Unbelievable Story!

[juanfa 1]

Hi Folks,

I posted about 10 days ago saying that I had surgery on October 10th after having a lap band removed on June 1 of this year. My issue was that I was not having ANY problems with consuming liquids and was actually consuming so much that I had gained weight after the surgery. Many people advised that I would feel restriction as soon as I started consuming solids and to not push my stomach. I have had a deep seated fear that the doctor did not take enough of my stomach due to the fact that I was close to my goal weight. Even though I know it wasn't wise, I decided to eat some small amounts of solids in the hope of having some physical reaction. After a few days of taking small bites of solid food and having no response three nights ago I ate a pie sized piece of quiche, no crust, with potatoes and onions in it and about 8 ounces of Soup, yes, you read that right. 14 days after surgery I ate that and had NO physical response at all. No nausea, no restriction, no fullness, nothing! It is as if I never had the surgery! Last night I ate about 3 ounces of baked chicken, about 3 ounces of tofu and some deli meat rolled up with cheese...no reaction. Today I ate 1/4 cup of cashews...no reaction, nothing, nada. I feel physically great but emotionally devastated that I have gone through all this and paid $14,000.00 out of my pocket for nothing. I simply can't believe this has happened to me. Talking to my Doctor will do no good. I am sure that he is not going to offer to redo the surgery and even if he did, should I trust him after this and do I want to go through this again? Has anybody ever heard of this happening?

[kyllfalcon 768]

Please don't take this wrong, but what do you mean talking to your doctor won't do any good??? Have you tried? Have you asked your doctor how much stomach was removed? Did you not discuss that beforehand? Perhaps there is a real reason why you don't feel any restriction.

Please, talk to your doctor.

[juanfa 1]

Not taken the wrong way. I plan on meeting with him at the follow up. One of the issues is that he is German, his English is OK but not perfect so sometimes communication is difficult. Before the surgery, I asked him what size bougie he used and he told me 42. Regardless of his answer, the bottom line is that he did not follow protocol obviously because the surgery did not work unless there is a history of this happening with some patients even when the surgery is done correctly. At this point I am hoping for some feedback from the experienced people on this forum who may advise me that this does or does not happens sometimes when protocol is followed. Regardless of his answer, I am left 14,000.00 poorer and with the prospect of having to pay again and go through the surgery again. That idea devastates me. Thank you for your feedback.

[Spatters3 315]

I would ask for an upper GI to be done and to be shown the pictures. After my VSG I couldn't even keep Water down, I was puking blood. The doctor had me drink some horrible floor-wax tasting stuff and took a video x-ray of my stomach. Totally cool :-) It was enough to reassure him and me that I was perfectly fine and I was just reacting to the stupid morphine.

Prior to being able to get that done, please be careful with your stomach! Don't eat a lot just because you can. Your sleeve may actually still be "traumatized" and numb and you're just not feeling the restriction or discomfort.

Also, maybe you misunderstood the doctor and he only removed the band and will be doing the VSG at a later date? Yeah, I know, that's a little far fetched.

[Sarah-lu1 25]

fingers crossed this works out for you. can't offer any advice just didn't want to read with out saying something x

[kyllfalcon 768]

Spatter, I had that procedure done too! I kept running a low-grade fever and they were checking for a leak. Didn't have one! But the video was indeed cool!

[kyllfalcon 768]

I was wondering about what Spatter said. Maybe you've just lost feeling from the surgery. I had foot surgery three years ago and that part of my foot is still numb!!

At any rate, please don't fear the worst or jump to conclusions. It may not be so bad.

We're here to listen!

[juanfa 1]

Thanks Splatter3, I appreciate your brainstorming possibilities to what seems a really unbelieveable story. I had the band taken out on June 1 at a different hospital/different doctor but your idea actually seems more plausible that the reality of it! Kyllfalcon, I am hoping that you are right, that is why I am posting in the hopes that someone can tell me that they had the same experience and that it all turned out well in the end. I am holding on to a small sliver of hope even though I just sat down and had a good cry.

[Jessica9190 127]

I don't want to say anything negative and I certainly don't know everything especially since I haven't even been sleeved yet but I've been to two different surgeons for pre op consultations and both use 32-36 bougie. They both showed slides in their seminar where studies have shown 40+ bougies have virtually no affect on the patient. It sounds consistent with what you are saying. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but I think you may have to work that much harder or possibly ask him to make it smaller My doctors also said the smaller the bougie the greater the risk of complications of a leak. Maybe your doctor was playing it safe. I don't know all the answers but I thought I'd mentioned what I've learned from my doctors. Good luck and I'm sorry you aren't getting the much desired results of the sleeve.

[Ms.Rosie 1]

I'm sorry your going through this maybe you should really try listening to your body cause at first I thought the same thing when I was able to drink a 8oz Protein shake with no problem but then I thought to myself well he must of taken something out cause I don't have the hungry feeling anymore through out the day. Are you hungry most of the time or do you eat just because you like the taste of the food and you can't stop eating cause it is hard to stop on some of the food we love. So yeah I agree that you should talk to your doc and hope its just in your head and he really did remove the 70-80 % of your stomach like he was suppose to do..well keep us posted and good luck:)

[juanfa 1]

I originally posted that I was so concerned that I was eating so much because I have been SO hungry since the surgery. My hunger also leads me to believe that it was not done properly. My doctor did say that the 42 bougie was less prone to cause leaks and that is why he used it. However I have read in the forums that there is little difference in size, that they are all so small that intake is seriously restricted. I just googled some info on bougie size and the first study that popped up states :

LSG results in significant weight loss in the short term. When stratifying outcomes by bougie size, our results suggested that a bougie size of 40F compared with 60F does not result in significantly greater weight loss in the short term. However, longer follow-up of the primary LSG group is required to determine whether a difference becomes evident over time. There is really only a very slight difference in bougie sizes for example a 32 is 4/10 of an inch in diameter and a 42 is 5/10 of an inch in diameter, so you can see 1/10 of an inch increase in a stomach that is the size of a marker is not going to allow for more than an ounce of additional food. I also ended up befriending my roomie who got the 42 bougie size and is very restricted in what she can consume so it doesn't make sense that bougie size would be my issue. What MIGHT be the issue is that he didn't use a bougie which is a possibility because he said my stomach was so scarred from the band that it was in the shape of a ball.

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

I wouldn't give up. You might have a little bigger bougie size, but it's not that much of a difference. Are you taking a PPI (nexium, omezraloze)? Acid in your stomach does mimick hunger. Also, measure your foods in small portions sizes and about 30 minutes after eating, start drinking a lot of Water. You stomach is still healing. I know it's really frustrating and confusing as to what happened to your restriction. My surgeon wants us to take a bite, chew really good, and 10 minutes later, take another bite. See if that helps. You can do this and please let us know what your doctor saids. Be the squeaky wheel!

[Jessica9190 127]

Like I said I don't really have any expertise on any of it was just offering what I've been told. I hope all of it is wrong and the size of your stomach doesn't matter and you lose like crazy. GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS!!!

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

I feel physically great but emotionally devastated that I have gone through all this and paid $14,000.00 out of my pocket for nothing, should I trust him after this and do I want to go through this again? Has anybody ever heard of this happening?

Ok hun

don't open your wallet yet - don't jump to conclusions

i have question per your profile

DOS 10/12/12

SW 210

CW 140

70 lbs down

GW 120

did i write the above correctly???

not sure if your present weight from 3 weeks ago has anything to do with problems you are feeling - no restriction?? not sure if theres a relationship? - you lost alot of weight pre-op, congrats on that big time

glad you are going to talk w/your dr

the standard removal of the stomach i believe is 85% - if he was going to remove less, i think that would have been a discussion

whatever part of your stomach was removed - you should be careful of what you eat still since your stomach is still in the healing process from major surgery - solids are probably warrented by now if thats what dr told you, but still take it easy

don't experiment with how much food your stomach is allowing you to eat, then not feeling any restriction, you are afraid surgery might not have been done perfectly?

one thing at a time - dry your eyes - if your post op isn't for awhile - i would make a phone call or two to find out what did happen during surgery, how much of your stomach was removed etc. - mention the lack of restriction you "don't" feel.

don't panic - hopefully everything will work out, you'll get some answers to your important questions - and you'll feel better - one step at a time - don't jump to any conclusions

talk to the dr and take if from there

hope i said the above ok???

[msemma 49]

Im so sorry you are going through this you need to definitely address this with your doctor. You may just have to self control and restrict yourself on your own will with your intake.. hope it gets better. Best of luck.