the story of my trip to the ER

chowchows · September 3, 2011

Well, I guess my body didn't want to wait for my appt with the new GI doc. I had another attack just like the one here and decided to suck it up and go to the ER. Good thing I did because my pancreas was going insane. Normal pancreatic enzyme levels are apparently 100, mine were almost 15,000. They admitted me immediately with acute pancreatitis. I ended up having a CT Scan, MRI, ultrasound, and am scheduled to have a barium swallow xray. I spent several days in the hospital to get things settled down. Gallbladder is coming out in a couple of weeks as they think a small stone may have been lodged in my pancreas, causing the pain all along, and I passed it but they don't want it to happen again. Doc says it's probably unrelated to the plication., but at least now everyone knows about the plication and I don't have to worry about seeking medical care in the future. To be honest, all of the docs were very positive (including my old GP ) about me having the surgery...they were more curious as to the whys and hows more than anything and were impressed with my weight loss.

So moral of the story, while these boards are great for moral support or general advice, if you are in pain get to the ER! (thanks Lena , you were right!)

Lmom1980 · September 4, 2011

Glad you went to the ER and got some medical treatment. I hope you are feeling better soon! Thanks for sharing.

mednar · September 4, 2011

Really glad you went to the ER and found out. So glad Lena told you to also. I feel bad for posting in your last thread about dumping syndrome and not having enough information because I didn't understand what you were posting about.

It can be hard to realize sometimes what is normal behavior associated with a relatively unknown procedure, and what's truly out of the ordinary. With this procedure, it seems like we're on our own (and maybe the doctors) trying to recognize what's happening because of the weight loss procedure and what's happening otherwise.

I hope the procedure to remove your gallbladder goes well and you recover quickly. Let us know.

chowchows · September 4, 2011

Really glad you went to the ER and found out. So glad Lena told you to also. I feel bad for posting in your last thread about dumping syndrome and not having enough information because I didn't understand what you were posting about.

It can be hard to realize sometimes what is normal behavior associated with a relatively unknown procedure, and what's truly out of the ordinary. With this procedure, it seems like we're on our own (and maybe the doctors) trying to recognize what's happening because of the weight loss procedure and what's happening otherwise.

I hope the procedure to remove your gallbladder goes well and you recover quickly. Let us know.

Mednar,

please don't feel this way...it was all good info and I wanted everyone's input. I am just a little doctor adverse, and more than willing to hear something that will keep me from going to the doc. If it had only happened once, I think it would have been safe to assume that it was dumping syndrome (all the symptoms fit pretty much) and go on. When it happened a second time, nowhere near my last meal, I knew it had to be something more...plus this time the pain just lessened but never went away, even several hours later. Gallbladder issues was my other suspected issue, besides dumping syndrome, but I knew nothing about pancreatitis. Once I knew what it was, and knew the symptoms, it fit perfectly. The pain started in the back and radiated to the front, which they say is classic pancreatitis. The gallbladder issues seem to go hand in hand though, so it's hard to say where one symptom ends and one begins.

I was more than willing to leave it at dumping syndrome, but Lena (rightfully so) encouraged me to get checked out. So when it hit a second time her words were heavy in my mind and I knew I needed to get checked out. I am not dissing anything shared on this (or any other online source), but I am saying that if it continues it's time to stop playing online doctor and get it checked for yourself...and I say that knowing that I am the biggest hypocrite! :rolleyes:

I am also going to make history according to my surgeon (not sure I like that). They are going to take down the top of my plication, and make a nissen wrap with it. He says it hasn't been done before as far as he can tell, but he suspects they are going to be seeing more issues like mine since plication is becoming more popular. He used to be a bariatric surgeon, now just GI surgeon, and he thinks that plication is a good way to go and said he wondered why it didn't catch on quicker. Anyway, wish me luck...I will have to be in the hospital again since they are doing the two ops at once...I will keep you guys posted. Thanks for all the support...I have to admit that I was scared this time!

Lmom1980 · September 4, 2011

please tell more about this nissen wrap? why are they taking down the top of your plication?

Jenn · September 4, 2011

Chow

I hope you are feeling better please KUP.

chowchows · September 4, 2011

please tell more about this nissen wrap? why are they taking down the top of your plication?

I have bad reflux from the fact that my lower esophageal sphincture (sp?) doesn't close properly. I have had it for a long time, many years before weight loss surgery. I was officially diagnosed about a year before my surgery. I was hoping that the weight loss and hernia repair would make it so that the lazy LES didn't affect me as much...it has helped, but not much. I get constant reflux into my throat, even with a high dose of PPI. I was scared to have the surgery last year because this terrible GI doc told me I would stay in the hospital for days and they would have to open me up because I was so fat (she harped on my weight obsessively...everyone else just loves her, but she treated me like dirt and I think it was because of my weight).

The surgeon I met with (and love) who is going to take out the gb told me that they can do it laprascopically (or even through an endo, but I didn't qualify for that anymore because of scar tissue from the hernia repair and plication...wish other stupid doc had told me about this last yr before plication, but she was too busy telling me what a huge, gross fatty I was! :angry: ). They normally take the top of the stomach and wrap it around the lower part of the esophagus. It reinforces the LES and cuts out reflux. For me, they will need to undo two stitches on the plication to enable the surgeon to stretch that part of the stomach and wrap it around the esophagus. I asked him if that would mean I would lose my restriction and he said I would have at least as much, if not more, restriction than I do now. That might be good because I have felt like I have lost a little restriction since the original days shortly after my surgery. Our plication surgery was actually developed from the nissen fundoplication. I have heard that on some of the really tight wraps they noticed that patients could not eat as much and lost weight, and that led to the development of plication as a weight loss surgery.

I am scared, but hopeful. I haven't wanted to admit that the reflux was getting worse again, and haven't wanted to fully acknowledge the pain I have had for awhile that was probably my gb. Thank you all for all the concerns and well wishes! If one 'going under' can solve this, then I am willing to try it. Here is a little more info on the nissen fundoplication.

Lmom1980 · September 6, 2011

Thanks for the explanation. I was a little worried when you said they were taking down part of your plication. Glad you found a good GI doctor. It sounds like you are in good hands.

eurogirl40 · September 6, 2011

Whatever they do to you, I just want to say that I am here for you. And just stay positive, that's what I did

chowchows · September 6, 2011

Whatever they do to you, I just want to say that I am here for you. And just stay positive, that's what I did

Thank you, that means a lot! When I was getting out of the hospital I was just so happy to go home that I thought,"yeah, I can do all of that". Now I am feeling depressed, wondering if this may be an on-going thing even if get the gallbladder out and also thinking that I may not do the nissen wrap. The potential complications are scary. I don't want to deal with Barrett's esophagus/cancer in the future (and it might not ever be an issue...I've been dealing with this for almost 20 years and esophagus is fine I just feel pain and have feeling of constant post nasal drip) but I also don't want to have trouble swallowing, maybe not be able to eat, not be able to burp/throw up, maybe not have it fix the problem. I am so confused right now. I have even considered un-doing the plication. Doc says it probably didn't come from surgery, but I read on some threads where a lot of bypass people have on-going pancreatitis (and then some people with on-going pancreatitis get bypass to treat it...is this crazy or what?!) and now I am thinking I might have made a mistake. I like my plication, but I don't want issues like this....not sure what to do..and then what if I make that choice and find out it really WASN'T anything to do with plication and still have pain?

eurogirl40 · September 9, 2011

What do the Dr's. tell you? Ask them are they sure this was not caused by the plication,can they say it for sure or they say "I don't think so" Tell them you need to know and be a 100% sure, Get your point across.Ask them after they do the surgery and you still have the pain,then what?Don't old anything back ,tell them exctly how you feel.You have nothing to loose on the contrary.

chowchows · September 9, 2011

Have more appts with the docs next week and will be asking a lot of questions. Did a barium swallow study yesterday and finally got to see what my new stomach looks like..I was not expecting it to look like that. It isn't as small as I thought it would be (guess there's the slow weight loss some of us see) but they didn't see any problems with it. Doc said it was open enough that he thought I could even have an endo with it, and I know some of the plicators cannot get an endo.

I had pain back in June and have been having it the last couple of days also and wondered if it might be that I am not chewing as much as I need to. I am really bad about not chewing well. Been trying to over chew my food and pain has pretty much gone away. On a high note, doc that did the study didn't notice that much reflux, so it looks like the wrap may not be in my future! woo-hoo!

I need to get the gb out...I can feel it now and am having most of the classic signs that I didn't have before my hospitalization. I feel exhausted and know that it's probably the result of both the recent hospitalization and the ongoing gb issues, but I am having to take a couple of naps a day. I meet with the surgeon again soon, so will probably go ahead and schedule this one. I was holding out for the second opinion on the wrap (so they could do it all at one time), but after the other doc told me the results of the barium study I am 99% sure that I am not doing the wrap at this point.

Having pain low in my back today, that's new....still able to eat and drink with no vomiting, just nauseous and nothing sounds really great. Just trying to get through at this point, and praying I don't have another attack. That was some of the worst pain I've ever experienced in my life!

mednar · September 9, 2011

ChowChows,

Sorry about not responding (Hurricane/Tropcal Depression Lee left me without power at home for a few days. I check the board at school, but don't always have time to respond during the day).

Trying to follow this thread and keep up with things has left me not understanding a big part of what has developed with you recently (at least this hour). I need to reread this several times.

Whatever the case may be, I hope you're doing ok, and that the outcome of this new development reinforces what you've achieved so far.

Let us know when you can.

All my best.

chowchows · September 10, 2011

hey Mednar,

I'm at home, so that's always good in my book, but thinking I may need to go back soon as pain is getting worse. It was almost gone when I got out of the hospital. If my story is still confusing I certainly don't mind clarifying...last week was kind of a blur so maybe I didn't tell the story in a way that makes sense to someone who wasn't there, lol. Feel free to PM me.

TEXAS DIVA · September 14, 2011

OHHH CHOW..IM SO SORRY TO READ ABOUT THE SITUATION YOU HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH! I so enjoy your posts and my heart breaks for your pain, as if we know each other well or are related. I dont know why some have to deal with problems and others dont. Just the hand life has dealt. I do know that I have really enjoyed corresponding with you on the boards and if there is anything I can do, please dont hesitate to ask. I will be praying very hard for you! I just know that your healing is right around the corner! May you be blessed with GREAT HEALTH, EXCELLENT WEIGHT LOSS, LOVE, ROMANCE, HAPPINES AND WEALTH.