Just to share...the story angers me

[silvertaurus 18]

One of the things I have noticed, even more so in the sleeve communities rather than the RNY communities, is that sometimes people don't want to hear about complications. Sometimes I feel so angry, though, that I just want or need to share.

Everyone told me I had a great doctor, and perhaps he was if there were no complications. Who knows.

First as I waited for surgery they got a call that he had a personal problem and would be late, until the afternoon rather than morning. Right then I wanted to go home and reschedule, but the nurse said he was the utmost professional and would surely not come in if he wasn't fully ready to do a surgery. I should have gone with my gut!

First, I woke up in surgery. I realize this isn't the surgeons fault...it is the anesthesiologist, and it can happen. It didn't last long, but the pain was beyond anything I can ever describe. I heard the anesthesiologist, I assume it was, apologizing to the doctor, and then I was back out.

I woke up in recovery and was there for hours and hours, long after it normally "closed." I was in extreme pain and even their best drugs weren't cutting it, and as a result my blood pressure was through the roof. Finally, after five or six hours, and tons of blood pressure meds, I was moved to my room.

I conveyed repeatedly that the pain I had wasn't normal. No one listened, and I felt quite patronized. I was told over and over again that it was just gas. Finally a swallow test showed that my stomach was swollen shut. Doctor kept pushing me to drink, as the smallest trickle would go through. It would take hours to finish an ounce. Then I was sent home! Why!

I kept a log, drank as much as I could, constantly neverendingly trying to sip and walk. I had severe esophageal spasms that were excruciating. I timed them. After a couple days I was back in the hospital. Stomach was worse than before. Severe dehydration and extreme pain. Got drugged out. Was in for another week on IV. Discussions began that the sleeve may have been made so small it wasn't ever going to function and I would need to have my stomach removed. In the interim, we were going to do PICC and TPN for several months.

Finally at home, I looked at all the meds and the nurse trying to train me on how to do the PICC steps, and I just started crying. Let's not forget that I told them in the hospital I was sure I had a UTI. They did a test and then sent me home. Days later I told my visiting nurse there had to be a problem, and I was sure I had a UTI. She looked into it and it turned out that I had tested positive. It the hospital and doctor screwed up and never gave me meds or it. Any least it explained the fever.

Months on PICC, chronic pain, finally reached the point where I could get 50 oz of Water in if i drank constantly in tiny sips. PICC removed. Did I mention no weight loss as PICC was high calorie to help the body heal? So months of misery and no weight loss. Mind you, this is a short paragraph but represents months of absolute hell. I was also working full time and had three kids at home.

Doctor told me to try and drink Protein Shakes and ignore my NUT as my stomach couldn't handle anything she was telling me to do. He told me just to get in my water and he didn't care about the rest.

Along the way, let's start with the maladaptive eating I developed...consuming liquid calories because everything hurt and by this time I was clinically depressed and didn't give a crap anymore if I ever lost a pound. I was not in a good mental place.

You are not suppose to drink with food, but my stomach developed such tremendously loud digestive noises that they could be heard 20 feet away every time I ate anything. The only way to get them to go away Is to stop eating a half hour before I see people and spend the whole half hour purposefully flushing the food out of my stomach with tons of water.

My hunger never went away, by the way, except when I was healing. So, I gave up on thinking I would feel full. Even if I drank no liquids, I was starving an hour later. I just accepted I would be hungry and learned to deal with it.

It is a year and a half later. I have enveloped such severe reflux that I aspirated acid every night even while sitting up. I stopped seeing my original doctor as he was awful, and moved on to care with a gastroenterologist who does NOT specialize in weight loss surgery. Upper GI showed severe stomach inflammation, changes in my esophagus, a nodule in the stomach wall, and a H Pylori infection. He seemed somewhat surprised my last doctor never checked for these things considering all the complications I was having.

So, why am I so angry? I realize complications can happen. None of us want to be that 1 percent, but some of us will and unfortunately I was in that group. I can live with this as I chose to take that risk. I am so angry because I felt a real sense in getting care that I was being patronized, told to wait and see if a problem went away instead of getting proper treatment, grated as if I was just crazy when everything I said was a problem turned out to have a definite reason. I feel it is a kind of unrecognized bias toward heavy and WLS patients.

So a year and a half later I am still suffering, but my gastro believes that the h pylori treatment will really help a lot of the things that have plagued me for the last year.

The problem is I have been left with a deep distrust of doctors. There were talks that I might need another surgery to correct the reflux, since my esophagus is developing abnormal cells that can lead to cancer. I think I may need to see a therapist for PTSD from all of this, but I'm pretty nonsensical about ever having another surgery....no way in heck. So we will treat the symptoms but I'm not going under the knife again short of death.

Sorry for the really long rant and rave. I just felt the need to share.

Take care all.

[joatsaint 2,814]

Thanks for posting your story.

When I was researching WLS, I wanted to hear the good and the bad - so I could go into it with my eyes wide open. Although I have to admit that I only wanted to hear the success stories and wanted to be one of those people that claimed they were back at work after 3 days and lost 100lbs in 6 months.

[Elode 8,093]

This made my heart hurt for you. I can't even imagine how horrible It would be to go through all that when I'm sure all you wanted to do was get healthy. I'm so sorry this has happened to you and I pray you will get some answers and some relief. Please take care.

[DylanRae 71]

I send my apologies, my good thoughts and hopes of this chapter to be over for you.

I'm also extremely thankful of you. This might come off selfishly, I am very thankful of you an your misfortune because I have to believe that this means that the rest of us who are getting ready to go under are truly ready for the responsibilities that go with going under. In other words, thank you for sharing your story! I now have a better understanding of what I'm getting myself into.

Again, I hope your agony ends soon, I hope that your new doctor can lead you to a path of at least comfort. I very much wish you a happy and long life!

[Katcloudshepherd 630]

My heart aches for you and all the suffering you have endured. I truly hope you can gain your health back. I think you are correct in your theory that extra large patients are treated differently than "normal" sized patients.

I wish you had some legal recourse to go after the doctor that did the surgery. This surgeon should be held accountable for what he did to you and prevented from doing this to any other patient.

Again, I am so sorry for all the pain and emotional trauma you have suffered. Thank you so much for sharing this information as I know it had to take a great amount of courage to do so.

May you find a way to better health and soon.

Kathleen

[finediva 979]

@silvertaurus. Wow, I'm humbled by your experience. I feel ashamed of myself now because my stomach is extremely loud, and it irritates me on an hourly basis. But that now pales in comparison to what you are experiencing. So did you have your stomach removed or has that corrected itself? Hoping things get all the way better for you, and soon.

[haleytrim 244]

We all need to hear the bad along with the good. Thank you. Sending prayers up for a complete healing for you, physically and emotionally.

[swimbikerun 1,039]

Hi,

Being hurt also and shushed not only by those who had good experiences, I can understand and feel for him. THANK YOU to Alex Brecher for letting us be honest on here because a "prominent" area's people will attack you without mercy for speaking the truth. The surgeon Mark Fontana (and his administration), and another patient of his (who wouldn't even ADMIT it, she said that it was HIPAA protected information, which of course you aren't going to say that when you're blocking my showing the FOIA'ed police reports the surgeon was filing against me while I did nothing wrong), a prominent weight loss person in the WLS world, all have done their best to block my story.

Why? Well because I have proof of what goes on. I can show the questions and records that things aren't what they seemed. It is an outrage because people deserve the know the truth. Why, if someone was going to get a bum car, or crappy food, why wouldn't we pass on the experience? This isn't just a car or food this is your LIFE.

I believe in putting it all out there and letting people decide: if this person did this to you, would you want them to operate on your loved ones? Is this how you want to be treated? I know some that take the chance. I know some that don't have a choice (in terms of insurance).

I have watched Mark Fontana's group give a person surgery and then leave them for over TWO months before they gave a followup appt. Leave a person in pain because the band port went wierd and they suffered over TWO YEARS before having to pay OUT OF POCKET thousands of dollars to get it fixed.

I'm sorry, but these things do need to be known so that people can have the option to ask about it and make sure they change their ways to protect us. Not egos, and not their profit margins.

I never, ever want to see what happened to me, how I got blasted out by in person appt. and on the phone, etc. done to someone else when they had complications they couldn't control. It is time past that Mark Fontana's group stopped telling people its all in their head and really do some research because patients don't lie to them. Get some education and start networking with peers. If *I* can find the answers in medical research and getting online and talking to others (who have surgeons that KNOW), then there is NO EXCUSE.

[silvertaurus 18]

Whew! Thank you all. That really helped to just tell my story, and I appreciate your compassion and understanding. I didn't have my stomach removed, but my sleeve is still too small to eat comfortably. So, I am mainly on a soft foods diet or liquids. Maybe when the H Pylori infection goes away I'll have a bit more variety.

It is amazing how much better it can make you feel just to share and be heard.

[phantompouch 19]

something clearly went WRONG in my VSG...I had the surgery in NYC and I have been seriously ill for the last 15 months with severe and intractable pain and numbness in the thighs,legs,hips ,feet,stomach.....no relief....I became ill immediately after the surgery and I have deteriorated...to the point of muscle wasting and now,depression and PTSD....I used to function and work....I am unable to do so.....I have lost 160 pounds and look very sick.....anyone with the same issues ?please let me know ?

[phantompouch 19]

sssorry, I lost 130 pounds....

[silvertaurus 18]

I don't know, phantompouch. The numbness/tingling can be nerve issues due to a b-Vitamin deficiency.I am so sorry to hear how badly things are going for you. I wish I could give more advice.

[Garifab_VSG 122]

silvertaurus, I noticed you're in Pennsylvania. Would you mind sharing which doctor you used? If you aren't comfortable sharing publicly, you can private message me. I'm just starting this process, and I'm in Pennsylvania as well.

[It's Allgood 30]

Thank you for sharing your story. I am one of the "lucky" ones who has had every thing go as planned. I knew going in that complications do happen and you are living proof. I hope things go better from here on out.

[swimbikerun 1,039]

Silvertaurus who and what kinds of docs have you been evaluated by? I've had a boatload of them and I can help you in terms of that. I'm a sort of nerd who prefers the medical research, that's my big issue.