How NOT following my bariatric diet almost cost me my life.

All to often we hear the wonderful things about bypass surgery.  For me, I lost 130 pounds, got my liver enzymes under control, am no longer pre-diabetic and even gained a daughter out of the deal.  However, I had the scare of my life on September 6th.  I went out of state for vacation and started having the worst abdominal pain imaginable.  I was pregnant and thought I was miscarrying.  My mom talked me into going to the mini hospital up the block from our hotel.  After doing a CT scan, they discovered I had a ruptured fallopian tube due to an ectopic pregnancy and my abdomen was filling up with blood.  I was rushed via ambulance to the main hospital in Chattanooga.  They needed to do emergency surgery because a ruptured fallopian tube can be a life or death situation.  How does this coincide with my bypass you ask???  They quickly tested my blood only to find out I was SO malnourished that it took over 7 minutes for it to clot.  This is NOT ok for surgery.  I could have bled out, if they didn't test my blood.  I was not thin malnourished, but literally malnourished in the sense of vitamins, proteins, etc.  I ended up having to have a blood transfusion and 4 packs of plasma before they could do surgery and stop the internal bleeding.  Aside from the devastation of losing the pregnancy and a fallopian tube, I had to face the facts that I may be at a normal weight yet am FAR from healthy.  My point is not to scare anyone, but to make you VERY AWARE that it's easy to become lax after 3 years post-op.  It's easy to think you are doing ok (I truly thought I was getting in my protein, but I was guilty of drinking with meals.) and then find out your not the hard way.  It's easy to stop going to your yearly follow ups.  It's easy to start sipping with meals.  It's easy to forget vitamins here and there.  Please, please, please take your dietary instructions seriously.  Do NOT allow yourself to become lax over the years.  I am very lucky to be here writing this. 

I appreciate you sharing this! How horrible for you and definitely a great reminder to us that are new to this. 

Thanks for this important reminder for us all!

Thank you for your advice!

I'm sorry you went through this but glad you pulled through.  Thanks for sharing.  You are indeed correct that there's much more to optimal health than weight.  A healthful diet of varied foods, exercise, and supplements all play critical roles in our well-being.

Thank you.  I just hope my experience will make an impact somewhere.  It sure did on me!  I think we become so "weight focused" that we forget, when we get down the road a few years, that nourishing our bodies properly are just as, if not more, important!  Lesson learned here. 

Thank you for sharing your story and I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Hope you're feeling better soon.

So very sorry for the loss of your child, but I thank you for taking the time to come back and help save lives, here. I immediately coped and pasted your post into an email that I sent to a friend who is 5 years out and has stopped following all dietary plans. Hoping to scare her straight!

Thanks.  I'm glad you did.  I truly thought I had this lifestyle under control and that drinking with my meals was no big deal.  I thought as long as my weight is under control, I can drink.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but it never occurred to me that I'm robbing my body of the chance to absorb the nutrients from food by flushing it out so quickly.  I'm lucky they did the bloodwork before surgery or, like I said, I would've bled to death.  We focus SO MUCH on the weight aspect that often we forget about the health aspect.  I hope your friend heeds your warning.

Thank you so much for sharing.