So, I ended up going to Kaiser Richmond & was admitted upstairs for monitoring & hydrating. My labs basically said to the doctors that I was starving, dehydrated & that some of my vital organs were starting to shut down. My kidneys, liver & pancreas all had some type of abnormal results when they took my blood. After being in the hospital for 1 week I was starting to get fed up that I was still there. They had run some small tests because I had demanded that they do something with me.  I kept blowing veins so I would have anywhere from 5 - 12 needle pricks every day in order to keep a line in me. Sometimes I would go through 2 - 3 IV's in a day. It was very painful.

The doctor's finally agreed that it was time to insert a PIC Line in my main artery so that they had a way to always get to my blood & to provide medicine or nourishment if something went terribly wrong. I had a wonderful roommate named Mari. She was my savior while I was there. I just know that God had her in the hospital that day in my room. She helped me so much. I am not sure I would have been able to keep up with everything had she not been there to help me.

I had a CT scan with contrast, Upper GI with Dye, Ultrasound & a partial Endoscopy.  All of the tests showed no problem in my insides at all.  So, of course the Dr.'s were all thinking that my pouch just needed resting.  Keep in mind that at this point I had not had any food or liquid in over 3 weeks.  I had lost over 30 lbs in this time frame & I looked like I was walking DEATH!  I was so pale. My eyes were sucked in my face & I was weak.  They ended up putting my on bagged/IV nutrition. One bag is lipids & looks like milk. One bag is vitamins & fats and looks like urine. LOL

I also had 2 - 3 other bags that I was fed depending upon what my blood tests said.  I had to have magnesium & Potassium. BOY DOES THAT BURN YOUR VEINS!!!I got tired of paying $300.00 a day 2 sit in a hospital & watch TV. I was not getting better I was just staying alive at that point.

With my husbands help, we told my doctor that if they did not schedule some type of procedure to explore or fix me that the following day at 11:00am I was going to be checking myself out of the hospital. I think that made him mad a bit. It also got his head going & made his ass move. He then booked the ER for the following day, 6/16/08 @6:30pm. I was the last surgery for the day.

The plan was for them to do 2 procedures at the same time.  Dr. Im would do an endoscopy on me going down my throat with a camera to see if the inside of my throat &/or pouch had something wrong with it.  The 2nd part was Dr. Baggs to do. He would re-enter my belly laproscopically & do exploratory surgery. They planned to remove my Gall Bladder just in case it was the culprit of all of the problems.  There was a high chance that I would wake up with a feeding tube in my belly. This was so that I could eat at home even if it was not with my mouth.  I was just happy that they were going to be doing something to try to solve my problems. I did not get into the pre-op room until 8:00pm. I went into surgery about 45 minutes to an hour after & then woke up & felt groggy.  I expected to be in pain for some reason. I wasn't.

I had begged Dr. Baggs to take as much gas out of my insides as he could. He spent an extra 20 minutes in the operating room removing the excess air that was left in my abdomen from the inflation to do the surgery laparoscopic. I saw my hubby a few hours later & by the time I remember talking to him it was after midnight. He came to my room to tell me what they found & what they did.

I had my Gall Bladder removed because it was distended & full of Grit/Slush.  I had 2 hernia repairs: One from an old C-Section I had in 2002 and One in my belly button. (OUCH!!! The belly button hurt bad!!!)I had scar tissue wrapped around my intestines which was causing me to not be able to tolerate food or water AT ALL! (I knew something was wrong!!!) This may sound strange but I was so happy to hear that something was really wrong with me! 

Thank God that the doctors were able to locate it and fix it.  They ended up not having to insert a feeding tube in my belly.  Since they found what was wrong & were able to fix it, they figured I should be able to eat just fine a few days after surgery. Both doctors came in the next day to see me. The reason they did not think that Scar Tissue around my intestines was the problem is because the usual time frame for some one to suffer from this as a side effect form WLS is at least 6 months and mostly several years out. I was 2 weeks out when I started having symptoms. 

They are not sure why this happened to me. They do know that it was nothing I did or could have prevented. I was able to get up and walk with little pain. I could eat & drink. The first time I tasted Tomato soup - I thought I was in heaven.  I was so happy to be able to eat. I never realized how badly mal-nourished I was until I started to eat. I got my color back, my strength back & my zest for life!

I thank God daily for making me stick to my guns with the doctors. I just know that I would have had even more wrong with me if I had not put my foot down & demanded that they fix me.

PLEASE ALWAYS TRUST YOUR GUT.

Sure they are our doctors and they want the best for us.  Only you can tell them what is wrong.  You are the only one who can really fix you!  Sometimes we need help. I just knew something was wrong. God kept me calm enough to stay at the hospital until they fixed me. I am enjoying life & loving every minute of every day! I take NOTHING for granted! NOTHING!