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big problems advice needed please



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I am writing on behalf of my wife who currently resides in a london hospital fed up and far from home.

My wife has had her lap band for some 18 months without major episode until now. For the past coulple of months she has been involuntary burping and gurgling and that leant to our sense of humour to begin with.

We were just on holiday in canary islands where she was unable to process any food or liquids, these cause severe acid and back pain and was relieved by being sick.

A visit to a doctor sent us to hospital were we found out that the insurance cover did not cover our problem!! The doctor did various test include a camera down throat and a x meal. The doctor decided to the cause of the problem was the band was to tight and had many attempts to put a needle into the port to remove liquid to which end he failed.

Following this next he cut my wife open uner local and had two nurses hold the cut open while he had his hand inside locating the port, the local wore off and my wife was crying and telling him that all could be felt but he carried on and managed to break the port taking out 4.5cc.

To finish his handy work he closed the cut and stiched up leaving three swabs inside!

We cut short our stay and returned to the uk where my wife went straight to hospital.

Following a scan we presume to rule out such things as gullstones and slipage and another barame meal, by the way the prevous meal still glowed brightly form a test a week earlier, it has been deemed that the liquid has gone through without problem.

Still she cannot take sips of liquid without the acid burning sensation and pain to her back.

she currently feels like a naughty school girl having again been told off for making herself sick to releave her pain. The medical staff say that all needs to settle down, but we feel it wont if she keeps straining to be sick.

We feel the medical staff are unaproachable and wondered if anyone could point to any cause of the problem ie hiatal hernia so we can at least suggest something as a possible cause?

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Let me try and understand. Your wife, while banded, was experiencing acid (reflux, or just burning?) when she ate or drank... and got to the point that even liquids had to come back up.

She went to a surgeon who ended up breaking her port. What do you mean by that, exactly? Is the port inside of her still?

During this surgery, 4.5cc of Fluid was removed. How much did she have to begin with, and what's the size of her band?

Now her surgery is over, but she is still experiencing a burning sensation in her back when she drinks fluids.

Is that accurate?

(BTW, what the medical staff told her about making herself sick, and needing time to settle down, is spot on. Getting sick irritates our little pouches, and it isn't unusual for that to cause swelling and increased problems - a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.)

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Let me try and understand. Your wife, while banded, was experiencing acid (reflux, or just burning?) when she ate or drank... and got to the point that even liquids had to come back up.

She went to a surgeon who ended up breaking her port. What do you mean by that, exactly? Is the port inside of her still?

During this surgery, 4.5cc of Fluid was removed. How much did she have to begin with, and what's the size of her band?

Now her surgery is over, but she is still experiencing a burning sensation in her back when she drinks fluids.

Is that accurate?

(BTW, what the medical staff told her about making herself sick, and needing time to settle down, is spot on. Getting sick irritates our little pouches, and it isn't unusual for that to cause swelling and increased problems - a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.)

While banded was and is, experiencing acid burning sensation when any liquid sips are taken, an emergency surgeon ham fistly broke the port away clumsely from the rest of the lap band and released 4.5cc of Fluid from a total of 5cc.

Now that sugery is over in Spain we returned to the uk to be hospitalised straight away with the need to have iv fluids to feed her. Further she still cannot take liquids without causing acid or sickness, even with anti acid drugs being administered.

Today my wife was chastised for make herself sick by the doctor accompanied by his entourage. She sips Water as instructed today. This evening she fought tooth and nail with the acid burning her insides until the point she was involuntary sick with the unacknowleged coffee grounds within and finally got some acknowledgment that blood is present in the sick. Morphine is injected tonight as additional pain relief to paracetamol.

Still no idea as the cause

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If she is vomiting coffee ground looking material, that is old blood, and comes from the digestive tract. That needs to be looked into, and soon, I would hope.

Good luck, and let us know how she does...........

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I have a question? Is she seeing the doc who did the banding originally? I have had alot and I mean alot of different problems with my band. All of which have been addressable if you will. This sounds like she is getting tonnes of help from people who don't really know what they are doing....please forgive me if I am out to lunch, but I have had docs who are willing to "give it a try" and can't really cut it. My advice...see the doc who did the band in the first place...check slippage, check for infection, hell get her on an antibiotic it can't hurt, and check for Gallstones...the pain that she is experiencing I have experienced and I have a gallbladder full of stones....all the best and good luck.

POPT

Tracey

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If your wife is vomiting coagulated blood (coffee grounds) there is a VERY REAL possibility that she has a very badly slipped, or eroded band. This is serious and needs to be dealt with by a BARIATRIC SURGEON and NOBODY ELSE! Have they done a barium swallow with flouroscopy? That should show them whether there is truly a blockage or if the stomach has come up thru her band. Prayers and best wishes for her recovery!

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I have a question? Is she seeing the doc who did the banding originally? I have had alot and I mean alot of different problems with my band. All of which have been addressable if you will. This sounds like she is getting tonnes of help from people who don't really know what they are doing....please forgive me if I am out to lunch, but I have had docs who are willing to "give it a try" and can't really cut it. My advice...see the doc who did the band in the first place...check slippage, check for infection, hell get her on an antibiotic it can't hurt, and check for Gallstones...the pain that she is experiencing I have experienced and I have a gallbladder full of stones....all the best and good luck.

POPT

Tracey

she is now under the same team who fitted the band but hayho the leader or surgeon is away till next week, its all just so slow watching paint dry syndrome, she has had a scan as well so would presume that a slipage or stones would have shown on this.

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