Stricture Mid-Stomach

[Pipergurl 34]

They found a stricture in the middle of my stomach this weekend. Because it had been there awhile (despite the fact that I kept having problems and contacting the surgeon), I developed a pouch above it from it stretching to hold the food. Now they're considering more surgery. Anyone out there have anything similar happen? This isn't your normal stricture because it didn't occur where the esophagus joins the stomach.

Thanks!!!

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[ProudGrammy 8,322]

stricture in the middle stomach

@@Pipergurl

no problems here, but wanted to respond

sorry you have the stricture

you called doc a few times about prob

he didn't do anything - thought you would be alright??

they are thinking of another surgery?

would they change to gastric bypass

2nd surgery would be covered due to your excessive problems??

hope things move a long in the right direction

DOS sooner than later

when were you sleeved?

good luck

kathy

[Pipergurl 34]

stricture in the middle stomach

@@Pipergurl

no problems here, but wanted to respond

sorry you have the stricture

you called doc a few times about prob

he didn't do anything - thought you would be alright??

they are thinking of another surgery?

would they change to gastric bypass

2nd surgery would be covered due to your excessive problems??

hope things move a long in the right direction

DOS sooner than later

when were you sleeved?

good luck

kathy

I'm not quite 4 months out. The doctor has been telling me since I was one month out that it was all in my head. Talk about screwing up on his part. I want to get a second opinion but no one wants to operate except the one who did the surgery.

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[gemigirl 134]

So sorry that happened to you! What sort of problems were you experiencing?

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[RickM 1,753]

From what I have seen over the years, this is one of the more common shape related issues with the sleeve - with or without a significant stricture, sometimes too much of the stretch fundus is left at the top and/or bottom of the stomach leading to excessive stretch over the long term. Whether it comes from quirks in ones' specific anatomy or surgical technique is anyone's guess for any specific case.

As I have had it explained, the cutting tool/stapler that they use is a long, straight tool, with which they need to make remove the greater curvature of the stomach, following the general shape of the minor curvature on the inside - think of cutting a piece of paper or cloth into a circle with a long pair of shears - lots of little cuts rather than a few big ones - which isn't easy via the remote laparoscope, it takes lots of practice. The result with a sleeve if they make just a couple of large cuts instead of 3-4 smaller ones is something shaped more like an hour glass than the banana that it is supposed to resemble.

I can understand from a liability perspective that others are shy about correcting the problem. Unfortunately, this is a big problem as those who may be relatively new to the sleeve and are more prone to these issues are in less of a position to correct the problem. Often the recommendation is to revise it to a bypass as that is what they are most familiar with. Other surgeons in the area may also be apprehensive about correcting it as they themselves may be too low on the learning curve to make such repairs. The best shot that I can think of is to find a well experienced sleeve/DS surgeon who may be willing to tackle it - the guys who do the DS as their primary procedure tend to have a lot more than average sleeve experience as the average bariatric surgeon - dsfacts.com has an incomplete listing of DS surgeons, though conveniently there are several good ones in your vicinity. The two most likely guys to check with would be Dr. Roslin in NYC or Dr. Greenbaum in Moorestown are well regarded for doing complex revisions (like putting bypasses back together and revising to DS) so if anyone can in the area can put your sleeve back the way it should be it would be one of them.

[Pipergurl 34]

My doctor gave me a lot of options but only 2 are practical. To be honest though, I'm really feeling overwhelmed. A part of me says just convert it to be bypass but the other part says, I didn't want that which is why o didn't get it. I need to do some research. Thanks for the information!

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[Pipergurl 34]

I am scheduled for a conversion to bypass on December 16. There is no other option at this time. I will be having the surgery done by a different surgeon as I did not feel comfortable going back to the other one.