shar S.
In 1982 I had gastroplasty, which resulted in a 100 weight loss. After gaining that, I did optifast in 1988, losing some of the original 100 pounds. You all know the story..yo yo dieting forever. In Feb. 2007, I decided I had enough and that it was time for me, once again, to resort to drastic means and have a revision. I met with my incredible surgeon, Dr. Constantine Frantzides, and he was so confident that he could do my revision. The best part was, he said he'd be able to do it laproscopically. Surgery turned out to be a live saving event for me. On April 4th, I went in for my revision. My surgeon said it was the worst case he has ever had! Surgery took 8 hours, 4 just to reach my stomach. After breaking 2 of the instruments, he was finally there. But what he saw was a mess. My stomach and liver were totally fused together. The liver was in awful condition, not just enlarged. Once separated, he could visualize the stomach. That too was a mess. In order to perform the RNY he had to give me a gastrectomy, cutting away 3/4 of my stomach. The gastroplasty was so botched up and the staples were out. He had to look for staples everywhere. He left me with a really small pouch, about 30cc. The man was a miracle worker..........when he finally finished, he had blisters on his hands. But, still, he performed it all lap! When I finally woke up in the Recovery room I was still on a ventilator, Now, that was scary!! I came off that and finally went to my room, where a very nervous crowd of friends and my daughter were waiting for me. The surgeon told them that I could have died within months if I didn't have this surgery, and no one would have known why. He said I couldn't live long with my insides so horrible mangled. My 2 day stay in the hospital was uneventful, but I had experience alot of pain. This, reminded my surgeon, was because he did so much inside of me. I was released 48 hours after surgery, which I actually thought that was too soon. Needless to say, I was readmitted the following morning. I had pneumonia, fluid overload, and was on my way to developing a pulmonary embolism. My breathing was very shallow and one of the blood levels to test for a PE was over 4000, normal being 200. Also, when I woke up from surgery, my back itched. That turned out to be shingles, right on the small of my back and I had thick blisters there. I was a mess and I regretted everything I had done! 6 more days in the hospital and then I went home again. I had so much pain I couldn't believe it! I didn't seem to be healing. About 2 weeks after surgery I developed hemorrhoids (sorry) which then turned into fissures (tears) That pain was worse than the surgical pain. Now, 1 month after surgery, I am feeling better (except the fissure). I can move better but I still have abdominal pain. I have lost 40 pounds and look forward to continuing my jouney, feeling better each day.
