Briefly I had gastric bypass on 28 aug 06,
back to hospital one week later for
potassium treatment. On 23 sept 06 I had
great pain in my left side and had to be
hospitalized. Final outcome was hernia
repair that left me in sicu for 7 days and
total hospital stay of 3 1/2 weeks.
I have improved a lot and lost over 65
pounds so far. My hernia attack was a
bad one, the hernia was closed front and
back and my lower intestine was dying.
My problem is recurring pain at my waist
on my left side. Dull pain near where
the hernia was but not exactly. I am
concerned that I may have another hernia.
They seem to be common with this surgery.
I am well aware that gb can cause numerous
side problems. However, in 1978, I had
the old type gastric bypass (NOT
intestinal), and later I had a roux-n-y
revision. I have never had any
complications. The reality is that having
the surgery saved my life in more ways
than one. If I had not had the surgery, I
never would have lost the 100 pounds (I
had tried every diet and exercise program
in the world at the time, with no success
whatsoever). My surgeon asked if I was
concerned about anything while he was in
there since he would be checking the
intestinal tract to be sure all was well
there, so I asked him to take out my
appendix (my mother's had ruptured and I
was always terrified of that happening,
and since he would be right there
anyway...). After the surgery, he told me
he could not take it out because it was
eaten up with Crohn's disease. Subsequent
testing confirmed the diagnosis. Two
years later, I went into crisis with the
Crohn's and nearly died. It was only
after the successful surgery for the
Crohn's that problems began, and those
were because of that surgery (the specific
location and the 2.5 feet of terminal
ilium that had to be removed). I have
NEVER had problems with the gb
surgery...in 29 years. I went from 237 to
137, and although I bounce around about
10-15 pounds, it always comes back to
around 137-140. I wear an 8-10 from a
26.5. I am healthy; I have to take many
vitamins, again because of the Crohn's
surgery. The Crohn's was in remission for
over 20 years, but is now active and
causing arthritic joint damage. I take
Humira injections (Humira has recently
been approved for treatment of Crohn's),
which has helped tremendously. I have
greatly improved joint movement, and the
Crohn's is under control. It would not
have been discovered in time when I went
into crisis had it not been diagnosed
during my gb surgery. I daily give thanks
for having had gb and for the doctor who
cared enough to be really careful and
thorough He saved my life...
