Amy,

I'm delighted that you have a diagnosis. My mother had a completely different issue, but like you spent years chasing around trying to get someone to pay attention and listen to her. They even made her go see a Psych because they told her it was in her head... Hmmmm... after the angiogram they said was pointless, but we pushed for showed 6 90% blockages they said, 'Oh, there is a problem...' It's kind of a double edged sword. You are glad to be validated and have a course of treatment, but sometimes the diagnosis is not what you hoped for. In your case, it sounds like you are hypersensitive to sugar loads and I understant that there is a percentage of the RNY patient population that has that issue, while not really 'common', they aren't unheard of by any means. The same goes for strictures; while they aren't a 'common' complication, they do occur often enough that I'm surprised that someone hadn't scoped you and diagnosed it earlier. That said, I'm so glad to hear that it's been diagnosed now and that it will be addressed so that you can get to a point where you can eat normally again... well, sans the sugar issues. My experience with my mother's strictures, which were GERD based, was that they were manageable, but I know in her case and that of some other WLS patients I know, sometimes it takes a few times to completely manage the issue.... that said, please know that she had significant relief almost immediately and needed fine tuning. She and someof the WLS patients I know have had some recurrance of the strictures, but once they and their Dr's were aware of the problem, they were able to manage it before it became the serious problem that was initially addressed. My mother's Dr said that they can recur because some people have a higher propensity to create more scar tissue... Remember that my mother's issues were related to GERD, so it might be somewhate different, but I do recall that once they took care of the stricutres, they also found a medication that significantly reduced problems with the strictures... actually, it became rare that she had an issue with it after they fine tuned that problem.

Obviously, I'm not a medical person, but  from my own experience with addressing my mother's health issues, like yours went on for years before they were diagnosed, I really sympathize the difficulties and frustations that go along with this kind of thing and the relief that comes with the diagnosis and validation... i.e., you are not crazy and now they can treat and/or manage your health issues to help restore your health so that you can enjoy true quality health. CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am soooo happy for you and look forward to hear about the resolution and management of the issues they discovered and your return to good health and the ability to enjoy a wonderful quality of life again.

All the best,