On TPN to gain weight

[Momma_B 3]

Ugh. I’m defeated. I’m 3 years post op and have been sick for the last 7 or 8 months. Vomiting constantly, nauseous all the time, dropped down to 92 pounds. I got up to 96 or 98 before I finally broke down and called my surgeon. My husband had been on me to call and I just didn’t want to be a bother to anyone and felt awful about myself. I looked terrible. Nothing but bones. Long story short , they got me in the next day and had bloodwork scheduled for the next day and an endoscopy scheduled for the day after that. I had a major stricture at the opening of the small intestine. They were surprised that fluids were even making it through, it was so bad. I’ve had it stretched 3 times and have been put on TPN. It was 18 hours a day and they’ve backed it down to 14 and upped my calories to 1294. I’m up to 111 pounds as of yesterday but am still getting sick on anything that isn’t mush.

I feel like a complete failure and so stupid for not calling and getting help sooner. Like, this whole bout of tpn could have been avoided had I not been so stubborn. The surgeon wants me to gain at least 20 pounds.

has anyone else been through anything similar and If so were you on tpn and for how long?

[catwoman7 10,997]

it's really, really rare to have a stricture that late - they almost always appear - if they're going to appear - within the first three months after surgery. I had two - at four weeks out and again at eight weeks out. The first time I knew something was wrong and I called my clinic. They suspected it was a stricture and sent me over to the hospital for an upper endoscopy to confirm (and "fix") it. The second time I knew exactly what it was since I'd seen this movie before and I went right in to have it stretched. So no, I never got to the point you were at. For those newbies who are reading this, strictures only happen to about 5% of bypass patients (they can happen to sleeve patients as well, but they're very rare with sleeve), and they almost always happen within the first three months after surgery. Just be aware of the symptoms she listed and contact your clinic if you first start noticing stuff like this. They're not going to heal on their own, and they're an easy fix. Just make sure to let your clinic know if you start having these kinds of symptoms (can't keep anything down, nausea all the time) since these are not normal and are usually indicative of a stricture.