Here's another story about weight loss surgery regrets. Thanks to the reader who wrote this in the post about weight loss surgery gone wrong. I was only 23 when I decided to have bariatric surgery. I am writing this because I have been through the worst year + of my life. I had went for the whole big thing. Rerouting and such. The surgeon pretty much terrified me in to believing this was the only solution, that if done any other way, if something went wrong, it may not be able to be fixed. So with full confidence I showed up for surgery and thought it would be the end to my "problems". I was most certainly mistaken. A three day stay in the hospital turned in to 16 days. During my initial surgery, my epidural block fell out! I can remember them transferring me from the operating table to the stretcher. I was screaming, "please help me! someone. please, it hurts!". I do not remember an entire week of my life, in which I am told I almost died and was very nasty.
After the first surgery I was in a lot of pain, they took me for a test and left me in a wheel chair to drink this chalky liquid in a freezing hallway until the tech was done with his lunch. Turns out the pouch wasn't sewed well enough and anything that they were making me consume was just flowing right through me. Back in for surgery number two. Apparently they cut me open and I threw up in my lung cavity. It started to crush my lung. I was in the ICU for 5 days, almost had a heart attack and eventually needed to have a PIC line installed. Ending my stay I was sent home with one tube still hanging out. For an entire month. They only tell you the good things about surgery, never the bad.
It has been over a year and I have spent every holiday in the hospital and visit the ER at least once a month. I have had my gallbladder out, a hernia removed, countless times where I was internally bleeding from an ulcer or something was stuck in my small intestine. I have stopped counting the tubes of blood they have taken. It has been upwards of 24 tubes in two weeks. I recently found out that I am unable to retain iron. Therefore, I will need iron IV therapy for the rest of my life. And regardless of all the pain, the worst part is the emotional toll it leaves. The nightmares will never go away. I am going to have to deal with multiple issues for the rest of your life. No one tells you that this surgery doesn't fix anything. If you were self conscious before, guess what, you still are after. It is awful. If the surgery will save your life, go for it, but please, read stories from both sides first and take the time to think about it. Best wishes.
