Hi Gloria

I was just reading through the postings here and saw yours. May I
ask how you are doing? I hope well--sounds like anything is better
than before.

I have a friend who is condisering the lap band surgery. I had the
RYN bypass 18 months ago but he backed out mainly for reasons you
have written about below.

I realize a year has passed now but I just read this and was shocked
at your story. How terrible!! Must have been even worse know what
you know via being a nurse.

Hope things are going well for you

bonnie


--- In obesitysurgerysupport2@yahoogroups.com, "gloriakind100"
<gloriakind100@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I just feel I need to warn everyone about one of the horrible
> complications of band placement.
> I had my mid-band placed in Jan of 04. Surgery went well, I did
> everything right and started to lose weight...lots. Went from 276
> to 190 in a year, with only two fills. Changed my life.
> I started to have significant left upper back pain in December.
Was
> wrongly diagnosed with kidney infection, in Jan. They went by my
> WBC which was 39000, way way above normal. They didn't know where
> the infection was and just assumed it was kidney based. Started
the
> antibiotics and thought finally the pain will go away. Had
planned
> a two day trip to Vegas with my sister. Arrived at the hotel and
> 1/2 hour later started to feel bad with intense left upper back
> pain. Then I felt something just 'let go' inside with drop to
your
> knees pain. I was taken by ambulance to the Valley hospital, they
> did tests after a 3 hr wait and told me I had bi-lateral
pnuemonia.
> I told them I must also have something else to cause this kind of
> pain and my then stomach started to bloat, I looked 6 months
> pregant. They just would not listen to me. Finally 6 hours later
> they got my H&H back and realized I was very low on blood and
> bleeding somewhere. A CT showed my spleen leaking and enlarged.
I
> was finally admitted to ICU. Couldn't walk and having a hard time
> breathing. A surgeon came in and said he didn't want to take my
> spleen out unless absolutely needed. I had blood drawn every two
> hours for three days waiting for him to make a decision. The ICU
> was understaffed and the nursing staff significantly lacking.
(I'm
> a flight nurse and worked ICU for years) This was the scariest
> place I have ever seen. A side note: Please avoid this hospital at
> all cost!! It almost cost me my life.
> Finally after 3 days I said to my mom who had flown in, we have to
> get out of here and go home to AZ. She said I couldn't walk and
> what if something happened on the plane. We spoke to the surgeon
> and he very flippantly that he didn't have time to do the surgery
> and wanted to wait and make sure the spleen wouldn't stop leaking
on
> it's own. I looked 9 months pregnant by this time and my oxygen
> level wouldn't go above 85 even on 6 liters of oxygen. My H&H was
> dangerously low. He left in a huff and ordered the staff not to
> give me the results of my every two hour lab tests. We left the
> next morning, no one would help us and my mother wheeled me out on
> an office chair. I was so weak from not eating for 3 days and had
> stopped urinating two days before.(not good). Somehow we made it
to
> the airport in Tucson and my husband brought us home. To this day
I
> don't know how we made it.
> I was admitted into the ICU immediately upon getting home. I had
a
> battery of tests that showed the port from my band had moved and
> perferated my spleen. My spleen was actively and heavily bleeding
> into my abdominal cavity. I had emergency surgery, cut open all
the
> way down my chest and stomach. My surgeon said after the surgery
> that my spleen was pulp. When she removed the band from my
stomach
> she found a 2 inch hole underneath it. Gastric juice had leaked
out
> of my stomach and eroded the port and cable so they moved freely.
My
> abdominal cavity and pelvis was full of gastric acids. My liver
was
> hours away from being beyond fixable. Also very lucky my colon
was
> not further damaged. They 'think' they found all the damage. I'm
6
> weeks into my recovery and still have a month to go before I can
go
> back to work.
> I wanted the band surgery, I read the risks just like the rest of
> you. I should have read closer. Holes in the stomach are common,
> they usually cause pain, so don't go as far as mine did. But
allot
> of them don't. The only way to know for sure is to have a scope.
> Have a scope please. If I had had one yearly I wouldn't have been
> so very close to dieing. We have all said we would do anything to
> lose the weight but it is NOT worth what I went through and will
> continue to go through for the rest of my life. I had to have
> multiple blood transfusions and who knows what the long term
effects
> will be, add in all that gastic acid floating around for the extra
3
> days and I am not out of the woods yet. I could still die from
> this. Thanks for listening, it has been cathartic for me to write
> this down. Please feel free to e-mail questions. Be careful, be
> safe, be healthy. Gloria
>