Help me alleviate some pre-op concerns!

[joben]

I gotta say, the gas pain has been worse than expected… I’m walking a lot but seems like it just doesn’t wanna come out. It’s lookalike an extra night stay in the hospital until it’s better managed.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I gotta say, the gas pain has been worse than expected… I’m walking a lot but seems like it just doesn’t wanna come out. It’s lookalike an extra night stay in the hospital until it’s better managed.

Yup. When people claim that laporoscopic surgery is SO MUCH BETTER than an open procedure, they OFTEN neglect to mention this little issue.

When they blow our abdomens up to the size of the Hindenburg…and they have to do that to be able to see what they’re working on…it just takes forever to get past that part. And because it’s not a STOMACH issue, you could swallow a ton of Gas-X, to no avail. (My DS was open, but I’ve been inflated for other procedures.)

So, I feel your pain. MOST OF US feel, or have felt, your pain. It WILL go away.

 

[southernlady]

And because it’s not a STOMACH issue, you could swallow a ton of Gas-X, to no avail.

I keep telling people on FB that but you’d be surprised at the number of idiots who insist that Gas-X helps.

 

[JackieOnLine]

placebo effect?

 

[southernlady]

placebo effect?

Maybe, who knows. After all, we know sugar pills are known to work if people really believe

 

[Justme222]

I hope you have a quick recovery.

 

[aaa]

Hope it's better today.

 

[Georgepds]

I keep telling people on FB that but you’d be surprised at the number of idiots who insist that Gas-X helps.

Oh, you know, they could just be full of it....

 

[joben]

Well, bad news. I’ll post a more complete update when I get the time, but shortly before being cleared for discharge I developed a serious complication and haven’t been able to leave the hospital still. The short of it is that while there were no indications anything went wrong - by all accounts the surgery went exactly as planned - My heart rate and white blood cell counts were increasing and my blood pressure decreasing while I wasn’t able to produce a bowel movement and became unable to keep anything down. Turns out I had developed a serious bleed that had clotted and 100% blocked my large intestine - Dr Bonanni told me the clot was over 2 liters and that if I’d had gone home (I had technically been cleared to leave, but just didn’t feel right) I probably wouldn’t have made it through the night.
I ended up having emergency surgery (open, whereas the first was laparoscopic) and was able to get things patched up right. Things have been slowly improving. I spent 4 days in the ICU and it was a total fog. I have been transferred to a lower care level and things seem to be moving the right direction. But my heart rate and WBC count are still elevated, so we are working on getting to the bottom of that before clearing me to go.
I won’t lie. It’s pretty much been a nightmare, but hopefully the worst is behind.

 

[southernlady]

At least they found out before you left. Now heal.

 

[Larra]

I'm so sorry you are going through this! We all know going in that complications can and do happen, but it's still a shock and difficult when they do. I'm so glad Dr. Bonanni kept you in the hospital and took care of the problem. Please keep us updated and we will all be pulling for continued improvement for you.

 

[JackieOnLine]

Dr Bonanni told me the clot was over 2 liters and that if I’d had gone home (I had technically been cleared to leave, but just didn’t feel right) I probably wouldn’t have made it through the night.

I'm so glad you didn't leave!
a rough time, but glad to hear you are getting better.

 

[Justme222]

Well, bad news. I’ll post a more complete update when I get the time, but shortly before being cleared for discharge I developed a serious complication and haven’t been able to leave the hospital still. The short of it is that while there were no indications anything went wrong - by all accounts the surgery went exactly as planned - My heart rate and white blood cell counts were increasing and my blood pressure decreasing while I wasn’t able to produce a bowel movement and became unable to keep anything down. Turns out I had developed a serious bleed that had clotted and 100% blocked my large intestine - Dr Bonanni told me the clot was over 2 liters and that if I’d had gone home (I had technically been cleared to leave, but just didn’t feel right) I probably wouldn’t have made it through the night.
I ended up having emergency surgery (open, whereas the first was laparoscopic) and was able to get things patched up right. Things have been slowly improving. I spent 4 days in the ICU and it was a total fog. I have been transferred to a lower care level and things seem to be moving the right direction. But my heart rate and WBC count are still elevated, so we are working on getting to the bottom of that before clearing me to go.
I won’t lie. It’s pretty much been a nightmare, but hopefully the worst is behind.

Wow. Sounds like you have had a really rough time. I hope your numbers get back to normal and healing starts to go in the right direction so you can go home. Home is a much better place to recuperate. No rest in a hospital.

 

[Munchkin]

Are you still headed in the right direction?

 

[joben]

Are you still headed in the right direction?

I believe so. At this point, the only “concerns” are that I have an elevated white blood cell count and slightly elevated heart rate.
Pre-op my average heart rate was roughly mid-70s. Immediately following emergency i had a consistent resting heart rate of 140+, which was not great. Now it is down to more like mid-upper 90s, so I don’t think they are too bothered by that.
For WBC count they want it to be around 11ish I think. Post-op mine had been climbing to a peak of about 19 and had been in that range for a few days, which suggested some sort of infection. Today it is back down to 16, which while out of ideal range still - knock on wood - may be enough to get me cleared to go home.

Pretty much they have narrowed it down to two things. First is that I may have a little bit of pneumonia in my left lung. But I’ve been loaded up with all sorts of antibiotics all week, so in theory that should more or less be getting addressed. Second is I’ve got a small bit of fluid on the right side of my abdomen in a couple of CT scans. There’s nothing to indicate it’s spreading or growing nor is there anything that suggests a leak anywhere. Doc isn’t particularly concerned about it, but did say we may try and drain it if my WBC count didn’t go down just to eliminate the possibility. But hopefully with a decreasing WBC count that’s off the table now.


Anyways, all that to say: things are mostly going well and I think any of the really serious stuff has been more or less ruled out. Frankly I feel really quite well; just tire out really easily and of course still very sore, but otherwise I’ve not felt like I’ve “needed” hospitalization for ~4 days or so now. But numbers just quite haven’t been there to get cleared. I’m ready to leave though! Going stir-crazy and the hospital cafeteria isn’t really equipped for long-term bariatric diets (since most patients only stay a day or two). But, just waiting on the surgeon now. With any luck we’ll be out of here today.