The Daily News

Tearful testimony dominated the second day of a malpractice trial at Wilkin County Courthouse Wednesday over one woman's claim of a problematic gastric bypass surgery.

In 2002, Dr. James Wasemiller, former surgeon at St. Francis HealthCare Campus, performed a gastric bypass surgery on plaintiff Mary Larson, a Fargo resident, in Breckenridge. But hospital records indicate several complications followed the surgery, some of which included an abdominal hernia and leaks from an exterior incision.

Before one male and six female jury members, Larson said she had been overweight her entire life but wanted to take a risk for her children. At the time of the operation, she said she weighed 376 pounds and has lost about 100 pounds since.

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"I had two small kids, and...I wanted to be an active part of their life," she said, crying.

After one of her consultations with Dr. Wasemiller, Larson said she recalled thinking, "'I'm going to do this, he's going to help me become the woman I want to be.'"

Larson sought out Wasemiller after hearing the success story of her aunt, who had a gastric bypass surgery performed by him.

Dr. Paul Wasemiller, a brother to James Wasemiller and surgeon, performed exploratory surgery on Larson after nurses reported she had difficulty breathing and drainage was leaking from the incision on her stomach. He said he did not see Larson prior to surgery but gave orders on her care.

William Maddix, attorney for Larson, referred to Wasemiller's pre-operative diagnosis, which included leaking and the possibility of a serious infection. While operating, Wasemiller said he tried to "close the muscle, not the leak" because it would have been too risky for Larson's health. When called to the stand by Maddix, he said it was hard to tell when the infection started.

"My estimation would be a day or two, perhaps longer," he said.  

After recuperating at St. Francis Healthcare Campus, Larson noticed her incision began to drain more liquid and she was transported to SCCI Hospital in Fargo by ambulance. After being advised she was free to drink liquids, she was offered cranberry juice and immediately had to go to the bathroom.

"I sat down...heard dripping, and I could see the cranberry juice coming out of the bottom of my stomach, from my suture," she said.

Dr. Brent Hella, MD, a witness for Larson, said he met her the evening she arrived at SCCI. Hella is an internal medical physician at Internal Medicine Associates in Fargo and can refer patients to the hospital.

"In the initial assessment I wrote, I was a little bit dismayed at how sick she was," he said. "Though it's not unusual (to see sick patients at SCCI), I could see she was extremely ill."

A colored-dye test performed on Larson indicated fluid was moving to the part of her stomach supposedly cut off after her gastric bypass surgery, rather than bypassing it, said Hella.

"Part of the gastric bypass wasn't as successful as it should be," he said.

Larson said she was informed of the risks, such as scarring and even death, but did not recall hearing about the chance of getting a hernia. During testimony, Larson's husband, Michael, said her present hernia is "the size of half a basketball in her abdomen." Larson had a hernia in 1997 that she later had surgically repaired.

Both Larson's husband and mother, Vicky Vincent, spoke about how much pain Larson experienced after surgery. But Mark Solheim, attorney for Dr. James Wasemiller, said she was aware the procedure was life threatening.

"You knew you would have the scar...the leaking and possibly undergo a second surgery...and Dr. Wasemiller said the approximate weight loss would be 100 pounds," he said.

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