Which surgery did I have?

[Candlelite 0]

Hi I know this is going to be a crazy question but I need to know which surgery I had. I had my surgery in 1979 when I was 18 years old. It was done in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Mount Sinai Hospital. I am now in my late 50s and my health is failing. I guess the reason I never knew which surgery I had was because I never had great medical care beyond the day I walked out of the surgeon's office. I spent years of throwing up my food and not losing much weight. When I asked other doctors about malnutrition they just laughed at me and asked if I had rickets. They made me feel stupid so I never pursued it further. I didn't have great medical care beyond that. I never had the energy or stamina that other people had, I just thought I was lazy and I pushed myself harder. Other people thought I was lazy too, and they never understood my eating issues. My teeth started breaking off and became painful in the back from all of the throwing up I was doing, which impeded my eating habits even more. I got pregnant several times and became very ill and I was not offered any medical help to get through the pregnancies. My husband was very upset about how sick I was he did not want lose me to not getting any help and did not want me to go through with them. My final pregnancy I spent 7 months hospitalized and tube fed because of malnutrition. That was 25 years ago and after I had my daughter again no doctor would presued the malnutrition issue they just told me that pregnant women had worse issues in third world countries. I went on from there to live my life until the last 4 years when I started getting too sick to even go to work. Finally I got social security disability but because you don't get actual medical insurance for two years after you start disability I did not get medical attention again. I am told by other people that the malnutrition issue is well-known however it seems to be unknownby any doctors I am seeing. So anyhow back to the original question all I know about the surgery is I have a large scare from the top of my abdomin to my belly button, I was told they had to take my stomach out to work on it, the staples show up on x-rays or scans and something was done with the opening to the intestine, I think it was moved to form scar tissue to slow down the emptying of my stomach. I have attended seminars given by bariatric doctors and when I pose the question to them about which surgery I might have had they tell me they can't help me. So what was the name of my surgery and what was done to me? I hope someone can give me some help here.

[bostonmama 135]

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question. Have you tried to request your medical record from the hospital that did your surgery? Do you take Vitamins now? I had gastric bypass which does involve moving the intestines, and I have to take a double dose of vitamins, plus extra Calcium and Vitamin D everyday,

[Candlelite 0]

Thank you so much for an answer The hospital does not exist anymore, it has been absorbed by other hospitals in the area. I could give it a shot to see how to do that. I do take supplements, extra amounts and drink Protein Meal Replacements. These things were not available back in the 70,'s and 80's, and hardly acknowledged in the 90's. So I went a long time without. I have had many sores all over my body for more than 20 years. No one could come up with any answers. Last fall I begged for IV Iron since I have been chronically low for as long as I can remember and the sores showed some healing, the doctor refused to see the coalition and insisted I see yet again another dermatogist. When I said I still was not feeling as good as I should the doc gave in and took a Vitamin D test and my level was 19. With the addition of extra D the sores are progressively getting better, but still slow to heal. I also need to know what tests they should be doing for me.

Edited August 27, 2017 by Candlelite

[Candlelite 0]

I bumped the buttons accidentally

[angr 2]

There is no way to tell you what kind of surgery you had but it’s easy to say Vitamin deficiency is normal with surgery. I need to get vitamin iv’s and Iron Iv’s frequently, I also need vitamin d during the year. It has made me feel so much better. I also was diagnosed with celiacs and that has helped me feel better. They say if intestines were taken at all it’s highly likely you can develope celiacs. I live in Michigan and have an amazing doctor. She is a DO but practices mostly wholistic, look for one where you are. They look more at vitamin and hormone levels

[Berry78 4,259]

You probably got the Roux-en-Y Bypass. But other than putting a name to it, the actual procedure doesn't matter for your after care.

I want you to find a new primary care doctor, preferably young, and go into your appointment telling them you had the Bypass. Even if this is in error, it won't affect your care at all. Request they run ALL the normal Bariatric panel.

Possible deficiencies:

Calcium

Iron

Vit. B-12, Folate, Niacin, B-6

Vit. D, A, K, E

Vit. C

Also known: zinc, selenium, copper

You can just throw Vitamins at yourself and hope for the best, but you may never really figure out what is wrong by doing it that way. For example, if you are short on copper, but you also take zinc, the zinc will "cancel out" the copper.

Good luck!