OBSTRUCTION

Scary time! Wednesday I'd headed to my daughter's softball game. I'd brought dinner with me: blended black bean soup. I took two bites from it, and got the WORST stomach pains, right under my ribs. I thought maybe I'd eaten too big a bite, or ate too fast, but it didn't let up; it just got worse. I never even made it to the bleachers at the game. My husband knew from my voice that something was wrong, and we decided it was time to go to the ER. I know that after bariatric surgery, if you have pains like that you DON'T mess around; something may have ruptured or whatever. Good thing we are very well educated of the dangers following surgery. At the ER, they wasted no time getting me in. On the way, I'd called Dr. Loggins' office and left a message with his answering service. He is so good; if something like that comes up, he wants to deal with it HIMSELF, not the doc on duty. He left instructions in the ER to get me into X-Ray immediately. I went, and then started throwing up, all liquid. They had me try to drink some contrast liquid for a CT, but it was incredibly painful to drink. They got me into the CT scan, and by the time I was out, Dr. Loggins had arrived at the hospital, in sweats and his lab coat. He told me that the CT showed an obstruction, but he didn't know what exactly was causing it. There was a bloated section of intestine below my stomach pouch that looked full, and it was not moving things along. He told me that 90% of the time, this sort of thing sorts itself out, and they never find out exactly why it happened, and 10% of the time, he has to go back into surgery. He said it could be caused by a stricture, or even a piece of food that hadn't been chewed well enough. So he admitted me, and told me that he needed to totally rest my system and put me on IV fluids. No water; no nothing to drink or eat for 2 days. I began to feel a bit better by yesterday afternoon, and he said that things sounded better (with the stethoscope), but he wanted to continue with the IV fluids and keep me another night. He said they'd decide what to do by morning. Man, I was so scared. I had images of part of my bowel dying, and needing to have it removed.    Yesterday morning, my doc showed up in my hospital with his surgical assistant, and said, "Okay, exam time. If things are the same or worse, we need to get you into surgery now." Yikes! He felt my belly and listened, and THANK GOD, said "It sounds normal in there." Based on that, not feeling a mass, and the fact that I was feeling better, he said, "Okay, no surgery for you." He is confident that my body had taken care of things itself. I did feel tons better, and was actually hungry. He said at that point, I'd be the healthiest-looking peron he'd ever taken into obstruction surgery, so I was free to go home, but I had to go back on clear liquids for the rest of the day. Then I go back to protein liquids  for a couple days, basically until I feel comfortable trying soft foods again, slowly. This is something that is obviously not unheard of, but doens't happen a lot, either. 

Anyone else ever have something similar happen??? If so, how did things end up playing out?

I don't have any stories to tell/advice to give.  I just wanted to say I'm glad you're ok and you didn't mess around and got yourself right to the ER.  Hope it was a one time thing and it will be smooth sailing from here on out.

That sounds really scary!  Glad you were on top of things and went to the ER right away!  Dr Loggins is amazing with taking care of us!  Sorry I have no words of wisdom for you but sure hope you are feeling back to normal!   Keep us posted on how you are doing!

hello , i so no what your talking about , i had a 4 months span where i had three strictures and had too be streched out different times , not fun its the worst then the surgery , and yes i spent week in the hospital , but after my dr streched it out i was fine , you will be okay , take it slow thats what i did i think i was on puree foods for like 6 months beacuse i was so scared i was going too rip something after ,

i hope all gets well for u soon

later
david

I'm glad things worked out for you. It is scarey.

I ended up having emergency surgery on Jan 13 after not being able to keep foods or liquids down for 2 weeks. My family had a stomach bug and in the beginning that was what I had, but it never resolved.  During he second week I had 2 visits to the local ER for hydration and discovered I had a urinary tract infecton- no surprise- I wasn't getting my liquids in, I had an endoscopy which showed no blockages in my pouch, A CT which did show a section which was partially blocked. I had what the Dr Toder called a "high functioning partial obstruction with anastemosis of the sutures" at the section of my intestines where the Y connection is. I was so sick that Dr Toder took one look at me, the CT scans and at my 10:30 appointment told me I was to go check in at the hospital, surgery would be that afternoon. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It still scares me what I went through, but I have an excellent surgeon who put me as ease.

Wow, I am so glad that you listened to your body and that you are okay now.  Thank you for sharing your story, as I am still pre-op and learning about all this.  I hope you won't have to experience anything like that again.  Take care!

Thanks everyone for your words of support and help! Although I asked for words of wisdom, it's just as great to read all of your kind words of encouragement! I sincerely hope that my experience can be a "word to the wise" for you guys, pre or post-surgically. PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR BODIES! Part of me wanted to "tough it out" when I had the stomach pain last Wednesday. When I agreed to have my RNY, I vowed to be tough and grin & bear the unpleasantries associated with it. although I had pain, I was still shocked when Dr. Loggins told me I had an obstruction. And while I hope the worst is over, all I can do now is wait and hope for the best. For those of you who have not had your surgery yet, please know that I would still have this surgery in a heartbeat, despite the bump in the road. Follow your Dr.'s instructions  to a "T" (don't skip to advanced food stages, and chew, chew, chew!); this reduces the chances of complications. What's great is that doctors are SO knowledgeable about this sort of thing. They do their jobs, we do ours, and the success rate is astronomically high! 

So once again, thanks to all of you for your support and advice! I am making progress. This little glitch is not going to dissuade me!