Did I have surgery?

[vcarrick 10]

Curious has this ever happened to anyone else and if so where do I begin?

In 2013 I was in hospital in my home town Houston for three days recovering from gastric sleeve surgery or so I thought. I had lap band in 2010 and was sick often from it even though I followed all the rules and life changes. Than in 2013 I had a revision to gastric sleeve which I was told went very well just go home follow the new changes which were pretty much the same as before and see nutritionist at dr office frequently to stay on task. i did it all!

When I'd go in for a check up I was always told I was trying hard enough because I should be losing more weight. Id only lost 50-60 lbs total. Then went in again for an EDG after having a continuous upset stomach. After that procedure he told me I had hpylori and to take this medications. Another year passes and I'm still stuck at the same weight give or take a few pounds and I've moved to California from Texas. Began having the same symptoms as I did with hpylori but also had somehow lost another 26 lbs after moving to Cali. I attribute this to the sunshine. When my stomach pain would not go away after months I decided I'd go to another gastroenterologist and internal medicine specialist here in Loma Linda California. She ran all the usual tests and an EDG which found that I have a lot of burning type ulcers but here's the kicker SHE SAID WHEN I WOKE UP AND MY HUSBAND HEARD HER THAT THERE WERE ABSOLUTELY NO SIGNS THAT ID EVER HAD GASTRIC SLEEVE SURGERY AND THAT ALL MY PARTS WERE ALL THERE NORMAL AS TEHY SHOULD BE PRIOR TO A SURGERY!!!! What do I do?

[Bufflehead 6,358]

1. Get that report in writing; and 2. Consult with a couple of good medical malpractice lawyers. Damages may be hard to prove but at the very least you are owed a refund for the cost of that surgery.

[JamieLogical 8,683]

So you were supposed to have had a revision from band to sleeve in 2013 but you think they didn't actually sleeve you? Have you had any sort of restriction while eating? I can't see how you could not be sleeved and not know. That seems crazy!

[vcarrick 10]

Yes I had a revision and I never felt like it seemed to restrict me much but dr said over and over again I'm probably not following the nutritional advice and needed to continue with his nutritionist. Which I continued and followed all the restrictions. No soda, no NSAIDs, high Protein low carb, protein smoothies, walked daily and even joined an exercise group at school on my lunch hour etc...I'd always feel bad that I didn't feel like I was successful but even his nurse told me that when you're revised not to expect the same results she too had been revised.

[liannatx 897]

So, your husband heard a doctor say this to someone else... but no one told this to you? Is there a chance he misheard? Or did the doctor tell you both that no Gastric Sleeve surgery was done? Could the doctor have meant that the lapband didnt leave any lasting damage or scar tissue, or something like that?

I agree with @@Bufflehead, I would want a copy of the reports from that visit.

[vcarrick 10]

No I'm sorry if I explained it wrong. When I had the last EDG withthe new specialist when I woke and she spoke with us she told us both at the same time that there were absolutely no signs of any type of gastric surgery. I asked her to clarify and she said all of my stomach was just as it should be prior to any surgeries. No sign of revision

[karen091866 120]

When you were hospitalized those 3 days, did you have any surgical wounds? You'd have had to have the sleeve laparoscopic-style ---leaving 5-6 small incision sites...or it would have been "open surgery"...and you'd have had a significant, noticeable surgical scar.

You'd have had some sort of post-op discomfort, too...No one just hops right out of their hospital bed without soreness that last several days, etc..etc

Something is very wrong here...

[vcarrick 10]

I did have surgical wounds and post operative discomfort. Not sure at all what was done or if he just decided he couldn't do it for some reason once he began. I don't know because I also wondered why I had to stay so long.

[Acceber12 5]

You should consult with an attorney. A reputable med malpractice attorney should do a consult without charge to see if you have a viable case. I can't give you legal advice, but if your stomach is still intact, and your surgeon billed you and/or your insurance for a gastric sleeve procedure, I would consult with a medical malpractice attorney ASAP. You should act fast, as there are statute of limitations issues at play that could bar your claim. Best of luck.

[4MRB4PHOTO 3,899]

Did they go in and have to abort the VSG due to something they found?

If so, they would have told you.

Request your hospital records from 2013.

[OutsideMatchInside 10,162]

@@vcarrick

Get an attorney, one will be all over this.

[RickM 1,636]

While it is possible that he did nothing - there are quacks and frauds out there - but more likely is that he just did a poor sleeve. One of the problems that has come about with the rapidly increasing popularity of the sleeve is that there are lots of experienced bariatric surgeons who have jumped into the sleeve business due to market demand, who are consequently not very experienced with the sleeve (or were not at the time.) It takes practice and repetition to develop the new skills required for the new procedure (consensus is that they should have several hundred of a procedure under their belts to be considered adequately experienced.) Various shape issues can result from a poorly crafted sleeve, most particularly an excess amount of the stretchy fundus left over at the top or bottom of the sleeved stomach, which would result in a feeling (and fact) of minimal restriction. I don't know how well an EGD would allow the gastro to evaluate the shape of the resultant stomach (particularly if they were not overly experienced in dealing with sleeved patients - RNY's are of course the largest bariatric population out there and that configuration would be obvious in and EGD. When my wife had an EGD a couple months ago, the gastro had forgotten that she had had a DS (sleeve plus intestinal rerouting) ten years before, and commented that her stomach didn't inflate normally (of course not - most/all of the stretchy fundus had been removed...) so a normally functioning sleeve was obvious to him.

Talk to your gastro or PCP about this - it may take a barium swallow imaging to see the actual shape of the stomach to determine if the procedure was done at all, or done incorrectly (there is a legal difference between not doing a job at all, and billing insurance, and doing a job poorly - one is criminal while the other merely negligent.) You may also want to consult with a bariatric surgeon who is experienced with sleeves - I like to use the DS as a filter for experience as the DS surgeons have been doing sleeves a lot longer than the "average" bariatric surgeon. They are few and far between usually, but worth seeking out. If you can make it up to LA for a consult, Dr. Ara Keshisian in Glendale it the go-to guy to see (and he usually does his own imaging tests so he can see what the problem is rather than depending on a gastro's written report!)

Good luck in getting this resolved

[VEGAN ME 117]

WOW,