Field trip to the ER

[galaxygrrl]

Hope you feel better

 

[Munchkin]

Hope you are improving!

 

[Larra]

@Snowbutterfly the whole point of having a "covering" surgeon is to have 24/7 coverage. Weekends, nights, holidays, everything. Give them a call. Trust me, that surgeon has had phone calls for far less serious things at far worse times.

 

[Snowbutterfly]

So called the covering surgeon. ER gave me the wrong number!! Grrrr. Hubby found the right one. Dr gave no help as to the reason for pain. He just said I can go in for fluids and pain meds. I don't want a bandaid, I was it fixed!! I'm in the ER now.The nurse they stuck me with is an RNY, and of course she's going by RNY rules. First she ignored me for an hr (got put in a bed and she didn't come in till my hubby tracked her down... Then she gave me a good lecture and went on break. In the past 48 hrs I've had 3 spoons of rice, and ground beef with bland gravy the size of my thumb. I told her normally i can eat completly normal meals (just smaller then most) and she freaked out saying 10 years out she cant eat hamburger. When i tried relling her my surgery is different she said no, not really.
Dr came in, she talked to the on call surgeon and he pretty much said he doesnt know if the cat scan results r related to the ds surgery. She's gonna repeat labs, try to get symptoms under control and if she can't, admit me. For what, I have no idea. I'm so confused and frustrated!

 

[Snowbutterfly]

RNY nurse finally got an IV (I'm a crazy hard stick, normally I need the ultrasound machine). But she used a big needle (I'm supposed to get the child size) and she did it in an angry vein so it still hurts. Oh and her first attempt? She collapsed the vein and used the alcohol swab directly on it under gauze to stop the bleeding! Wth? U don't use alcohol on a wound!!! I think this is one of those nurses who do little passive aggressive things to torture patients. on the bright side they gave me diff pain meds then yesterday and that has helped significantly. I don't wanna be admitted for pain management. I know that pain is the body's way of saying something is wrong. If they can't cure what's wrong I'm willing to suffer thru the pain.... at home... in my bed where I can sleep lol.

 

[Snowbutterfly]

So... update. The new blood test shows that my pancreatic enzymes have significantly increased. So I DO have pancreatitis. Dr said there were only 2 reasons... gallstones and drinking. I don't drink (literally last drink was my anniversary 3 years ago), and my ultrasound and Cat scan didn't show Stones. So it's lead her to believe it's from my surgery since they "were working in that area."

 

[southernlady]

So... update. The new blood test shows that my pancreatic enzymes have significantly increased. So I DO have pancreatitis. Dr said there were only 2 reasons... gallstones and drinking. I don't drink (literally last drink was my anniversary 3 years ago), and my ultrasound and Cat scan didn't show Stones. So it's lead her to believe it's from my surgery since they "were working in that area."

At least you are starting to get answers. As for the nurse, I would not so politely tell her to stop assuming that you are a RNYer. If she keeps it up, report her.

 

[Settledownnow]

So... update. The new blood test shows that my pancreatic enzymes have significantly increased. So I DO have pancreatitis. Dr said there were only 2 reasons... gallstones and drinking. I don't drink (literally last drink was my anniversary 3 years ago), and my ultrasound and Cat scan didn't show Stones. So it's lead her to believe it's from my surgery since they "were working in that area."

Glad you are getting the pain addressed and getting closer to a diagnosis and treatment plan.

 

[Snowbutterfly]

At least you are starting to get answers. As for the nurse, I would not so politely tell her to stop assuming that you are a RNYer. If she keeps it up, report her.

Lol I pretty much told her that. She snapped at me that there wasn't much difference, that her stomach was just smaller. Then she proceeded to be passive aggressive. Luckily she didn't force her ideas on the Dr. I was so afraid they would take her word and ignore the issue because they assumed it was what I was eating.

 

[Snowbutterfly]

Im home now. I just couldnt see being admitted if there wasnt anything they could DO. As long as i dont eat and have very little water i can keep the pain bearable. Its almost like im right out from surgery again. I hope the pain goes away soon. I can't imagin working with this pain, but I'll have to, eek!

 

[Snowbutterfly]

Yes,it was in my chest, and I felt like I wanted to vomit but couldn't. Some diarrhea for a little bit. I was in the hospital for 3 days and was on clear liquids. I did have narcotics for pain, but I don't remember what and it was in my IV. I then just stayed very low fat and they have watched my gall bladder ever since. I am grateful that is going to be removed!

Sorry to hear u had to deal with this. So eating low fat helps? Does that have any effects on u? How much do u have?
Dr doesn't think it's my gallbladder but i was injured during the surgery. So hopefully I won't have to go to low fat. For now I'm on the liquid diet.

 

[Larra]

Hey, I made the diagnosis from thousands of miles away!
This has NOTHING to do with alcohol or gallstones in your case. It's from your pancreas being bruised/irritated in some way during your surgery. In the USA, pancreatitis is almost always from gallstones or alcohol, so docs forget that there are actually lots of other things that can cause it but are just much less common. Surgery, drug reactions... sometimes no reason is ever found.
Low fat is not the answer at this early stage. The answer is bowel rest, meaning either nothing by mouth or just clear fluids depending on how sick you are, an IV if you can't stay hydrated (which or course means being admitted) and sometimes antibiotics. The pain, as you know, is a sign if illness, so if it persists that means you need to be in the hospital, like it or not, NOT just to feel better with pain meds but because you are sick and that's where you need to be. So, if you are not feeling better, bite the bullet and stay in the hospital. Pancreatitis is a serious disease with a 10% mortality rate.

 

[juliebird4828]

So... update. The new blood test shows that my pancreatic enzymes have significantly increased. So I DO have pancreatitis. Dr said there were only 2 reasons... gallstones and drinking. I don't drink (literally last drink was my anniversary 3 years ago), and my ultrasound and Cat scan didn't show Stones. So it's lead her to believe it's from my surgery since they "were working in that area."

This sounds just like me. No stones, but something had caused a back up and injury to my pancreas. So glad they are at least in the right rabbit hole for now!!

 

[juliebird4828]

Sorry to hear u had to deal with this. So eating low fat helps? Does that have any effects on u? How much do u have?
Dr doesn't think it's my gallbladder but i was injured during the surgery. So hopefully I won't have to go to low fat. For now I'm on the liquid diet.

That was years ago and I wasn't even remotely in the bariatric thought process. it worked for what I had going on almost 20 years ago after over 72 hours of bowel rest as Laura mentioned- as an inpatient.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I hope you feel better. Scary stuff.

Let me take this opportunity to remind you and all DS patients that it is important to have a diagram of the surgery performed on you with you at all times. I have a PDF on my phone and iPad and a hard copy in my car. I never go into an ER without a hard copy to give them. With that in hand, your ER doc could have seen that the anastomosis is not attached to your pancreas. Most docs are unfamiliar with DS but even if they do know, there are now several surgeries being performed that are called the Duodenal Switch but are NOT the traditional, well-researched DS. These Franken-switches are known as Loop-DS, SADI/SIPS or sometimes tragically just called a DS without the patient ever knowing the truth.

I've attached two files: one with the DS graphic alone and one with a small DS graphic and facts about a DS that a physician might need to know.

And my husband carries a copy in his wallet.

And...print out a couple copies of this. On one copy, cross out all the info that relates only to "the other surgeries." TAKE IT WITH YOU TO THE ER.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/publicASMBS/ASMBS_Store/ASMBS_ER_Poster9-20-10.pdf

Let's see if it is visible here...