Home from hospital...Again...

It has been a long, long time since I have posted on here and so much has happened since I have.

One year ago, I had emergency surgery for an internal hernia, adhesions, and appendicitis.  *whew* made it through that one.....

But wait, all of my pain didn't go away!  I have spent the past year on pain killers and having test after test that showed nothing abnormal.

Over the past month or so, I have been really pushing the doctors to find out what has been causing my pain - and oh yeah - sudden onset seizures.  So, I just completed another round of testing and checking EVERYTHING.  Before I could get all of the results back or get to my doctor appts to follow up on all the testing, I woke up unable to breathe - I had horrible pain in my abdomin and excrutiating pain in my left shoulder.  I thought I was having a heart attack.  I sent my daughter a text to come help me out of bed (my husband had already left for work).  She helped me up and everything got worse.  I was doubled over and couldn't breathe - in pain and now nearly screaming... I asked my daughter to call my husband home to get me.  When she had him on the phone - she put the phone to my ear and he said he was calling an ambulance but I begged him not to - just come get me.

He came home and took me straight to the ER.  I have to give them credit, they took me right back and didn't waste anytim - very RARE in these parts.  The pain was getting more and more intense and I couldn't stop screaming and blacking out.  Somewhere during this, I had a CT of my chest/abdomin.  The ER doctor came to me and informed me that they weren't looking for this - but this is what they found:  Air in my peritoneal cavity - around my organs - stomach, liver, etc.  There is not suppose to be air in that cavity and most likely, it was coming from an open ulcer.  I would need immediate surgery, as my condition was becoming more and more critical.  Somewhere between the CT and the Doctor talking to me - I took 3 sips of tea trying to find a way to ease the pain. (Dumb, I know - but i was out of my mind by this time)  After the liquid went down my throat, I felt it explode all over the inside of my abdomin, buring everything I have inside of me.  That was the end of all my sanity and conciousness.  All I could do was scream and pass out.  I was now on morphene, douladid and something else for pain and NONE of it was working. 

I am thankful that this doctor and this hospital was honest enough to say that they could not handle this surgery.  So they flew me out to the hospital where I had my RNY.  (flying me to the wrong hospital - then I had to go by ambulance to the right hospital) 

Once I was finally in the care of my bariatric center of excellence hospital, I felt more relaxed.  I didn't even care that I was about to be wheeled in for emergency surgery at 9p.m. (this all began at 6 a.m.)  I trusted them.  I woke up breifly around midnight after coming out of my surgery.  I had a bleeding perforated ulcer - on the side of the stomach facing the liver - my stomach contents had contaminated my insides.  I now had a patch on the ulcer.

Now he hard part: Recovery.  The recovery from this one is tricky.  I have to worry about the damage from the stomach contents on the rest of my body.  I have to worry about this patch holding that hole closed.  I am terrified of waking up to that pain again.  I am thankful for the two blood transfusions, even though it seems like I gave half of it back the very next day in vials for testing.  And then there's the regular post-op worries of embolism, pneumonia, etc.  I'm still on liquids....I don't know how long that will be - I can barely eat anyway. 

Has anyone else been through this?  I would really like to talk.

God bless, Pam

Oh my goodness, what an ordeal!!! I am so glad that they finally figured out what was wrong with you and were able to do the surgery. I hope that things all go well with recovery so you can get back to life!!!! ((((HUGS))))

Wow, what a nightmare! Any idea what caused the ulcer? Hope you have a speedy recovery. By the way, I'm sure they'll put you on a PPI(proton pump inhibitor)  to decrease acid. I would insist on something liquid or dissolvable (live prevacid solutab)

I have a feeling a perforated ulcer was in my cards whether I had gastric bypass surgery or not.  I say this because I have been on PPI's for over 10 years now and, before I opted for RNY, my gastroenterologist wanted to wrap my stomach around my lower esophagus because my reflux was out of control.  Since my RNY, I never felt any acid coming up or burning.  I guess it was all contained under my staple line, so I didn't realize how bad it was getting.  The doc switched me to Protonix 40 mg 2x per day (which is stronger than the medication I was taking before). Diet wise - I think I had a lot to do with how bad it had gotten.  I was enjoying not feeling the burn of the acid and being able to eat and drink certain things without any misery - and too much of anything is a bad thing.  I was drinking a LOT of tea and coffee leading up to this.  Now, I can't stand the thought of Tea because that was what I took a sip of and felt my insides burning.  Since I've been home, water is my best friend. One thing for certain, I NEVER want to feel that kind of pain and helplessness ever again!  If doc puts you on a PPI - TAKE IT! 

Hey, Pam! Sorry to hear of your ongoing issues.  I assume you were at our local hospital here (FO?)  Glad that they got your problem identified and fixed.    I've had some issues myself.  Had exploratory lap in December.  Doc closed off the mesenteric defect to avoid an internal hernia and he lysated an adhesion but that didn't fix my issue.  We believe it is a bacterial overgrowth.  Probiotics have made a big difference for me.  My problem isn't all gone but much, much improved (rapid expansion of abdomen after eating - so excessive bloating and pain.) I'm headed to surgery in a few weeks but for back problems.  I'm having a 2 part spinal fusion - surgery from the front one day and then the back two days later.  Oh boy! Rest well and feel better.

Take good care of yourself, Kathy

Hi Kathy!  Yep - I was at FO.  I have nothing but good things to say about them.  My GB sugeon was out of the country, so I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Halmi and Dr. Tran.  They are most excellent. Do you still have your gallbladder?  That's what everyone kept asking me... I still have mine but all of my tests say that the gallbladder is A-ok.  My trouble, as you see, was an ulcer...which we had a big warning sign about with my iron being so low... but the connection just wasn't made.  I have had so many CT's with and without contrast and sonograms and none of them showed the ulcer.  Just makes me wonder, how many people are out there walking around with an ulcer that is on the other side of the staple line?  I sure hope you get all of your answers.  It is very frustrating to keep going back to the Dr. and getting normal test results when you KNOW something is amiss. Whew - good luck with your back surgery.  It sounds a little complicated.  I will say some prayers for you to have a perfect and uneventful surgery and a speedy, painless recovery. hugs, Pam

Pam, I've heard good things about Halmi and Tran.  Glad you were in such good hands. My GB was out within 6 months of my WLS.

Your ulcer was in the remnant stomach?  Wow.  Probably very hard to find them.

Believe me, I've had lots of problems over the past 3 years and finding the cause has been difficult.  I definitely know when something is wrong and it just stinks when it cannot be found easily.  Unfortunately the internal hernias, adhesions, ulcers and such just don't show on tests.  Also vitamin deficiencies can be hard to pinpoint if the doc isn't testing for the gamut of stuff.  I'm lucky in that my PCP runs more than my bariatric doc wants.  She reads on things to test.

I hope your recovery goes faster than you expect!  Stay out of the hospital, 'kay?

Hugs, Kathy

Holy moley!  Then I saw who your surgeon was and said HOLY CRAP! (same as mine)  That hit home!  WOW...what an ordeal!  I'm so sorry to hear what a mess you've been thru! I hope your patch holds and you can live your life as normally as normal can ever get for you.  I haven't been back to see Anez in a few years.  Too far and can't understand him anyway.  Great record though and great hospital!  Any idea what caused this?  Good luck!  Get well!   Hugs

Dr. Anez is just wonderful.  Unfortunately, he was out of the Country when this happened so Dr. Halmi took care of my surgery.  Dr. Halmi did a great job too.  I feel pretty safe in thier hands. Dr. A is far away from me too (3 hours one way).  I was seeing my regular doctor to have all the testing and then having this doctor send everything to Dr. A's office.  The sad thing is that nothing showed up on the tests - and some of the test results didn't come in until AFTER this happened.  Doesn't that suck?  I was in my wheelchair getting ready to get into the car at the hospital (leaving) when one of the doctors came running out to my car with one of my recent test results in her hand - it shows I have a bleeding cyst on my right ovary!  But you know everything else came back normal... so I probably still wouldn't have been treated for an ulcer - I would have been treated as a woman with an ovarian cyst.  Augh.   Anyway, I posted another thread on here that I think I was doomed to have an ulcer either way since I've been on Prevacid for over 10 years - and before I opted for RNY, my gastro wanted to wrap my stomach around the lower part of my esophagus to control my acid.  (I decided not to go that route - but to go with RNY - neither one was a guarantee - but at least with the RNY, I would lose weight too and maybe that would help.)  The RNY was great because I never felt reflux or burning again... I think all this was still happening below my staple line without me realizing it though - so it was able to get this bad. My part in it - I was drinking too much coffee and tea (no soda's though) and smoking. I went back to the hospital yesterday because I developed an abscess near my incision...but that is part of the aftermath of having stomach contents all over places it shouldn't be.  It's a long road to recovery for this one...and I never want to experience this kind of pain again!

You are a mess! You poor thing... You have so much more ahead of you :( I like Dr Halmi!  He's one of the pioneers in WLS!  He's been doing it for 15 years! He's awesome. I think he's really more like Dr Anez's boss rather than his partner.  That was my impression anyway. Well either way...you are in great hands!  I'm praying you don't have much more damage that is apparent yet!  I really hope you get it all under control and get well!  You've been thru more than enough...Glad I gave up smoking before surgery (quitting was the reason for becoming morbidly obese to begin with) I know I'll never go back to smoking for certain!  Coffee though...I have not been able to give up...Good luck!  And let us know how you are!  Hugs