Hunger pangs, but not in my stomach...

Okay, this is a weird question, I have a feeling I know the answer but I'm going to ask anyhow.

My surgeon has made a point, several times, of telling me how high in my torso my stomach was (he kind of points up and under my sternum.  Required him to punch an additional hole during surgery because he couldn't reach from the first hole.

I'm now aware of where my stomach is due to the locus of the pain when I "overdo" it.

The weird part is I still get, from time to time, feelings in my abdomen (behind my navel) that I've always identified as hunger pangs.  However, if my stomach is not there, what am I feeling exactly?  Is this just intestinal peristalsis?  Have I been confusing, for most my life, intestinal digestion with hunger?

I see my surgeon today, so this is at the top of the list of questions.  Well, maybe 2nd on the list and not the top of the list.

Via search I see a lot of people with misidentified hunger pangs, but I can't find anything where someone knows it is.  My "head hunger" is much different, just seems more like an impulse between the ears that convinces me that regardless of whether or not I NEED to, that I WANT to eat.

Head hunger makes me 

Seriously, me too.  I look in the refrigerator and pantry a lot.  There is nothing in there for me, but I think I've gone there so much for comfort (however fleeting) in my life that I'm looking for something that's missing...

...and I think that's where the head hunger comes from -- something missing.  Just can't really figure out what it is.

I've never been a gum chewer but I keep gum in my purse now. It helps with the "something missing" feeling. I also have to chew it when I look at recipes on pinterest lol. 

Good question because my stomach pain is up very high and my hunger still feels down low. But over all, my hunger is in my mouth! I can be painfully full but my mouth thinks it should still be eating!

yes this is due tonormal action of the intestines