Leaks????

 I have a ??? about leaks.  I saw my Dr. today and was asking ??? about the VSG which I plan on having Aug.22.  My surgeons office is new to doing VSG, I mean seriously only 9 ppl b4 me which already got me on edge lol Ok so he said leaks can happen in about 1% of VSGer's. The thing that freaked me out was that he said if I developed a leak they would have to convert me to RNY.  I have seen ppl up here with leaks but I dont remember what happened can they be repaired my surgeon didn't act like with a VSG they could and I totally forgot to ask what size they do at the office guess thats a ???? for support group tomorrow lol.  I mean I dont plan on having a leak but I cant control what could happen with complications and my luck always works like this if it weren't for bad luck I'd have none lol  So I'm starting to panic thinking about what could can happen and thinking I'm conpletely crazy for even doing this in the first place. Seriously it feels like someone punched me in the gut.  Kerry

Does your insurance cover any other doctors? I wouldn't want to be someones number 10 unless I really had no choice ya know? I went with my insurance so I totally get if thats the only option but a more experienced surgeon will come with less risks and should know how to repair a leak
thinking of you
jen

 Thanks for your response Jen.  The surgeon's office I am going through is one of the best in the area but yeah they are new to the VSG.  It does make me nervous maybe thats one of the big things that has me freaked lol.  One of the reasons I chose this office was the bariatric program they have and that I wouldn't have to pay some crazy $500 program fee which I guess is nothing to some compared to the fact that they come completely out of pocket for the surgery but I just don't have 500 laying around  to pay the program fee let along the full amount for surgery.  AM I wrong to think that is they are skilled in doing RNY or lapband then VSG shouldn't be so hard since they are not rearranging anything.  I don't know every dr. started somewhere right??? Oh I hope I don't chicken out, I'm really freaking myself out lol  Kerry 

$500 is keeping you from a better surgeon?!  I'm self-pay, and the money wasn't just laying around.  Sell something: blood, tv, gold jewelry, furniture, clothes, all of the above and more.  I charged most of my surgery on a credit card. I treat it like a new car. 

Money issues are no joke, but $500 hole is easier to recover from than a bad surgeon. He may be great at one thing, but he is not great at VSG- and that is what he is supposed to do on you.

This is a big red flag. Sorry, I've had a leak, and I was not converted to RNY. My leak was repaired immediately, and it was caused because of damage my stomach had from the band.

One of the biggest issues is that not all sleeves are created equally. There is specific techniques that give you, the patient, the person that has to live with the sleeve, or what that surgeon leaves you with for the rest of your life.  The more experience the surgeon has, the best long term outcome you'll get. It's statistically documented that the more sleeves a surgeon has done, the lower the complication rates, and the better technique.

I can not think of one single person that has had a leak that had to be converted to RNY. Most are repaired immediately, or with a stent placed to allow the leak to heal. My leak was not a normal leak. I had hoards of scar tissue, and adhesions so my surgeon had to go back in and literally remove all of the damaged tissue, and then sew my stomach back together from 2 separate pieces. He knew not to even think of giving me an RNY. I told him if he couldn't do the sleeve to remove my band and I'd stay fat.

I agree with Jenn, I wouldn't want to be a surgeon's #10 patient. You want an experienced surgeon who knows what he is doing, and knows how to treat a leak.

just out of curiosity, how long after surgery did you develop a leak?  I am one month post of and changed from lap band to sleeve. 

Thanks,

Santos

2 days post revision. It was found on my last and final leak test before my discharge was supposed to happen. I was up, walking, laughing, feeling amazing, and BAM swallowed the gastrographin and knew I had a leak. I had been sipping water, but I had no pain, no fever, nothing until I had the contrast fluid, and the ct scan revealed a leak.

OMG, that must have been overwhelming.  I am glad to hear that it was cought on time.  I am about five weeks post op and that still concerns me. 

Take care,

Santos

I WOULD find another surgeon.  I don't care how good this guys reputation is, he flat out does NOT know what he's talking about.

There is absolutely NO valid reason to change a sleeve to an RnY because of a leak.  The VAST majority of leaks are very easily corrected (they just have to put in another staple or two).

The best surgeons do a complete leak test before you ever leave the operating room.  If there is a problem, the fix it right then and there (my surgeon and his collegues at Vanderbilt University are REQUIRED to do this).

Any surgeon tha twould tell a patient something like this is either crazy, incompetent or BOTH.

RUN, don;t walk, out of that idiots practice!

Has he performed the DS?

Donna

PS...Had a leak and a switch was never mentioned even when laying in the hospital for 3 months. Waiting for the leak to heal after multiple surgeries and JP drains. It healed in time! A good year, I'd say..