Many people are considering having lap band and gastric bypass procedures. Many of those who have the procedures lose weight without having any complications. Other people who have lap bands and gastric bypass experience some problems during the course of their weight loss. A very small number of people have extreme complications from lap band or gastric bypass procedures and some even die in the pursuit of losing weight.
Last fall, my husband had gastric bypass. The doctor who performed the procedure was extremely nice and seemed very proficient in her surgery skills. My husband’s starting weight was 321 pounds at the time of his surgery. Everything seemed to work perfectly. The doctor said they had intended to do the procedure laparoscopically but had to convert the gastric bypass to an open procedure because once they had begun, they saw his liver was too large and they could not complete the surgery safely without doing an open gastric bypass.
We started home about five days after the procedure. He was already feeling the effects of the gastric bypass; he was feeling good with all things considered plus he was already eating less. About a week after the gastric bypass, he decided to have some potato soup and got extremely sick. He had only just had the stitches out for about 24 hours and we rushed to the emergency room. After some diagnostic work and a hospital stay of two weeks, a surgeon found out he had a terrible ulcer along with dead tissue along the wall of his intestine. The doctor back home decided to put in a central line and fed my husband via TPN for over a week in order to let his intestine rest. His health started to improve and he was discharged home. Little did we know, it was the beginning of the longest year of our lives.
After the initial hospital stay, I had to take him back to the ER about three days after he was discharged. They did another scope on him and saw there was another ulcer and there wasn’t any improvement in his condition. They admitted him to the hospital and began feeding him by IV to let his intestines rest and heal. After a month of being in and out of the ER and the hospital, our doctor referred us to a specialist in Houston; this doctor had exhausted all of his resources and referred us to a more knowledgeable doctor.
We didn’t have any idea how serious the situation was until we saw the new doctor. This doctor did a scope and found that the gastric bypass had been done incorrectly. The new stomach pouch was too big and the intestine was brought up and connected too high. This critical error was allowing stomach acid to pour into the intestine and it was eating ulcers into his intestine which is what kept him so sick. We also found out that the original doctor who performed the first gastric bypass perforated his stomach and it was laying in a way that kept the contents from spilling out into his gut. Our new doctor corrected this mistake with a new surgery. My husband’s condition still was not improving; he would do well for about a week or two and then he would get extremely sick. Our new doctor performed numerous scopes to see what was going on with the gastric bypass. The area where the intestine connected to the new stomach was forming a stricture. A stricture is where scar tissue caused the intestine opening to tighten up where food and liquid could not pass through.
Over the course of this year, we have had to call the ambulance at least three times, plus the doctor has done numerous scopes, he has placed stents in the opening of the intestine two different times. My husband has had at least four different feeding tubes – three tubes down his nose and one placed directly in his intestine. He was still very sick and had so many problems keeping food and liquid down. The doctor decided that since he still wasn’t getting better, he should go in and revise the procedure again. At this time, he found that the stomach pouch and intestine were fused to the liver and created a “kink”.
It’s been a long year with lots of problems and frustrations. Each time we think we are past all of the problems, something happens and we find ourselves in an ER. Some people have gastric bypass and never have a complication. Some people have a few minor setbacks as they begin losing weight. Others, like my husband, have every single problem and complication in the book. We are finally making progress and there are more good days than there are bad. He is not recovered completely. He is down 130 pounds. He doesn’t take any blood pressure medications anymore and he hasn’t had to have any insulin for his diabetes in about two months now. We know that a day is coming when he will be back to normal but for now, we take things one step at a time. Each day that he manages to drink enough liquids, keep his food down, get dressed and go to work – those are the victories. He isn’t out of the woods – he still has to go in and have his stricture dilated on a weekly basis, but for now, he’s doing well from the gastric bypass and will continue to progress as long as the intestine stays open and functioning.
