I had surgery on Aug. 31st, liquid diet the day before and then the morning of the surgery I was terrified but went ahead with it, knowing it would only better me down the road. From the moment I woke up from the surgery I was in pain, however my incisions were looking good, and I was told this was not out of the norm. Went home around 6pm that day. That night I was in so much pain when I came home I took the 'liquid Tylenol' as told by the surgeon and it was no help I ended up crushing a vicodin just so I could sit up.

In the next few days I slept sitting up in a chair, to where finally I couldn't even lean back and hardly walk, all along I was told this was gas.. and to walk it off. walk walk walk When I went in for my one week of post op I was told that my incisions looked great, like I even cared at that point I had hardly slept in a week and any movement was painful, my mom was convinced that since most of the pain was in my lower pack it was pneumonia or something of the sorts, she then insisted that they give me a chest x ray, in which they did another barium swallow and said oh yeah everything is fine, its gas walk it off. So at this point I go home (wed one week after surgery) and I walk, I cry when walking it is so painful, at this point I have gone through 4 bottles of liquid Tylenol. But they know what they are talking about so I force myself to walk. Saturday morning I get up and start coughing up blood, I call the drs office back and they tell me, its nothing to worry about, probably just anesthetic that I am coughing up. Basically I am "bothering" them at this point and they tell me if I want to persure this further I can take it up with my family physician. The next morning I do the same thing at this point my mom takes me to the emergency room.

Now I still can barely walk, cant lay down, sleep leaning forward on a table and the back pain has spread around to the front and I am coughing blood. They diagnose me with pneumonia, and admit me to the hospital, on Sept. 10. The next morning I go in for an MRI and they find that my right lung is literally floating on a sac of Fluid, 2 cavities of my lung are completely collapsed and evidence of the pneumonia. in the next few days they drain 450cc (over a liter) of fluid from my lungs and area surrounding, at this point they can clearly see that I have the two collapsed cavities and a hefty case of pneumonia in my lower cavity.

I spent 7 days in the hospital total, and this was all brought on, from what they conclude that I aspirated during my surgery which could be due to positioning or a number of other factors. I am out now, and home since Sunday, just being out of the hospital makes a person feel better, I am on a lot of medication, in a lot of pain, and down 16ish pounds. I am sure this is a rare thing that happened to me, but I think people should be aware of the things which can happen and my advice to everyone is that, if a dr tells you something and you don't agree with it, make someone listen, the pain I went through could have been avoided more had someone where I had my surgery had taken the time in my opinion.

Oh and also the X-ray from the one week post op was sent to the hospital during my stay and they said they could see a dark spot at the tip of my lung at that point, which the lung specialist is now disputing with the staff, as this could have bought me 5 days of getting treatment earlier.

I know now that the surgery is over and done with and the lap band is in me and I am sure it will do its job, but do I regret it, yeah overall I do, I don't place blame, I was aware that surgery can cause complications, but being in a hospital and in pain for close to 3 weeks really makes you think. Now for the rest of my life I have to worry about respiratory complications in addition to handling the lap band.

sorry maybe I needed to vent, but yeah that's my story!

PS, I am a graduating senior from college, oh wait I WAS due to being out for so long there isn't any way I can finish this semester as I am not even released to do , well anything at this point but sit around and lay in bed and try to recover. :sick

bless your heart! i am so glad you are ok now.

good luck on your journey...maybe the day will come when this seems all worthwhile.

They diagnose me with pneumonia, and admit me to the hospital, on Sept. 10. The next morning I go in for an MRI and they find that my right lung is literally floating on a sac of Fluid, 2 cavities of my lung are completely collapsed and evidence of the pneumonia. in the next few days they drain 450cc (over a liter) of fluid from my lungs and area surrounding, at this point they can clearly see that I have the two collapsed cavities and a hefty case of pneumonia in my lower cavity.

I spent 7 days in the hospital total, and this was all brought on, from what they conclude that I aspirated during my surgery which could be due to positioning or a number of other factors.

sorry maybe I needed to vent, but yeah that's my story!

PS, I am a graduating senior from college, oh wait I WAS due to being out for so long there isn't any way I can finish this semester as I am not even released to do , well anything at this point but sit around and lay in bed and try to recover. :sick

I am SO sorry to hear what you went through. It sounds like the place where you had your surgery really dropped the ball. Again, I am so sorry! It so could have been avoided in my opinion.

After my surgery, the staff was very diligent in giving me instructions for after I got home. But first, they made sure I was comfortable before I ever left the hospital. (In fact, they made me stay a little bit longer because I was showing a temperature of 101 degrees(low grade fever). They told me it could be due to the anesthesia and pockets of gas trapped in my lungs, and that those needed to be dispelled, or it could turn into pneumonia later on. So while I was there, they had me doing deep breaths through this simple contraption called an Inspirometer. Only after my temperature was lowered did they allow me to go home.

They told me that after undergoing anesthesia, the lungs can sometimes become compromised to the point that it could turn into pneumonia. I know that your problem was caused by aspiration, but I think the same procedure might have been administered to keep your lung cavities from collapsing, and filling with fluid.

The nursing staff sent me home with the Inspirometer and instructed me to take 10 deep, slow breaths every hour, and then cough, to dispelany foreign matter. I can tell that that bit of information alone aided in my recuperation. It possibly meant the difference between a good lap band experience, and a bad one.

Please let us know how you are getting along in the future. I think once you are totally OK from this bout of pneumonia, you won't always have to worry about it so much in the future as you fear.

My best to you. And thanks for letting us know what can happen. I know your experience will help someone.

Wow. So sorry for all that you have been through. I just hope you are on your way to recovery and everything will be up hill from here. I am only 8days post op and feeling ok.I am still bloated especially on 1 side more than the other. I am more hungry the last 2 days and checkup is Fri. I am down 9lbs. Brendab

Glad to hear you are okay. Please know this is not the norm.

Concentrate on healing not weight loss at this point. Your body has been through a lot with surgery and illness.

It will be worth it, you will lose weight.

Take care,

What a nightmare!!! Mothers really do know best..Hope that is all a thing of the past. Best Wishes.

Sarah

Just to answer a few questions...

I was given the blowing thing in the hospital and I could get to around 1000, which i guess was good enough? In the days to follow I couldnt even reach 500, I used that thing alot, untill it just got too painful, I had to in a sence make myself learn to breate very shallow just to avoid more pain.

I had my surgery at 12 Oaks Hospital in Houston with Dr Spiegel. As far as the surgery there is no doubt in my mind he knows what he is doing, but as far as after care, he and his faculty suck, becuase to them everything is gas!

It sounds like the anesthesiologist should have been watching for aspiration. I hardly had any pain after my banding. I was Banded by Dr. Ortiz in Tijuina and he has a wonderful anesthesiologist there. I wish things had gone better for you. Your surgeon should have also caught the clues since you had sx's of an aspiration.

HANG IN THERE.

I hope your recovery is quick and your weight loss journey is full of good health from now on.

I am so sorry you had to go though all of the pain and problems! I hope now it is a lot smoother of a ride for you. I just had my banding done this past Monday 9/18/06 and spent over night in the hospital. I had came out of recovery fine but after a few hours I started to get nausea from the pain medicine. I had felt as if a truck ran over my body. I had gone for the upper GI test to see all was okay. There has to be a better way of checking it!!! That drink they make you drink is enough to make anyone sick!! I was so sick when they brought me back to the room, they had to give me something for the nausea which seem to knock me out for a few hours. I just slept the rest of the day when I got home. On Wed. I could hardly get out of bed. I felt worse than I did after the surgery. Stayed in bed all day. Today was the first day I felt better. I was up most of the day and did a few things around the house. Nothing too big! Just to keep me moving. Now I am tired and have to say I am done for the day. As far a drinking, I am having a hard time getting in all the fluids I need to drink. Today was a better day. I just hope you start to feel better and things really start to go your way. Good luck to you!!!!

I am so sorry this happened. I hope you recover quickly. I wish you the best of luck with the remainder of your journey.