speaking to him on the phone about the barium drink and X-ray. He said so u can see the sleeve thing then? I said what? He said in X-ray u can see the sleeve? I said the sleeve is my stomach?. He said what? Yeah, that was a long chat! He thought he knew what I was having so didn't pay as close attention as he could have before hand.

I also had an emergency triage nurse not have a clue and made me explain what and why in the waiting room in front of others! Was not happy!

I too have my gallbladder out and have what is called 'sphincter of odi disorder' essentially the bile duct clogs ....sounds similar to the pain you are experencing. Did you eat something in higher fat or calories recently? If I eat like crap for a few days, I can almost guarantee that I will suffer a little of the same pain. good luck, and please keep us posted. Scary when you are away from home to suffer that.

I had to explain it when I saw the GI doc's PA before my manometry. Surprising that the info hasn't reached more of the medical community. Kinda makes me glad I'll be a self pay in Mexico. Maybe Ill just print out an explanation to attach to my med list for all appointments post sleeve. Lol

Try the words "partial gastrectomy." It is much more common. Then, you can explain from there.

This is really frustrating. I know that my PCP treats my sleeve like it's a GBS. He won't give me any NSAIDS because it cause ulcers. During our NUT classes, they educated us towards the GBS and everything was based on the GBS. I know the rules for the sleeve aren't like the rules for the GBP so I have to bite my tongue and just go with it. Otherwise, I'm fighting a losing battle. So far, I have a sleeve of steel. I never throw up, nothing bothers it. I do get a full feeling in my left side when I'm full. That's it. So frustrating. We need more information out there about the VS. Just my opinion.

Same with me. My surgeon has only a few sleeves. Most are gastric bypass and they didn't go to the one support group meeting I went to. All the written instructions and nutritional advice (and any other advice) was for bypass patients.

It's like we are the red-headed step children of bariatric surgery. (Please no offense to redheads, you are beautiful)

I too have my gallbladder out and have what is called 'sphincter of odi disorder' essentially the bile duct clogs ....sounds similar to the pain you are experencing. Did you eat something in higher fat or calories recently? If I eat like crap for a few days, I can almost guarantee that I will suffer a little of the same pain. good luck, and please keep us posted. Scary when you are away from home to suffer that.

My gallbladder is full of stones, but I am asymptomatic. I was afraid of the ducts clogging so I agreed with the surgeon that it should stay. Six months out and no problems so far.

I feel like I had a similar story. Both the pain and the doctors being clueless

I went to the ER in crazy pain. Right below by rib cage in the middle. Like a burning nagging horrible sensation. Upon arrival at the ER the nurse didn't know what the sleeve was. Then when the doctor came I had to tell him what it was and how it was different from

Gastric bypass. Then he started asking me questions about why I chose the doctor I did and why I chose this surgery over others... Meanwhile I was in pain. So fast forward to an X-ray EKG ultrasound and blood tests... They can't find anything wrong. Then less than a week later same episode. Blood tests and cat scan later can't find any problems. I have since made an appointment with a GI. Let's see what he says

Luckily for me one dose of dilaudid did wonders for me however if I was to be at work and suffer I wouldnt be able to take a heavy duty pain killer so I really need to find out what is wrong!

About three months ago I was suddenly hit with an incredible pain. I truly thought that my stomach was ripping open. I tried to throw up thinking that it would ease my pain. After throwing up I felt better and stupidly did not go visit the E.R. As the weeks passed I began to notice that I couldn't eat more than a 1/4cup of food and if I did I'd get this pain in my stomach and my left shoulder would throb. To make a long story short I had another sever attack about three weeks ago and this time I went to the E.R. I had a CT scan with dye and they found I did not have a leak. I was floored when my doctor told me it was gastritis. I had no idea gastritis could cause that much pain! I really thought I was gonna die, the pain was so intense. I was given catafate to line my stomach and help it heal. Anyway, I'm still having pain even though I'm taking prilosec to help with the acid. Ugh.

Maybe it was pancreatitis. I was just hospitalized with that. The pain is horrible about in the same area that your gall bladder would be if I still had mine. For me the pain would also shoot kinda through me into my back. The doc said most people feel it more on their left but mine was on my right. They can run a simple test to see if your lipase is up.

Ok guys. I'm an ER nurse at a large hospital that is also a Bariatric Center of Excellence. I also have a sleeve. I can tell you that in all of our Bariatric education that we have to do as a BCE the sleeve was never mentioned. ER nurses have to know a little bit about everyone at every age, we cannot know everything. I have always asked my patients about their condition if I'm not familiar with it (I don't always have the time right then to look it up) but as soon as I get a chance I educated myself. For those of you the have the

unfortunate experience of needing an ER just tell them you had a partial gastrectomy and everyone will know what you are talking about. It's relatively the same thing. Ok. Off my soapbox rant. Sorry. ????

Also a nurse (did ER for 10 yrs). Another reason for us to ask about your procedure is to assess your understanding of it. There are many people who just do "what the doctor tells them" and there are those people to who actually participate in their own health (hence all of us on this forum soaking up information). It us much easier to gear your treatment and education when you know where the patient is coming from. Granted there is a time and a place for extensive questioning. But in triage you do have to make quick decisions regarding who is the most acutely ill in comparison to who else is in the waiting room all the while answering a billion phone calls and the never ending questions of the patients and families in the waiting room.