Leak

[froufrou 678]

I had surgery back in September... day after I got back, I had excruciating pain radiating up my left shoulder and I could barely breathe. Messaged my surgeon and asked if I should be feeling like this (duh!) and he said no. Ended up in the ER having my stomach looked at, washed out, drain put in and then a stent.

I was in hospital for 2 months and had several operations for stent placements, that ultimately didn't work. Had to go and have one put in that required being stitched in to place. That one ended up coming loose and I still had the leak. Had it stitched again and that did the trick. Stent is out now, leak has healed (I hope it stays that way!).

Anyway - I'm out of hospital now. Trying to get my life back in order. Still dealing with some pain, and some mental trauma. My mother had to fly out from England to take care of me whilst in hospital and to take care of my child who has autism. Nightmare. We have massive bills... airline, hospital, etc.

My surgeon was amazing though and I love him. He stood by me the whole way.

Anyway, I just wanted to put myself on this board so that I can help other people if they go through the same thing, or if any of you have questions. One of the scariest things about the leak is the unknown.

[swimbikerun 1,048]

I'm so sorry you had to go through all that.

[Sosewsue61 3,185]

I am glad you are healing and coping with your ordeal. Lean on all the support available to you. I wish you the and your son the best going forward.

[smariev 4]

Thank you for sharing your story. How long did it take the stent to heal your leak? Did you feel any discomfort while the stent was in place? I currently have a stent and am experiencing a lot of abdominal pain along with extremely painful gas and nausea. The stent has been in place for a week now and I can't seem to find anything that is comforting for the pain or the nausea. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you.

[froufrou 678]

Hi - I'm so sorry you are going through this!

Yes I was in pretty bad pain and threw up a lot.

Are you in hospital? I'm asking because I'm wondering what kind of pain meds you are on. If you are in hospital then dilauded was what helped me the most. At home I was on tablet form of dilauded but it didn't work as well as the IV version. Also I just had to sit with a hot water bottle on my chest most of the time - heat really did help. I was prescribed Carafate to prevent ulcers - are you taking that? I didn't realise I was supposed to take it during the time I had the stent, so I didn't take it, but my GI surgeon said it would have helped with nausea. It might be worth a try.

I can assure you that when the stent is taken out, it'll be like night and day. The pain will go... so just hold on to that thought. I can't remember right now how long it took to heal up, but I will try to find out for you. My mother has a record of it (I was too out of it to notice!).

[Losebig 508]

Sorry for such a horrible ordeal. I hope both of you heal quickly and are leak free. That's truly scary and I can't imagine what it must have been like.

[angyplus5 470]

I'm so sorry to hear you had to go through this! I hope that you are on the road to healing and feeling so much better!!!

Sent from my SM-G930VL using BariatricPal mobile app

[smariev 4]

Thank you froufrou for the advice. I am home from the hospital now and the pain medication they initially gave me was tramadol, but that just was not strong enough. They did give me dilaudid in the hospital and that worked great, but not sure why they did not send me home with that. I feel a little unsupported by my surgeon and the GI surgeon because as I have explained the way that I am feeling they do not offer much advice on how to manage the pain or nausea. They make me feel as if they do not believe me or that I just need to tough it out. I really need to get back to a level of functioning as I have a family to take care of and a job. It has been 11 days since the stent placement and I am not able to do much at all except go for a short walk or maybe a quick run to the store. Froufrou were you able to work with the stent in place? I really appreciate your advice, I did try using the heating pad on my stomach and I slept so much better. I also received Carafate and have been taking that, it works great at soothing my stomach for a time.

[froufrou 678]

Hi Smariev - I was not able to do anything while I had my stent. It was just too painful. I found out how long I had the last stent in and it was a month from the time it was put in again till the time my leak healed. I know that's probably not the news you were hoping for.

I have heard of people working with a stent in and on TPN, but I know I couldn't have done it.

I looked back over your past posts and is it true that you have had this leak since August?! What did your surgeons do for you... did they just leave a drain in and hope that the leak would heal itself?

[smariev 4]

Wow froufrou, that is how I am feeling too. I cannot function much without the pain and discomfort getting in the way but the doctor acts as if this is completely abnormal.

Sorry I didn't mention it before, I just didn't want to bore you with a super long post. I had the sleeve procedure in July, about a month out from surgery I found out that I had a leak. From the leak I got a blood infection and was in the hospital for about a week and was placed on TPN for about 7 weeks in order for the leak to heal. I could not have anything by mouth, not even Water, for 7 weeks. It was incredibly hard, but luckily my family was very supportive and I made it through. The TPN was over in October, then fast forward to a couple weeks ago. I began to have a nagging pain under the left side of my ribs and as the days progressed the pain become worse and basically impossible to ignore. I went to urgent care, they found nothing, went to my surgeon and he brushed me off saying that it sounds like a strained muscle. I told him that I just didn't feel right and he ordered a CT scan. That evening I got the dreaded call yet again that I had another leak and that I needed to go to the hospital.

I was devastated because I know how serious a leak is and clearly remember what toll it took on my family. My surgeon referred me to a GI surgeon that placed the stent. It is 15 cm long and is in my esophagus and stomach. That means my esophagus and stomach are always open, making acid reflux an every day thing. I feel this time around I am not as supported by my surgeon or the GI doctor. I have told them about the pain that I am experiencing and they offer little or no support. I am very happy to have found your post because it is nice to hear that someone else has had a similar experience (although it is a painful experience). Everyone I know personally that has had the sleeve have had absolutely no complications. It is very hard to go through this feeling as if no one else understands. So thanks for posting and for all your suggestions.