Intestines twisting or rotting

Anyone ever hear of someone post surgery having their intestines rot from inside..........I was at work yesterday and someone told me their friend had bariatric in august and they had to have surgery cause their intestines were dead!!!!! sorry not to be negative just really freaked me out - anyone have any thoughts or know anything about this - supposedly this person was a heavy drinker.......post surgery!
any feedback thanks
steph

They had their surgery in August and the intestine's "rotted" due to heavy drinking after RNY???

This is the first I have heard about something like this! There HAD to be an underlying issue. A previous issue... This just sounds like your co-worker trying to scare you out of having surgery.
MANY of us are living proof that this surgery works. Some people may unfortunately have some complications but hopefully can get them resolved. We DO have awesome drs out there! They don't want us to not succeed and they want us to be healthy!

Are you planning on being a heavy drinker after your surgery?

Leanne,
I really agree with what you are saying....It just freaked me out cause they kept telling me it was because of the surgery, i responded that I never heard of this. I do not drink or smoke never have........just wanted to know if anyone had feedback, I will continue focusing on the positive and not the negative. Thanks for your thoughts and support
Started my optifast and first two days were really hard had some difficult withdrawls but today i am 75% better.....take care

p.s. when did you have your surgery>

That's what we definitely NEED to do when people start talking negatively- focus on the positive!

People will come up with ALL kinds of bad things to say, those are the people that have no idea what they are talking about. They haven't done their research like we have. I went thru the same thing, people telling me horror stories about RNY, I knew they never researched anything and eventually told them to shove it and they didn't bother me again about it.

You can do it! The hardest part is the first few days.


I had my surgery sept 2010.
I have lost 101% of my excess weight= 120ish lbs lost (I float between 122- 126)

Ive heard of cases of intestines twisting but never rotting. Even when you go through the classes and they list the risks, that's never been one of them. Twisted intestines is but they've never mentioned rotting intestines.

I agree with Leanne that it sounds like this person is just trying to scare you out of surgery.

You are talking about an intusception. I may have spelled that wrong.
It's where the bowel loops in on itself, as it moves.
I had what is called an Ileus, that is related to the intussception.
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/gastrointestinal_di sorders/acute_abdomen_and_surgical_gastroenterology/ileus.ht ml

Basically, our bowels have been reconstructed (not entirely - just portions).
When they become much more (or much less) active as we adapt to our changed intake and activity, they move differently. Not just in the sense of expediting the material THROUGH them ,but also move differently within our bellies. They can move a lot less or a lot more than before, and all those loops can twist around themselves. Just like when you have a bunch of necklaces in a drawer and they all get tangled.

Do a search on Bowel Obstruction on ObesityHelp's main page - you will find more information on there.

And "rotting' is probably not the way to describe the process when the tissue gets cut off from its blood supply and necrotizes. That's a very graphic word, and probably more fear-instilling than anything else.

 Realistically any time you have any surgery and things are rearranged, scar tissue can build up and things can twist aroun did in the abdominal cavity.    It can happen after any surgery where stuff was taken out and out back.  Is it common? No.  Could it happen? Yes.   Could you have an appendix that Bursts? Could you develop pneumonia after not treating an infection? Could you get a small cut in your finger that gets so infected that you require amputation?  Stuff happens and occasionally someone has a nasty complication for a simple medical issue.  It is not the norm.  We're going in the probability.  

Dawn

I believe that's what they call "necrosis" - the death of cells, a portion of tissue, or a portion of an organ due to permanent damage of some sort, such as a lack of oxygen supply to the tissues.

It can happen and does happen occasionally. There is a regular poster on the RNY board who had it happen to her.

They seriously need to include that in their "risks of surgery" sections when they give the classes.  And they need to tell people what the warning signs are of that or what the symptoms are.  People need to be informed! 

It can happen during any surgery - I've heard it happening with plastic surgery too.