In the last few days, news revealed that the cause of death for Lisa Marie Presley was complications from bariatric surgery. No info on which procedure she had or when, but seems she developed a small bowel blockage caused from scar tissue developing and adhesions many years later.

I did a search here for this particular problem and know it is a rare occurrence, but I can't help but think she probably had the best of doctors and well... how does one recognize if they have a blockage or adhesion before it's too late?

Doctors reveal how bowel obstruction behind Lisa Marie Presley's death can occur (msn.com)

23 minutes ago, BabySpoons said:

In the last few days, news revealed that the cause of death for Lisa Marie Presley was complications from bariatric surgery. No info on which procedure she had or when, but seems she developed a small bowel blockage caused from scar tissue developing and adhesions many years later.

I did a search here for this particular problem and know it is a rare occurrence, but I can't help but think she probably had the best of doctors and well... how does one recognize if they have a blockage or adhesion before it's too late?

Doctors reveal how bowel obstruction behind Lisa Marie Presley's death can occur (msn.com)

Probably the best source to ask is a doctor but also to gather first person perspective, ask someone who has had an obstruction and survived it.

We all know that our surgeries have the possibility of complications. But we also hopefully realized they are statistically small.

As far as Lisa Marie, a lot of the news coming out shows the stigma of WLS. She also had opioids in her system (at therapeutic levels) . Anyone who’s taken them knows how they can cause incredibly bad constipation. There are studies that link opioid use the SBO. Additionally, reportedly she had suffered from extreme pain for days and didn’t seek medical treatment

Abdominal pain.

Abdominal pain in bariatric patients should never be ignored - no matter how far out from surgery we are.

All humans are at risk of a bowel obstruction. Bariatric patients are at a higher risk. The main symptom is abdominal pain. It's often accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea.

This gave me a few unhappy hours too!

My father died of a small bowel obstruction related to bowel cancer surgery. Unfortunately he wasn’t strong enough for an op at 92 so it’s different but related.

I had Peterson’s hernias two years after surgery which nearly did for me (nhs docs refused to do cti scan which may have diagnosed it, partly due to prejudice over my having wls privately. I was out of warranty on that though!

anyway, this history makes me more worried about adhesions than I might otherwise be and I had some serious operation remorse yesterday.

But, as has been pointed out, Lisa Marie took opiates which may have helped create a blockage and had ignored some symptoms.

I am sure the wls surgery has improved my quality of life in the 6.5 years since I had it and I can only hope that I haven’t robbed myself of some old age years I might have had - had I dealt with my weight issues in another way. That’s the rub isn’t it - if I’d stayed obese I’d have had worse quality of life and who knows how much less…

so - all in all - I’m very sad for Lisa Marie and her family, but I think I’m ok!

Edited July 17, 20233 yr by myfanwymoi

bowel obstruction is a potential complication, but it's a rare one. On top of that, she had abdominal pain for MONTHS, and didn't see a doctor about it. Who goes for months with unexplained abdominal pain and doesn't see someone about it? If she had, she'd still be alive. My mother-in-law had two bowel obstructions (she's NOT a WLS patient). In one case, they cleared it out (since it was possible to do that), in the other, they had to do a small resection of the affected part (because it couldn't be cleared out). Lisa Marie should have seen a doctor about it. It's sad that she never did, because she didn't have to die.

P.S. according to my mother-in-law (I talked to her last night about all this), the pain from a bowel obstruction is pretty severe - so you'd KNOW something was wrong. Although maybe the opioids in LIsa Marie's system numbed the pain? I don't know - but she would have known something was wrong. Or should have.

I had a giant ovarian cyst removed in 2013. Like, gallon of milk giant. It had adhered to my bowels and pretty much everything it could. They nicked my bowel in 3 spots removing the cyst. (Hysterectomy in 2000 but they took both ovaries with the cyst and my gall bladder for its own reasons, I'm always a special case.)

In 2016, 2017? I had a bowel obstruction. You will KNOW. Nausea and incredible amounts of pain over a few hours resulted in an ER trip and week long stay.

Forward to my sleeve a week ago, and my surgeon said that my bowel is adhered to my small intestine and had she been 2 inches to my left, she'd have been in my bowel. Scary thought! I joked I should get a tattoo there in case of emergency...

Listen to your body and advocate for yourself. I've only had 1 doctor poo poo my symptoms- and she was a female doctor, too! Had she listened, my gall bladder would have been removed in 2010.

Thanks for all your responses. The few articles I read said that Lisa Marie complained of pain the day of her death. Not that she had ignored it for many days. Sounds about right though if she was medicated, to maybe not be aware of the pain or severity of it.

Sorry to those who have experienced this type of condition or lost loved ones to it. But good to know our bodies will give us advance warning in the case of an obstruction.

1 hour ago, WanderingLass said:

Forward to my sleeve a week ago, and my surgeon said that my bowel is adhered to my small intestine

Is there pain with adhesions? It sounds like you weren't even aware you had one till the doctor went in and visually saw it??? And what happens if it goes unchecked?

25 minutes ago, BabySpoons said:

Thanks for all your responses. The few articles I read said that Lisa Marie complained of pain the day of her death. Not that she had ignored it for many days. Sounds about right though if she was medicated, to maybe not be aware of the pain or severity of it.

Sorry to those who have experienced this type of condition or lost loved ones to it. But good to know our bodies will give us advance warning in the case of an obstruction.

Is there pain with adhesions? It sounds like you weren't even aware you had one till the doctor went in and visually saw it??? And what happens if it goes unchecked?

I knew I had adhesions from the 2013 surgery but not where they were. Scar tissue can also cause adhesions. But no pain. It's like gluing your fingers together. You don't feel the glue. Weird analogy, but it was the only one I can think of. ?‍♀️

When I had the Petersens hernias (which create blockage because loops of intestine have slipped through a hole in the sac that keeps your guts in place / sorry forgot name of it!) I had intermittent pain. It was hard to describe- crampy mainly, pressure a bit - I’d get relief from going on hands and knees and rocking my hips- looking back that may have helped loops to slip back in.

anyway I went to emergency departs twice or three times - showing a text from my wls surgeon which said Petersens hernias likely please do a cti. They did x/rays which won’t show the issue - or the tear which causes it and sent me home. Another time they said why wasn’t surgeon seeing me himself - was past date when he had to under the private contract- they said he’s a rich man he should see you. (He’d just retired as senior consultant at that hospital which is a bariatric centre)

my pain had gone by this time as I’d not attempted to eat or drink in 24 hours (I’d told them that too) and they sent me home insisting I did it properly with a go referral.
which I did.
got an appointment at same hospital -told will re it’s d be in touch within six weeks. Call next day - oh we have a cti cancellation can you pop in. Did so and they then had another magic cancellation to schedule repair op. Turns out half my small intestines had migrated through this tear. Shiny new doc told me this and older once shushed it down as they were obvs worried I’d litigate.

I was just pleased not to have died.

Petersens used to happen after peptic ulcer ops and were common- changes in treatment of ulcers made them more rare - they’re increasingly common again as post wls issue.

so - point of this long post - intermittent issues- and this happened over a six month period- need checking out too.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out which foods caused it and it was actually just the food moving - or intermittently not, through my small intestines…

this article does say that she'd complained about abdominal pain for months, and that the opioids they found in her system may have masked some of the pain. Other articles I've read also said she'd had pain for months - although babyspoons said she'd read that LMP didn't have pain. So...not sure what the real story is here, It does say, though, that bowel obstruction is a rare complication (and that I knew....)

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/lisa-marie-presley-death-rare-risk-bariatric-surgery-rcna94373