A Serious Set Back...The Price of "Skinny"!?!?!?!

Exactly 365 days from the day of my gastric bypass surgery I found myself once again undergoing another surgery...this time an emergency and of course it goes without saying that it was most unexpected. I have had such a smooth journey since my bypass last year. My weight loss has been awesome and all my vitamin and mineral levels have been fine. I have had loads of energy and have enjoyed many new physical activities with literally no side effects at all. It's been smooth sailing...until just over the past two or three weeks...

My last post talked about the scope that the bariatric surgeon performed last week to check that everything in terms of my pouch was healthy and that there were no leaks. He concluded from the scope that all was fine and that if anything, there might be a slight irritation at the bottom of the pouch where it enters the bowel/intestine. So, off I went home with a prescription for Prevacid, which is a medication to help reduce the inflammation and hopefully take care of the pain that I was experiencing when eating.

As the week progressed and I began to increase my diet again from liquids to softer solids, I was still experiencing a severe amount of pain in my abdomen. The only things that I could ingest without too much pain were liquids, water, juice etc. Anytime I tried to eat anything more solid, the pain increased.

I made it through the weekend and on Sunday evening managed to eat a small salad, which seemed to go down with not too much pain but still a fair amount of discomfort. In time it passed and I was able to get some sleep. Monday morning I had a protein shake with soy milk and it seemed to go down ok, so I decided that I would try the salad for lunch again. When I got back to work after lunch I was literally doubled over in pain from my abdomen right through to my back. Anyone who knows me knows that I am pretty tough so it takes a lot to double me over...usually my pain tolerance is quite high...but this got me. I could barely sit in my office chair and could definitely not concentrate at all. After making a trip to the bathroom to see if I could get some relief I finally succumbed to the pain and called Todd to come a pick me up. As nauseous and doubled over as I was, my associate helped me down the elevator to wait for him. I was a mess.

When I got home I tried to lie in bed with the heating pad on my tummy hoping to get some relief but the pain only intensified and I was not coping that well. I was still doubled over and could find no position that gave any relief at all...it was increasing and I was wretching...but nothing was coming up...I was scared...

I finally ended up in the living room on the floor curled up rocking and holding my abdomen when Todd called the ambulance. I was weeping the pain was so great....I had never experienced anything like this in my life...not even when I had my children.

Once I made it to the emergency room at the hospital, it took them almost 5 hours to get my pain and vomiting under control. I was still crying and very afraid at this point...fearful that something had gone very wrong with my original bypass surgery. As a side note, you may or may not know, but there are a lot of risks associated with having bypass surgery and so some of the complications that can occur are really quite serious and even life threatening. I was in a panic on top of being in so much pain...

Once they managed to settle things down in terms of my pain they began to investigate with some x rays. They were looking for a hernia or sorts or an obstruction in the bowel, anything that would explain the intense pain I was in. After hours and hours of waiting, the Surgeon spoke to us and explained that they had found nothing out of the ordinary on the x rays but wanted to do a CT scan as a next step to try and diagnose what was going on.

The next day I had the CT scan and again, it yielded nothing. When the Surgeon came to speak to us to tell us that they could not see anything unusual on the scan, he explained that sometimes problems like this are intermittent and may not show up on a scan. He continued to explain that they did not really want to just let me go but felt that the best way to know what was going on was to perform a diagnostic laparoscopy the following day. During this surgical procedure they would be looking for a obstruction of the bowel (like a blockage or dead tissue) or any twists or knots in the intestine/bowel. If they found anything, they would fix it right then.

I must admit that at this point, because I hadn't eaten anything in about three days and was weary from sleeping in the emergency department for two nights, I was sort of thinking that this was a bit extreme. I had no pain in my tummy anymore (because I hadn't eaten) and I truthfully just wanted to go home...and because none of the tests had given any clues I thought it was just a one time thing and that they wouldn't find a thing in surgery....

I was wrong!!!! I headed off into surgery at about 3:00pm on Wednesday and when I woke up the Surgeon had explained to Todd and my Mom that when they went in to look they found a large amount of scar tissue (left from my original bypass surgery) had wound itself around my bowel/intestine just below the pouch and was strangling it. This was where the pain was coming from because nothing was able to pass through this portion of the intestine. They also found that there were some portions of the bowel that were beginning to twist and could cause a similar problem if not dealt with. So the Surgeon removed all the scar tissue and situated the bowel with stitches so that it would not twist in the future.

Whew! That was a lot...so today I'm at home because they had no beds to keep me, but I am under very very strict orders to rest. I have had a fair amount of pain from this surgery and really cannot move around that much. Of course, I am not able to lift anything and can't do a whole lot for myself (which is driving my crazy!!!!!), but I am so scared that I will "wreck" things inside, I am submitting to it and trying to enjoy the pampering!!!!

My mom went home and so Todd is here looking after me and is doing a fabulous job...poor guy...I am NOT a very good patient!!! I think he is about one step away from strapping me to the recliner!!!!

Some might ask if I now regret having the bypass surgery because of this complication...and to that I would answer answer a resounding NO! My quality of life is still far better and this little set back is just that, a set back and can be easily overcome and I will soon be back on my way again...just a time to rest and regroup and let my body heal. After all, it has been through a lot over the last year and might just need some time to catch up...

So, one foot in front of the other I continue on this incredible journey and will not be defeated...despite this little hiccup...I am still way healthier today than I was a 462 lbs a year ago!!