13 days post-op ~ plus revision info
May 31, 2009
Hi All,I am now 13 days post-op and I can't believe how well I am doing. On post-op day ten I weighed in 9.5 pounds lighter. I am told revisions lose slower.
But let's back up a little bit here. On the day before my surgery due to DH's work commitments it required that we drive straight thru from Alabama to Ohio. Unfortunately during this trip I fell flat on my face when my bad knee gave out at a rest area in the Huntsville area. Fortunately we had ice in the cooler. DH took over driving and I iced everything from the knee to the hands that caught me part way. I was scared the knee injury which swelled up fast would keep me from my revision, but fortunately it did not. I am sure the swelling of this knee injury has NOT helped the scale !
Monday morning we headed to the hospital early for pic line placement after little sleep. I loved this option ! Not a bunch a sticks all the time ! I HIGHLY recommended a pic line !
In the end my revision included:
1) adjustment of the alimentary canal by 50 cm (19.7 inches) - Dr Maguire felt the total limb length was too long for me - this was resected and removed. The original anastamosis appeared to be end-to-side rather than end- to-end. This was corrected.
2) re-sleeve/re-shape of the stomach - after removing adhesions from previous surgery it was found that my original DS stomach was not shaped properly or sized properly. He then proceed to re-sleeve/ reshape my stomach so the capacity would be approximately 4-5 ounces. He had to reshape it so it was closer to a DS stomach. I am excited about as I have a HUGE amount of restriction now, which I did not have before. I do not feel hungry and have to remind myself I have to eat !
3) small bowel resection - this was a dilated section of the small bowel and in addition to the above alimentary canal adjustment. This piece of small bowel was dilated and was 12 cm by 3.3 cm or ( 4.72 by 1.29 inches) This was because of previous incorrect anastamosis in the first surgery.
4) closure of mesenteric defect - this was located at the jejunioleal anastamosis distally and was repaired from previous surgery.
I passed my leak test at the end of the surgery ! YEAH !
Dr Maguire uses the On-Q Pain ball ! Here is a link
http://www.askyoursurgeon.com/onqsolution.php
This is wonderful for pain control ! I had little post-op pain in the abdomen. Mostly my knee hurt post-op !
My first surgeon was Dr Clark Warden, I could not in good faith recommend him to anyone. I know many other people who have had revisions after having surgery with him. I also know two patients who died under his care. He made many errors on me. I am not out for revenge, I just do not want others going to him. He never did proper follow-up, I wish I would not of been so desperate for WLS at that time. At that time we only had regional WLS insurance. We now have a national plan. I would of been better off going to Brazil ! I would never recommend "settling" because of insurance options ever again. Not with losing, re-gaining and a second surgery. For those of you wondering I have no intention of legal action, I fought with Insurance and got the revision covered. My health is so important to me. I want to enjoy life as I age and the additional weight loss will help.
With all of this said. I just recommend if you are going to have WLS, PLEASE go to a well qualified surgeon. Although I am doing well post-op it was still another surgery to go through.
I have to credit Dr Maguire. He is willing to do revisions. He will say he will not guarantee additional weight loss, but will do his best with his experience to custom adjust your intestine and/or stomach to help you with additional weight loss. They ask you to commit to a lifetime of regular follow-up to the office and regular labs etc. They work well with out of town patients as well. The area MVAD's are great welcomers to out of town patient's as well. My entire experience was outstanding.
I am happy that I questioned my weight gain and pursued it as I learned a lot in this process.
Please feel free to pm me if you have questions.
