Do I have a stricture???

Okay, I'm two months out today feeling pretty good, but things haven't been going down all that well the last couple of days.  Food is feeling like it's stuck, no matter how much I chew it, and even water feels funny.  I've thrown up for the last couple of days, not at every meal, but enough to where I'm starting to get concerned.  Is there anyway to tell if it's a stricture without going into the Dr's office????   Alli

Hi Alli girl.....the only way to tell if you have a stricture is for them to go down with the endoscope. I had 2 of them and both time I was 9 and you need to be at a 12. Nicole told me that happen to fair haired/skinned people...the office will tell you to go on liquids for 24 hrs to see if your stoma was just swollen, after that if you still can't keep things down then insist you see Dr Rigburg. It is a very procedure....Good luck...Erin

Thanks Erin, I hate throwing anything up, it's very painful:-(....... Alli

Al, Do not wait! Insist on going in to get this taken care of. My husband had 2 strictures and you are describing his experience exactly. Take care, Mary

Thanks Mary, by the way, how is your husband doing?? Alli

Alli, sounds like a stricture to me... call the office and tell them the problems you are having.  They will tell you to rest your pouch and do 24hrs - 48hrs of soft foods like yogurt, tea, protein drinks, water, etc to eliminate the swelling at your stoma, if after the 24hrs you feel you are still having problems with food, you will go in for a endoscope.  I have learned to tell them, I have already did that and they scheduled me for the procedure right away. Simple procedure, you are pretty much knocked out for it.  They will do the scheduling for you at the hospital and it is an outpatient procedure, no need to make extra trips to the office.  Dr. Rigberg or Dr. Mellon will do them, both are great and work very closely with Dr. Blackstone. You are right around the timeframe for strictures to occur, so you didn't do anything wrong.  It is one of the most common side effects.   If you are getting the pressure with water or tea, call them ASAP and tell them that, you dont want it to fully close and get completely dehydrated.   Please, please call me if you need me for any reason...  I can give you a ride if you need it, if your hubby is not available. ~Nicole

Hey Nicole, everything has been going great, I haven't thrown up at all today, but I haven't eaten all that much either.  Nothing sounds good, and when I do eat something, it feels yucky.  I did call the office, and they said exactly what you said, and wanted to make sure I was staying hydrated, so they seem very on top of things.  Besides that all is well with me, and I feel pretty good.  Lets do lunch sometime:-)

 

Alli

Hi! Sometimes the pouch can just get irritated and things will want to come back u*****t  want to go down right or it can just  plain  feel  not "right".  I had my rny with Dr. blackstone 4 years ago and 2 weeks after my surgery  I  started getting a stricture but i didn't know it was a stricture at the time...at first it was just that when i ate something it would feel a little stuck, then after a few days that progressed to no food at all would stay down, then it progressed to food and water wouldn't stay down, then finally my stoma had healed completely shut  so I started  vomiting up  saliva about every half hour as it had no where to go but back up. During this time i got very dehydrated and was admitted back into the hospital and was very sick  for awhile. The stricture was f fixed but it did reoccur 4 more times in the first 4 months after my surgery. It was kinda like clockwork...I woulg get stricture symptoms,go get endoscopy to have stoma dilated, feel fine for 2 weeks, then symptoms would start again,go get endoscopy,get stoma dlated etc.........They were calling me stricture queen at the office. Anyhow, I was told if I got one more stricture after the 5th one that I would have to get part of the surgery redone...the part where the intestines are atttched to  the stoma  but thank goodness I never got another one after that.  The point to this is.. It may be nothing but it could be a stricture so keep an eye on it and don't let it go as long as I did the first time.

Wow, sounds like you've been through a lot Jennifer, thanks for sharing your story with me.  I've been feeling better for the last couple of days, and food is staying down, so hopefully I'm all better.   Alli

Hi Alli, Sounds like it might be a stricture. I still throw up occasionally, but nothing like those first four months when I had the stricture. It could be that your stomach is just irritated. If you think you have one you probably do. I knew something was wrong even though they kept telling me it wasn't. You know your body and how you should feel. Trust your instincts. And if it continues insist they check it out for you. Take care and keep us informed!!