Completely Confused and Not Sure What To Do

[galaxygrrl]

It will be fine, but it's so scary. Just take a deep breath! It will be fine, you'll get through this and your life will open up in ways you can't even imagine.

 

[annabellarose77]

Kristina confirmed my date yesterday so it is definite for October 13th. I have to be in Dr. K.'s office the morning of the 11th so I will be leaving for California in less than 3 weeks from now. Even though I had the surgery date, it wasn't until I booked my flight and hotel room that everything became very real for me. I'm definitely excited to be getting the surgery, just nervous about the procedure and learning to live with the DS. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to not having dumping syndrome every day no matter if I eat or not, and I feel very confident that I can achieve my weight loss/health goals with the DS. It's just the initial process and re-learning my body and eating etc that has me slightly anxious. But, it's a good kind of anxiety, a new phase or new beginning so to speak.

Thank you all for your support and well wishes! I'm sure I will continue to look to you all for advice and support as I go through this process.

 

[hilary1617]

Congratulations on your date and best wishes for your health journey. You're in the best of hands!

 

[Grammaof5]

I know you must be a nervous wreck! I can't imagine having to go through what you have to, BUT Dr. K is the BEST, in my opinion. He is an excellent surgeon and a very compassionate person. He would be the ONLY surgeon I would trust to do a surgery such as yours. Good Luck!! You are in good hands with Dr. K!! Please keep us informed on your progress.

Congratulations on your date and best wishes for your health journey. You're in the best of hands!

I have sat here this morning and read this thread. I am so happy for you ! I am 15 years out and still can only eat slider foods or I must vomit.
I am so happy for you . Praying for safe travels and successful surgery! I'll be thinking of you on Friday the 13th. It's my birthday and Friday the 13th has always been a lucky day for me ! Thank you for sharing your story !

 

[nedsmehlp]

Just a suggestion, my husband and I used UBER to get around CA. It was great! A lot cheaper getting around than using a taxi.

 

[annabellarose77]

I have sat here this morning and read this thread. I am so happy for you ! I am 15 years out and still can only eat slider foods or I must vomit.
I am so happy for you . Praying for safe travels and successful surgery! I'll be thinking of you on Friday the 13th. It's my birthday and Friday the 13th has always been a lucky day for me ! Thank you for sharing your story !

Thank you! I'm sorry you are going through that -- there just has to be a better way to live than being in constant fear of vomiting. I hope Friday the 13th will be lucky for me too and happy early birthday.

 

[annabellarose77]

Just a suggestion, my husband and I used UBER to get around CA. It was great! A lot cheaper getting around than using a taxi.

I think we will be using either Lyft or Uber, especially after I looked at the taxi rates. I booked a room at the SpringHill Suites in Burbank. I think it's about 15-20 minutes from the hospital. I'll be at Huntington.

 

[Munchkin]

Wishing you the best of luck! You will be in good hands with Dr. K. You could not have made a better choice.

 

[annabellarose77]

Well guys things have not went so well. I got out to California Tuesday and saw Dr. K. yesterday. He is awesome like everyone has said. He wanted to do an upper scope this morning just to see everything with his own eyes. Things are much worse than I first thought. There is barely a centimeter of gastric pouch. Had to turn the camera backwards to get a good look at it. He said this was not a gastric bypass, a micro pouch connected directly to the small intestine. So he cancelled my surgery for tomorrow because he said the chance for leaks and serious complications was highly likely. He is going to have to cut into my chest wall to pull my esophagus down in order to have enough tissue to fix this. So the game plan is to come back home and work with a nutritionist to get on a high protein/semi-liquid diet to control my dumping and nausea symptoms and to lose about 20 or so pounds to make the surgery safer--more room for cutting into my chest. Then hopefully I can have the surgery.
He had explained to me previously the complicated part of this revision was making sure there was blood flow once the pouch was connected back to the stomach--greatest chance of leaks. So now, what was going to be a complicated surgery has just gotten much more complicated. I'm very upset because I just wanted to stop being sick every day, but not at Dr. K. I respect him very much for his honesty and intelligence. I've learned a great deal from my time with him, and I know he puts his patients safety first, and I will not trust another surgeon to fix this other than him. My anger lies with the bastard surgeon that put me in this position in the first place. I'm just hoping I can get through this and be able to have the surgery in the near future. This was a financial and emotionally draining trip. I truly wish I had never done this to myself. I think I'd rather have stayed MO for the rest of my life.

 

[Munchkin]

Well guys things have not went so well. I got out to California Tuesday and saw Dr. K. yesterday. He is awesome like everyone has said. He wanted to do an upper scope this morning just to see everything with his own eyes. Things are much worse than I first thought. There is barely a centimeter of gastric pouch. Had to turn the camera backwards to get a good look at it. He said this was not a gastric bypass, a micro pouch connected directly to the small intestine. So he cancelled my surgery for tomorrow because he said the chance for leaks and serious complications was highly likely. He is going to have to cut into my chest wall to pull my esophagus down in order to have enough tissue to fix this. So the game plan is to come back home and work with a nutritionist to get on a high protein/semi-liquid diet to control my dumping and nausea symptoms and to lose about 20 or so pounds to make the surgery safer--more room for cutting into my chest. Then hopefully I can have the surgery.
He had explained to me previously the complicated part of this revision was making sure there was blood flow once the pouch was connected back to the stomach--greatest chance of leaks. So now, what was going to be a complicated surgery has just gotten much more complicated. I'm very upset because I just wanted to stop being sick every day, but not at Dr. K. I respect him very much for his honesty and intelligence. I've learned a great deal from my time with him, and I know he puts his patients safety first, and I will not trust another surgeon to fix this other than him. My anger lies with the bastard surgeon that put me in this position in the first place. I'm just hoping I can get through this and be able to have the surgery in the near future. This was a financial and emotionally draining trip. I truly wish I had never done this to myself. I think I'd rather have stayed MO for the rest of my life.

I am so sorry! So you don't have a blind stomach just sitting there? I was sort of hoping they could get rid of the micropouch completely and hook that back up. I wish it had been better news!

 

[annabellarose77]

I am so sorry! So you don't have a blind stomach just sitting there? I was sort of hoping they could get rid of the micropouch completely and hook that back up. I wish it had been better news!

The blind stomach is still intact, but the gastric pouch is so small there's not enough tissue for him to connect it to my blind stomach. He said normally there is an anastomosis site but I do not have that. Mine just drops straight down. I meant to say the pouch is connected directly to the esophagus not the small intestine. My brain is on overload with too much information and not enough sleep. I don't know what the hell kind of surgery Houston performed on me. Dr. K. said what he dictated on the op report is not what he did in actuality.

 

[Clematis]

How utterly horrible!!

Dr. K will work miracles.

Sue the shit out of Houston.

 

[Settledownnow]

The blind stomach is still intact, but the gastric pouch is so small there's not enough tissue for him to connect it to my blind stomach. He said normally there is an anastomosis site but I do not have that. Mine just drops straight down. I meant to say the pouch is connected directly to the esophagus not the small intestine. My brain is on overload with too much information and not enough sleep. I don't know what the hell kind of surgery Houston performed on me. Dr. K. said what he dictated on the op report is not what he did in actuality.

I am so sorry. I'm glad you saw Dr. K. and he was able to take a look and tell you what was really going on and give you another possible option for surgery to correct the problem.

 

[annabellarose77]

How utterly horrible!!

Dr. K will work miracles.

Sue the shit out of Houston.

Definitely going to explore all my options at taking care of Mr. Houston.

 

[annabellarose77]

I am so sorry. I'm glad you saw Dr. K. and he was able to take a look and tell you what was really going on and give you another possible option for surgery to correct the problem.

Thanks. Me too because now I have the real truth, and he explained everything in such great detail. I like that he's a straight shooter. I hate not being able to get the surgery tomorrow, but am thankful to have found a surgeon that puts patients safety above making money. I know he truly cares and wants the best outcome for everyone involved.