possible internal hernia???

Well, This is a long story and I"ll try to make it short. about two weeks I started having pain in my lower belly. a dull ache mostly, but it seemed to get worse with food. by the following monday, I went to the emergency room where they did a CT with contrast, couldn't find anything wrong with me, and sent me home. said go see a dr in a few days. i did that. he said, hmm, I can't see what's wrong with you, let's have you see a gastroenterologist. i should say at this point that a month ago we moved to Montana from Oregon, so I'm 700 miles from my surgeon's office, and 100 miles from the closest bariatric surgery center. so I went home, tried to find things to eat that didn't cause the pain, and waited to see the gastro guy. well, this last Tuesday night, I went into a period of pain unlike any I've ever experienced, stomach pain, some into my middle back. I was going to have my wife drive me to the hospital, 20 miles away, and we reconsidered and called the ambulance. I was admitted to the hospital, where I started to feel better. Just like when you take your car to the mechanic. Wednesday and Thursday I had the following tests: ultrasound of belly and gall bladder, HIdaScan (nuclear) test of my gall bladder, and then a whole small bowel study. Lots of bad things were ruled out. yea. but still, the dr said, hmm, not sure what's wrong with you. he called my surgeon's office in oregon, and they said AHA, we know what's wrong with that guy. he's about 16 months out from surgery, he's lost 152 lbs, we think he's got an intermittent internal hernia. we can fix that laparoscopically. so they sent me home thursday night, said go back to a stage 1 diet, and get hooked up with a surgeon. i seem to be fine as long as i'm on this liquid puree diet. The silver lining is that I've gone from 194 to 178 in the last 6 weeks. I NEVER thought I'd see the 170's again in my life. So I guess I'm just sharing all this to see if it sounds familiar to anyone out there, and if you have any thoughts. I just can't believe I'm gonna have to pack up and get to Oregon to have them look in my gut, find what's wrong, and then get back here. I could possibly do this in Missoula, which is 2 hrs away, but that surgeon is less experienced and can't guarantee he won't open me up. this is all just incredibly frustrating and more than a bit of a worry. I just started a new job here in Montana, and this is sure putting a crimp in getting off to a good start. THANKS for listening! Joe

Joe, I'm so sorry you're going through this stuff, especially when you were looking for a fresh start! That being said, I feel strongly that back to Oregon is where you need to go, do you really want someone not familiar with your case (i.e. no vested interest) to start working on you especially when he can't guarantee laparascopic? GREAT job on the 170's, I'm so proud of how far you've come in your journey. Be well and keep us posted please. ANDI

sorry to hear this Joe...but as you say, there is the silver lining in your weight loss. Hope you get it sorted soon

I am from Missoula, and while I can not recommend a dr, I can say that St Pats is the the bomb. Community used to be, but it has been my experience that they suck. when I used them 17 years ago, they were less than stellar and I have horror stories. somewhat more current. My daughter went in for a tummy ache three years ago and Community quickly opened her up and took out her appendix. I seriously doubt that was what she needed, but what the hay. $15000 later (she has no insurance) they were happy. I just hope that you get better.

Joe, I check this board every now and again cause my date was June 8, 2006 so many of your dates are actually closer than the Junebug dates. Two weeks ago I went into emergency with excruciating pain... I was in so much pain. This had happened one other time about two months ago. I went to the chiropractor that time, thinking I'd taken some rib cages out as I was doing some heavy physical labor (and it had been a long time since I'd done that). The chiropractor made me feel better and I thought all was well). Since that time, I'd been having some problems, especially after eating but I thought oh well, nothing was too bad, I'm OK. That is til my emergency room trip. I thought I was going to die. To make a short story short...they did all the tests and thought it was probably an ulcer but told me to check with Dr Graham. I did so. He immediately thought I had an internal hernia and scheduled me for lap. surgery. (I've also lost over 150 lbs) I had that last Tuesday. Good news/bad news...no hernia. So know we're not sure what the pain was all about. He "roter-rootered" me out, got rid of some scar tissue and put me on metamucil/citricil. Watch your bowel movements. If you are not going daily, or if it is a "difficult bowel movement", perhaps you need the help of a little fiber laxative. I am recovering from surgery now and have not had any more difficulties. I hope I don't as that was some of the worse I've experienced. I don't know if I've helped or not, but know, you are not alone. Keep us up on what they find out. Good luck. Sorry this is so long. Cyndi

Hi Cyndi sorry to hear you've had a rough time too I know what you mean about the dates - when I was first out, I wondered if I should be on the May or June board as I was May 31st and often have a peek at June You could always have a foot in both camps so to speak - we'd love to have you join us more - the more the merrier

Thanks...this board seems like it has much more action. I also feel like I have more in common with some of y'all as the dates for some are actually closer than some of those in June. I like having a foot in both camps.

Yes, this board does see some action - both good and rough sometimes we disagree, but we ALWAYS support! I've made some great friends here