VBG to gastric bypass - Bridgett's story |
| My name is Bridgett and I am 31 years old. I had a vertical banded gastroplasty in April of 1995. I weighed 272 pounds the day I had my surgery. I guess the reason I am writing is that I don't feel that the doctors and other people involved give their patients all the facts. They know how desperately these people want to lose weight and they minimize the problems that can go along with these surgeries. For one and half years, I was unable to keep any food down. I was told by the doctor that this was normal and I just needed to chew my food better. Of course, I was losing the weight so that made it seem ok. Two years after my surgery, I became pregnant which was one of the main reasons I chose to have the surgery. Of course, I was very happy but within a few months, I became very ill. I was hospitalized several times for dehydration because I was still unable to keep any food down. It was then contributed to the positioning of the baby, the baby must be pushing on my stomach causing me the problems with keeping my food down. The last 6 weeks of my pregnancy were basically spent as bed rest for a pregnancy that would have been normal under any other circumstances, the only reason I was told to stay in bed is that they knew the baby was taking everything from me and I needed to use as little energy as possible. I gained 17 pounds during the pregnancy and lost 5 pounds the last month, by the grace of God, I had a 7 pound 10 ounce baby boy. Luckily, he had no brain damage or any other health problems except for his teeth. Since I was unable to eat much, my body never formed a chemical that he needed to form enamel on his teeth, he is now four years old and has four of his teeth capped and more teeth look in need of repair soon. Two months after I had my son, I suddenly passed out. I was taken to the emergency room and the doctor's dismissed me as anorexic, far from the truth, I was unable to eat anything. Finally, I took matters into my own hands and called the center that helped with my first surgery. I went in to be examined and they used the scope to see if they could stretch my stomach out a little bit thinking that was all that was wrong. I was given something to relax but all I remember hearing was my doctor say "Oh my God!" and I felt a popping in my stomach. When I woke up, he said that the opening to my stomach was scarred shut and that the balloons were not a success. He said I would need surgery and he would perform a gastric bypass as that part of my stomach was no longer functional. I said I would think about it as I had a young baby at home and I did not want to leave him for that length of time. My doctor then told me that if I did not have this repair surgery done, I only had about two weeks left to live. Of course, I was shocked, I knew I didn't feel well but I didn't realize it was that bad. I had to be fed through an IV for just about two weeks before they said that I was strong enough to endure the surgery. I made it through the surgery and I am fine today. I want to know how many other people this has happened to. I was never once told that the ring could cause my stomach to scar over. My first surgery cost around $10,000, the surgery I had to fix the first surgery cost over $50,000 and almost cost me my life. I know people want to be thin but is it worth dying for? I have kept my weight off and it has been about 6 years now since my first surgery but I now have a lot of other health problems that go along with this surgery. I have diarrhea on a regular basis, I am unable to have any dairy products, I am tired a lot, I have to take iron pills and B-12 shots, none of these things were told could and would be side effects of this surgery. It was all glamorized and I feel that is very unfair. I know that the medical field sticks together but I know I am not the only person that has had these problems and I feel that the person should be given ALL the facts, not just the good ones. I know obesity kills, too, but a person should have the right to make a decision based on all the possible things that can go wrong. I know I wouldn't have had the surgery if I would have known all that I would have to endure for the rest of my life as a a result of it. Thank you for your time!! ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sue's note: I received this in email from Bridgett and she wanted me to have it on my website. She wanted to hear from others with similar problems but in 2003, became somewhat overwhelmed as she battled spindle cell sarcoma (cancer) of her bladder. They were able to remove the cancer but told her if it reoccurred her bladder would have to be removed and because of her WLS, she would not have the option of them rebuilding the bladder from small bowel (as they do in other cases). She said she enjoyed the many people who wrote to her and would write me again when she felt ready to be able to take emails. She wrote in part:
I hope to hear from her again soon. Like many WLS patients, she retains a sunny upbeat attitude despite her physical challenges.
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