Sharie65
New Member
Tomorrow I am 5 weeks post-op from 1st operation. Have been to hell and back. After a successful bypass on Tuesday 28th January at Southmead Hospital, my blood counts went haywire and my temperature spiked. Surgeon suggested a CT scan 2 days later to find out what was going on. couldn't book a Ct scan and told me there was no time to loose and he would prefer to Open me up again and do an exploratory operation. 5 hours later, just 48 hours after bypass, I woke in recovery to find I had had major open surgery on a twisted bowel. My bowel had to be laid out on operation table and carefully put back in. I had tubes coming out of every where, cannulas and drips on both arms, catheter, drain, on a morphine pump, high dose antibiotics due to infection being pumped I to me, nasal gastric tube and on oxygen. I went into a state of shock.
The next 5-6 days were a blur as I developed ileus where the bowel goes to sleep as it doesn't like being handled. Severe constipation lead to constant vomiting of bile and I was fighting infection. 4 enemas failed to do the job, very painful after open bowel surgery, and every day was a living hell. Finally my bowels started to slowly work yet the sickness and temperature continued. Finally a CT scan revealed that my old stomach was distended and full of bile and gasses that were unable to drain due to ileus and the only way out was up I was offered a drain into the old stomach to drain all this bile but I could not face another surgical procedure. I was told as my bowels were now working the old stomach would eventually drain and the sickness will stop.
Eventually, after 2 weeks in hospital I was allowed home. Sickness was controlled by various anti-emetics and I was still fighting post-op chest infection and developed severe oedema in legs. In addition, i developed a hole in my tummy from the wound which wasn't healing properly. Had to call in district nurses whose care I. Have been under their care for the past 2 weeks. Have to have hole packed with a fresh seaweed dressing and Manuka honey daily. Was 6cm deep and is now 3 cm deep. This has seriously curtailed getting back on my feet. Have to be careful about stretching, bending, lifting etc as don't want hole to enlarge and I haven't been able to do any exercise and limited walking. To say I'm traumatised is a bit of an understatement. surgeon told me risk of complications was 0.2%. Little did I know I would be 1 of those 2 in every 1000. Had insomnia when I first came home as kept having nightmares and was afraid to go to sleep as I kept remembering waking up and finding I had been cut from my breastbone to my belly button. Doctors prescribed sleeping pills and said I was suffering a form of PTSD. Using pills for first few days and relaxation apps I finally started to go to sleep by myself after about a week of being home. Was severely exhausted.
Just wanted to say that sometimes these surgeries are not plain sailing. Think I am just unlucky. Had a gastric band removed last April after scar tissue strangled the band and left me with a dilated and dis functional oesophagus. Suffered chronic reflux and vomiting for about a year before band was eventually removed which was a traumatic experience in itself.
I need your help really. How do I move on from something like this? I really want it to work because I've suffered too much. After loosing 2stone 10lbs since beginning of pre-op diet, I have now lost nothing for 11 days despite surviving on only 500 calories a day ( using my fitness pal) and am really feeling down. I'm frustrated as I'm not as mobile as I would like to be and incredibly bored. Am I doomed to be a failure?
Sent from my iPad using WLSurgery
The next 5-6 days were a blur as I developed ileus where the bowel goes to sleep as it doesn't like being handled. Severe constipation lead to constant vomiting of bile and I was fighting infection. 4 enemas failed to do the job, very painful after open bowel surgery, and every day was a living hell. Finally my bowels started to slowly work yet the sickness and temperature continued. Finally a CT scan revealed that my old stomach was distended and full of bile and gasses that were unable to drain due to ileus and the only way out was up I was offered a drain into the old stomach to drain all this bile but I could not face another surgical procedure. I was told as my bowels were now working the old stomach would eventually drain and the sickness will stop.
Eventually, after 2 weeks in hospital I was allowed home. Sickness was controlled by various anti-emetics and I was still fighting post-op chest infection and developed severe oedema in legs. In addition, i developed a hole in my tummy from the wound which wasn't healing properly. Had to call in district nurses whose care I. Have been under their care for the past 2 weeks. Have to have hole packed with a fresh seaweed dressing and Manuka honey daily. Was 6cm deep and is now 3 cm deep. This has seriously curtailed getting back on my feet. Have to be careful about stretching, bending, lifting etc as don't want hole to enlarge and I haven't been able to do any exercise and limited walking. To say I'm traumatised is a bit of an understatement. surgeon told me risk of complications was 0.2%. Little did I know I would be 1 of those 2 in every 1000. Had insomnia when I first came home as kept having nightmares and was afraid to go to sleep as I kept remembering waking up and finding I had been cut from my breastbone to my belly button. Doctors prescribed sleeping pills and said I was suffering a form of PTSD. Using pills for first few days and relaxation apps I finally started to go to sleep by myself after about a week of being home. Was severely exhausted.
Just wanted to say that sometimes these surgeries are not plain sailing. Think I am just unlucky. Had a gastric band removed last April after scar tissue strangled the band and left me with a dilated and dis functional oesophagus. Suffered chronic reflux and vomiting for about a year before band was eventually removed which was a traumatic experience in itself.
I need your help really. How do I move on from something like this? I really want it to work because I've suffered too much. After loosing 2stone 10lbs since beginning of pre-op diet, I have now lost nothing for 11 days despite surviving on only 500 calories a day ( using my fitness pal) and am really feeling down. I'm frustrated as I'm not as mobile as I would like to be and incredibly bored. Am I doomed to be a failure?
Sent from my iPad using WLSurgery
