20 Months post-op (cont'd)

Jan 26, 2010

OK - so after 2 weeks of being very sick - I get off the airplane in Halifax and Mom drove me to George Dumont ER. Well that was an experience. The sign in the waiting room said non-emergent patients could expect to be seen in 2 hrs. I was triaged very quickly. I was not considered to be an urgent patient apparently. I made it clear I was a patient of Dr. B.'s and that I had been sick for a few weeks. Being the non-dramatic , stoic type of person I am - sitting quietly and not making any noise - I guess I didn't look too sick. 6 *ucking hours later - I was called in. Had blood work and an x-ray. I was laid down on an exam table while I was examined. I pleaded with the nurse to let me remain lied down while they waited for my lab work and x-ray results. No way - sent back out into the waiting area. I couldn't believe it. I was freezing - asked for a blanket - nope - they gave me a small thin white sheet - we call them a draw sheet where I work. Anyway - got my results back - they saw some dehydration, a UTI and no complete bowel obstruction. No reason to be concerned about me really they said - I was still on antibiotics from the UTI that I had been diagnosed with 5 days before - they said to continue that. They attributed my back pain to the UTI and really seemed not to be concerned about the abdominal pain and bloating. They did tell me Dr. Beausoleil was on call the next day and if I got sicker I was welcome to come back.

So - Mom and I talked it over - we decided to stay in Moncton that night - and I would call Lise in the AM. I was too sick to even think about driving the 250kms back to their place in PEI. We got to our hotel room - I paced and paced - again - just wishing the time away until I finally got this taken care of. Stayed on fluids - I could barely get enough down to keep me hydrated - and the back pain and bloating was 7-8 on a scale of 1 to 10. I slept a bit with the help of some gravol and tylenol. Called Lise in the am and she told me to come in and see Dr. B at 1:30pm that day. Thank god! Went to see him - he looked at the x-rays from the day before - said he suspected I was working on an internal hernia - but at the moment wasn't acute enough to warrant any exploratory surgery. He advised me to stay in the area - and eat. Either I would get better or I would get sicker. I asked him if he suspected a Petersens Hernia and he said most probably. So - Mom and I headed back to PEI. That was on Monday. I tried to eat - lord knows I tried - I ate a bit - but could never get more than 2 or 3 forkfuls of anything down. The back pain, upper abdominal pian and bloating continued and gradually got worse. Dad made special trips to the store to get things I thought I could eat. Like ice cream, cereal. As much as I wanted to eat and get better - it wasn't happening. Thursday night it was getting to the point of not being tolerable anymore. I called Lise Friday AM. She told me to go to George Dumont ER. We got there just after noon. I was good and sick - tachycardic with a pulse of 130/min - low BP - I guess I got someones attention because I only had to wait 2 hrs after being triaged until they brought me back to a stretcher where I had lab work etc done. An IV was put up - I was extremely dehydrated. I finally got something for pain. Dilaudid. What a *ucking wonder drug. Didn't take the pain all away - but sure helped me out. I was seen after the lab work came back - I think I had them puzzled - I really to this day cannot figure out why in the world the ER docs were not more in tune with the possible things that could be going on with post-op bariatric patients. The ER doc looking after me said my urine showed ketones and protein - I was extrememly dehydrated - I could have a pyleonephritis - but why was I so tachycardic - I think she really didn't know what to do with me. So they kept me overnight in ER - at least I got regular pain meds. On a stretcher in the hallway just 6 feet from the ambulance entrance door. What an expereince that was. But not their fault - they do the best they can with what they have. Went for my CT scan around 0900 on Sat. I asked to speak to the doctor who was looking after my care that day and wanted to know what the plan was. He said that the radiologist looks at all the CT scans once they are ALL done and then sends the reports to ER. I asked how long that would be - he said probably by 1pm or so. Great - bring on the dilaudid. Around 11am - the doctor came and told me about my CT and said I had a big blockage and a hugely distended Volvulus - my remnant stomach - about the size of a football - I would need surgery. A Petersens Hernia. My main aim then was to make sure Dr. B. did the surgery. The surgeon on call came to see me and explain the surgery - I asked him over and over would Dr. B. be there. He went to the desk and called him and came back and said yes- Dr. B. and he would do the surgery. I was still a patient in the hallway. Around 2pm they moved me to a cubicle because they wanted to get me ready for the OR and put an NG down. The poor nurse - I said specifically - you know I have had RNY right? She said yes. I said - you know a blind NG tube insertion is not reccomended right. She said the doctor specifically wants an NG tube put down. I was so *ucking sick and really didn't care anymore - so down the NG tube went. I went into the OR around 5pm. Got back to my room around 8:30pm. Had an IV, NG, catheter and a gastrostomy tube. And dilaudid for pain every 3 hrs if I needed it. When I woke - I remembered vaguely seeing Dr.B. somewhere earlier - so I knew he had been there and that was so reassuring. So my surgery was Sat pm. I was discharged Friday pm. Gastrostomy tube went home with me - that was a treat. But let me tell ya - from the time I came to after my surgery - the extreme back pain and bloating was so much less - it was all good. The surgery was so much rougher to recover from than my RNY. The RNY was a walk in the park. Because I was so sick for so long before the hernia repair - it was that much harder and slower to recover. But I did. A month later I was back in Moncton and had the g-tube removed. Ended up with a g-tube site infection and issues with MRSA along the way - but everyday I got a bit better. I went back to work in October. About 8 weeks post-op. But - I have to say - it was December before I really felt well and strong and completely back to my self. I found myself to be very irritable, tense and jittery for along time after my surgery.

So - I was one of the unlucky 10 to 15% of post -ops who get this particular complication. And it could happen to me again. But - I still have no regrets. I just refer to last summer as the summer that never was. And I look forward to this summer.

Would I wait so long to seek medical care if I was in the same boat again? NO WAY! I would moan and groan and scream and complain so I got looked at and taken care of sooner. Lesson learned. That is all.

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About Me
Glovertown,
Location
28.0
BMI
RNY
Surgery
04/17/2008
Surgery Date
Jan 20, 2007
Member Since

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