Sharie65
New Member
Everything has gone wrong for me and wish to god I'd never embarked on my weight loss journey. In 2012 I had a gastric band fitted. 2013 I had it removed due to scar tissue chocking the band. Suffered terribly for 6 months with acid reflux. 28th Jan 2014 had gastric bypass at Southmead. 30th Jan 2014had emergency laparotomy op for twisted bowels. 2 weeks in hospital with chest and urine infections and paralytic ileus. 3 months under care of district nurses after wound opened up and 6cm deep hole developed. 8 stone weight loss between Jan and Dec 2014. From size 26 to size 16/18. May 2015. Started developing chronic tummy aches which came and went. Misdiagnosed several times. Sent home with buscopan and strong pain killers. 6th June developed crippling tummy pains. Misdiagnosed twice by 111 and out of hours surgery. 8th June GP called ambulance to blue light me to a&e. Misdiagnosed again! Told it was most probably gall stones. Quite common in weight loss patients. 10th June rushed to surgery for an emergency 6.5 hours op for intussusception of the bowels. In intensive care for 3 days. Surgeon saved my life as most people die between 2-5 days after intussusception and I was operated on 5th day. Surgeons at Swindon GWH were in close liaison with Southmead bypass surgeons. Intussusception is the telescoping of my bowels. My bowels had telescoped on each other and pulled out my Fallopian tules and ovary on right hand side. Surgeon spent a long time cutting my bowels away from my stomach due to adhesions ( due to bypass surgery). Found a mass which had to be sent off to histology. Had my ascending colon and transverse colon removed. Luckily avoided a colostomy bag. Also had a bowel resection ( joined big and small bowels).Saved my ovary, ( not needed at 49!) major scar from breastbone to groin. 2 weeks on ward, developed urine infection and wound infection and sciatica due to lying awkwardly on operating table for so long. Discharged 2 weeks ago. Now under care of district nurses again for 2 open wounds. One has to be drained into a penrose drain/bag. Results through from histology. Not conclusive. being sent off for 2nd opinion. Turns out I also had appendicitis and appendix had a tumor that was producing lots of mucus. Very rare apparently. Appendix was removed along with colon. Lost a further 1 1/2 stones since surgery (not recommended for weight loss!) now 14/16. Now left with small stomach and not much bowels so everything is passing through me quickly thus weight loss. Surgery was doubly complicated by bypass. Lucky to be alive. Still waiting for 2nd opinion. Now at risk of sigmoid colon twisting and further surgery. My point is, I wonder if any of this would have happened if I hadn't embarked on my weight loss journey. Yes I'm "slim" but at what price? My children thought they were going to loose their mum twice now. My husband is traumatised by it all. Why have I put them through so much stress never mind the pain and misery I have been through. You are never told about what happens when it seriously goes wrong. My bypass surgeon told me his complication rate was 0.2%. How did I know I was going to be one of those 2 in every 1000? Both the twisted bowel (surgery 1) and intussusception (surgery 2) could have been caused by the bypass. Now I am wondering if I am going to make it to my 50th birthday this December. I should never have been opened up. I should have stopped when the band failed but no, that pursuit of being "slim" was all I cared about. I was fit, healthy, no diabetes, no high blood pressure or heart disease - just overweight (22stone). Wanted to be more mobile, that's all. Didn't want to be out of breath all the time even though I could,do it! Sorry if this reads like I feel sorry for myself but I suppose, I do! I also regret ever having weight loss surgery. Just think you should all be aware that sometimes, it goes wrong, and when it does, it can go badly wrong! Sent from my iPad using WLSurgery
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