For every surgeon there's an opinion.... - ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass Forum, Lap Band Forum, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum

paige52 · 10-19-2007, 10:44 AM

Well yesterday was surgeon option #3 for me...... All is not well in the land of complications!

Dr. Klien, my original bariatric surgeon saw me yesterday and said the following....

The size of the stoma is irrelavant, large or small it doesn't really matter. he thinks my problem is that my excluded stomach is enerviated(sp?) meaning the nerves are dead. he wants to shoot dye through the abdomen wall into the old belly and see if it empties. if not then the symptoms are all caused by a distended belly and correction is to remove my stomach, old one, and that will fix everything.

If it does empty...... that's not the problem then he's equally sure everythign is due to endocronolgy problems... that requires a hospital stay so they can feed special diets while drawing blood continuosly over a period of days. When he's "sure" I"m dumping... then he will prescribe a pill that blocks all insuline production and "that" is for sure the fix for all that ails me!

All this is said while tapping his teeth with a pen and taking calls on his cell phone about some investment.

I got the feeling he didn't really give two poops that he had a paitent that was suffering. In fact he actually said I looked to healthy to have any real problems. That people who have serious issues dont' look like me, have bad labs and are suffering... hummm I guess not having a single day in the past 13months of not being at the very minimum...nausea and light headed, doesn't qualify as suffering. silly me. My favorite part of the visit is when he reminded me that because I was a revision this is the consequence of my actions...as if it was all my fault! Oh yeah... and when he basically refused to consult with another GBS surgeon on my case! yeah that was good too!

janie was spitting nails by the time we walked out of the office. i on the other hand expected it so wasn't really all that upset.

At this point it's back to Dr. laura to discuss what he said. Then it's off to Michigan to visit Dr. Baker... that would be Beth's doctor. The final stop will be Las Vegas most likely to see a Dr. Cottam... hailed as the new gbs complication Guru. heard about this doc from 3 different sources in a period of 48 hours so I"m going to give it a whirl.

Unfortunately Dr. Namaan in Texas is closing his practice because the surgery is no longer appealing to him as the level of complications(from other surgeons) that have to be fixed or taken down. The industry is losing a valuable member, it's very sad. Now I'll never know if he could have helped me.

Honestly I'm not just looking for the surgeon who's willing to say "yes I'll take it down" but having at least the same opinion from 2 surgeons would be helpful. I do like the idea of knowing if the excluded stomach is working... I know it was right after surgery because I had a gastric feeding tube that was used sucessfully for almost a month with no issues.... not excited about the method but it does make sense that it woudln't do much good to reattach to a useless stomach.

So today i sit with my defunct belly.... little sad that I still have no answers, reversal doesnt' look positive and living this life is hard.... much harder than I anticipated or really wnat to deal with.

Shrugging shoulders.... I guess it is what it is....

JenBear7 · 10-19-2007, 11:14 AM

Sounds like you had a hell of a day! I have no advice, just wanted to say I admire your tenacity. You definately have a pro-active approach to your health that we can all learn from. I am sorry you are "complicated"... {{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}

MiladyB · 10-19-2007, 11:19 AM

Paige (and Janie), thank you for calling me last evening. I have to tell you, Paige, I know you didn't expect much more from him but I would have been right along with Janie, about ready to take his head off. The only thing I am really thankful about is that you were able to leave his office sure that having him be the surgeon to treat you would be a huge mistake. In that step, I think you can feel comfortable. Whatever you need me to do to help you with this next step, let me know. I think the best thing would be to have Dr Laura officially consult, Dr Baker. That will get the ball rolling in getting you in for an appointment. He already has some of your records and I got the impression from him that he looked over them. You know he is willing to see you for a second opinion, since he already told you that. I'm here for you, sweetie. My home is open for you and DH is just fine with it. We talked it over again last night. I also have really good friends who live close by who have 3 empty bedrooms so that is an option too. My friend Judy, Luna Lurker, is offering her help too for transportation, whatever. So there is support here if you end up coming this way after talking things over with Dr Laura.

Thoughts and prayers are always heading your way....I hope you know that.

*tight hugs*

You know Janie isn't the only mother lioness around here. I can be too.

paige52 · 10-19-2007, 11:40 AM

jen, Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate your tenacity as well. I know things seem a little different for you righ tnow then you expected but I also beleive that in most cases it turns around for people.... it just takes the body some time to adjust and it's a lot more time for many than we expect! hang in there....

Beth, Well like I said the support is amazing. I talked to Dr. laura for a few minutes she agrees on my opinion of Dr. Klien....less sadi the better!

She is willing to talk to Dr. Baker so I'm going to give her the information today. She is also willing to talk to the guy in Vegas if I want... She is so sweet.

So do they have good food in Michigan?

smoochies I'll keep ypu updated.

MiladyB · 10-19-2007, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paige52

jen, Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate your tenacity as well. I know things seem a little different for you righ tnow then you expected but I also beleive that in most cases it turns around for people.... it just takes the body some time to adjust and it's a lot more time for many than we expect! hang in there....

Beth, Well like I said the support is amazing. I talked to Dr. laura for a few minutes she agrees on my opinion of Dr. Klien....less sadi the better!

She is willing to talk to Dr. Baker so I'm going to give her the information today. She is also willing to talk to the guy in Vegas if I want... She is so sweet.

So do they have good food in Michigan?

smoochies I'll keep ypu updated.

Oh I'll try to cook you something you might like.

Love ya, sweetie!

ladytonya · 10-19-2007, 01:34 PM

Beth's cooking? From all the recipes she posts, I'm there! Of course, I'd have to get from North Carolina to Michigan somehow. That'd be a long drive for dinner...............

I agree with everyone's comments. There are people who have all kinds of complications and there are people who have it easy breezy. I know people who have had the complications who still say they would do it all over again and there are people who had it easy who say they wouldn't do it because it's so hard. Whatever the reasons, whatever the opinions, we all did this for one reason and one reason only: we were morbidly obese and we decided to have a life-threatening procedure to save our lives. It was a risk, and gamble we should have all known about going in. For me, there have been some things that have been more difficult than I thought and some haven't been so hard. One thing I know for sure is I have lost 199 lbs. in 10 months. Just typing that brings tears to my eyes. There was no other way that I was going to lose that much weight in a whole lifetime, much less in 10 months. I weighed 457 lbs and was wearing a 6X or a 34-36 when I went to my initial consult with my surgeon on September 14, 2006. 10 months later, I weight 258 (can't get that last damn pound to double century, but that's a whole other thread!) and am wearing an 18-20 or 22-24, depending on the cut, and a 2X or even a big XL. I wouldn't trade that for anything!

paige52 · 10-19-2007, 01:42 PM

You are very right about some thigns being easier or harder than we thought they woudl.

Wow it's amazing to sit and ponder 199 in 10 months... that's almost all of me prior to surgery! Beign able to shop in normal stores... I loved Walmart on teh way down!

keep at itme dear and get to that goal. Plastic surgery almost seems like a no-brainer after the kind of weight loss you are ultimately looking at... wishing you the best for continued sucess!

Zenomia · 10-19-2007, 02:09 PM

Paige; are you going to have the dye test for the tummy done? At this point I can understand why you need to get another opinion. I have to agree with Jen, your tenacity is amazing! Through it all you just keep on moving!! It's a good thing to "see". I hope Dr. Baker can offer you some answers instead of more questions...and get some of these problems resolved!! Best wishes!!

MiladyB · 10-19-2007, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zenomia

Paige; are you going to have the dye test for the tummy done? At this point I can understand why you need to get another opinion. I have to agree with Jen, your tenacity is amazing! Through it all you just keep on moving!! It's a good thing to "see". I hope Dr. Baker can offer you some answers instead of more questions...and get some of these problems resolved!! Best wishes!!

Yeah, well...remember Zen...Dr Baker trained your doctor!! So there is no doubt that he is good.

From what I remember your surgeon is pretty darn good himself...even IF he didn't like his Burn Center rotation! *L*

...honestly...I just can't understand ANY doctor not liking their Burn rotation...I mean, hey, they got to work with ME!!!

What was there not to like?

LisaBoston · 10-19-2007, 03:04 PM

Paige.....my goodness, how very confusing. No advice, wishing you well and pain free one day very soon. All this just seems so crazy to me, so I can't even imagine how you are feeling about it.

Take Care Sweetie