Hello everyone,

I originally wasn’t planning on joining or posting on this forum, but I’ve decided I want to tell my story to help and educate others. I’m 24 years old and the gastric sleeve surgery left me with a leak one week post op. I will first explain my symptoms in order to aid others if they may experience the same as I believe we should be educated on knowing the warning signs so we don’t just shrug it off as dehydration as I did. It started of with abdominal pain and feeling light headed, at first I assumed I needed to drink more and rest. I could feel something wasn’t right as I was 100% pain and nausea free the previous days. The next day I woke up my left shoulder and neck was hurting but it went away as I stood up. I felt nauseous from the upper abdominal pain I ended up vomiting. I went to emergency and there I had a fever, my heart rate was around 120 I believe. They suspected it was gastro or dehydration so they hooked me up to iv fluids. Blood test results came back and my inflammation markers were over 300 (normal range is 0-10) I had a ct scan where they discovered I had a leak. I was transported to the hospital where I had the surgery per my surgeons request. There I had a picc line inserted and had an endoscopy. The endoscopy showed nothing, and the surgeon suggested the leak was the size of a pinhole. To keep this short and not bore anyone, this is my 7th week in hospital about to be my 8th. I was lucky as I had no abscesses, therefore requiring no surgical intervention besides the endoscopy. I’ve had multiple ct scans, blood tests. I am nil by mouth and TPN overnight. I also suffered from another complication during my stay, picc line sepsis which wasn’t fun and I had an overnight stay in icu. I’m now on 3 different antibiotics including vancomycin for the sepsis. Currently I’m allowed the bariatric diet (liquids) on day two and getting lower left back pain.

It’s been a long, hard journey and everyday it’s difficult to stay positive as you think it’s never ending; but there will be an end eventually you just need to be patient and think about how strong you are for enduring this.

Thank you everyone for reading.

Wow that’s awful. Glad they found the issue early and that you are in the right place getting treatment.Hope you heal 100%soon so that you are able to go home and start living your new life

Life of ? just another TPN wishing you well, we are both going to win this battle. May take a while but I will be here in Ohio USA cheering for you! Please keep me updated, okay?

32 minutes ago, Lifeofpeach said:

Hello everyone,

I originally wasn’t planning on joining or posting on this forum, but I’ve decided I want to tell my story to help and educate others. I’m 24 years old and the gastric sleeve surgery left me with a leak one week post op. I will first explain my symptoms in order to aid others if they may experience the same as I believe we should be educated on knowing the warning signs so we don’t just shrug it off as dehydration as I did. It started of with abdominal pain and feeling light headed, at first I assumed I needed to drink more and rest. I could feel something wasn’t right as I was 100% pain and nausea free the previous days. The next day I woke up my left shoulder and neck was hurting but it went away as I stood up. I felt nauseous from the upper abdominal pain I ended up vomiting. I went to emergency and there I had a fever, my heart rate was around 120 I believe. They suspected it was gastro or dehydration so they hooked me up to iv fluids. Blood test results came back and my inflammation markers were over 300 (normal range is 0-10) I had a ct scan where they discovered I had a leak. I was transported to the hospital where I had the surgery per my surgeons request. There I had a picc line inserted and had an endoscopy. The endoscopy showed nothing, and the surgeon suggested the leak was the size of a pinhole. To keep this short and not bore anyone, this is my 7th week in hospital about to be my 8th. I was lucky as I had no abscesses, therefore requiring no surgical intervention besides the endoscopy. I’ve had multiple ct scans, blood tests. I am nil by mouth and TPN overnight. I also suffered from another complication during my stay, picc line sepsis which wasn’t fun and I had an overnight stay in icu. I’m now on 3 different antibiotics including vancomycin for the sepsis. Currently I’m allowed the bariatric diet (liquids) on day two and getting lower left back pain.

It’s been a long, hard journey and everyday it’s difficult to stay positive as you think it’s never ending; but there will be an end eventually you just need to be patient and think about how strong you are for enduring this.

Thank you everyone for reading.

Thank you for sharing. Can't wait for you to get well ,home and happy. Stay strong ❤

That's awful. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope you get well soon!

Thank you for sharing your story. I’m going through this leak nightmare now.

Thanks for sharing your story. I am 6 days post-op and was feeling pretty good until yesterday. Now I am having increased pain in my left side so much so it's hard to walk. I don't have a fever though, and my heart rate is normal, but I did get diarrhea today, so I am nervous as to what it could be. I called my doctor today and he said he thinks I might have over exerted myself and as long as I don't have the fever or high heart rate the pain should subside. I have a follow up with him on Friday but honestly this pain is the worst it has ever been.

52 minutes ago, Newbie34 said:

Thanks for sharing your story. I am 6 days post-op and was feeling pretty good until yesterday. Now I am having increased pain in my left side so much so it's hard to walk. I don't have a fever though, and my heart rate is normal, but I did get diarrhea today, so I am nervous as to what it could be. I called my doctor today and he said he thinks I might have over exerted myself and as long as I don't have the fever or high heart rate the pain should subside. I have a follow up with him on Friday but honestly this pain is the worst it has ever been.

Hi love,

where is your left side pain located? Do you feel nauseous at all?

3 hours ago, Butterfly bullet said:

Thank you for sharing your story. I’m going through this leak nightmare now.

Hope everything works out for you! Sending my best wishes x

On 12/16/2018 at 10:37 AM, Orchids&Dragons said:

That's awful. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope you get well soon!

Thank you love xx

On 12/16/2018 at 7:31 AM, GreenTealael said:

Thank you for sharing. Can't wait for you to get well ,home and happy. Stay strong ❤

Thank you ? xx

On 12/16/2018 at 7:28 AM, Frustr8 said:

Life of ? just another TPN wishing you well, we are both going to win this battle. May take a while but I will be here in Ohio USA cheering for you! Please keep me updated, okay?

Hi love,

I hope you’re going well with your battle! I’ve finaly been feeling ok without pain and the doctor said once my CRP levels are stable and low I can proceed to puréed food How is your TPN going? Wishing u all the best with your journey xx

On 12/16/2018 at 7:28 AM, elcee said:

Wow that’s awful. Glad they found the issue early and that you are in the right place getting treatment.Hope you heal 100%soon so that you are able to go home and start living your new life

Thank you love

4 hours ago, Lifeofpeach said:

Hi love,

where is your left side pain located? Do you feel nauseous at all?

It's mostly in my upper quadrant of my abdomen right behind my main incision. It goes through my body to my back.

4 hours ago, Lifeofpeach said:

Hi love,

where is your left side pain located? Do you feel nauseous at all?

And no nausea at all.

29 minutes ago, Newbie34 said:

And no nausea at all.

As the doctor said, keep an eye if you develop a fever or an increased heart rate. Another significant sign of a leak can be pain in your left shoulder and neck; however you may have just over exerted yourself as your doctor suggested. If the pain doesn’t subside in a day or so or worsens, call your doctor and ask for an earlier appointment. If you have medical insurance there is no harm in going to the ER if you are very concerned and the pain is debilitating. We know our body better than anyone else; if something doesn’t feel right get it checked.