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

I had this kind of pain it would come and go turned out to be a Internal Hernia . Please take care of your self  the surgery is not bad you will be up and running in no time at all

Hi Joe, I am having the same issues, my surgeon is operating on me next monday, gonna remove my gallbladder, but is sure the pain is from an internal hernia. She was very adament about me not going to another surgeon, or the ER cause they wouldn't know what to look for. Of course go to ER if I must, but be sure and notify her. She is an hour from me. She didn't tell me to do stage 1 diet. Maybe I will start that... It is nice to know we are not alone... Good luck Lynn

i just talked to surgeon's office, and I'm heading to portland today.  friends are here visiting and it just works out for me to ride out there with them. it is nice to not feel alone. we'll get thru this. i'm gonna have em check out my gall bladder also.. JOe

Good luck and feel better soon!

Joe... hello fellow oregonian. Two weeks ago I had intermittent pain that turned into intense pain. l live outside Corvallis but I was in Gresham when the intense pain occurred so paramedics took me to Mt. Hood Medical Center. A catscan showed a "volvulus" which is a twisted and strangulated portion of gut... looks a bit like a water balloon. The surgeon was not MY surgeon and it was Sat afternoon. I was in surgery straight from the catscan and I had a seven inch open incision. What I ACTUALLY had turned out NOT to be a volvulus but an opening in the mesentery, which allowed several loops of intestine to slip through and then rotate 540 degrees. He untwisted everything, fixed the mesentery rent, cut open my "Y" leg to check out the WLS stoma, closed it all back up and told me the next morning that I would have been dead in 24 hours without medical attention. Upon consulting my own WLS after I came home, he was quite distressed to see my long incision, stating that most radiologists don't know what they are looking at with WLS patients but that he would have known and might have been able to fix it lap. Two weeks out from surgery, I am still having alot of pain eating even though both surgeons have told me to eat whatever I want. Nope, I am on soft foods and fighting to get in 800 cal a day. A little worried. I'm at goal... I don't really HAVE a lot of weight to lose. Hope you are doing better now.

wow.  things happen fast don't they?  i ended up having exploratory laparoscopy and they fixed an internal hernia and also removed my gall bladder...  that will be four weeks ago on next friday, and other than a little pain once in a while and being very tired sometimes, I'm almost back to normal. sorry they had to cut you open.  that lengthens out the process a bit i'm sure. best to you. joe my journey was made more complex because i now live in montana, a long way from my surgeon's office.

Joe, your story sounds so familiar to me! Two months ago I had the same pain you had, went to the ER and had all kinds of tests. Diagnosis was bowel obstruction. So no food and a gastric tube down my throat for a week. Seven days later,  "no, its not an obstruction, gee now we think you need a revision on your bypass, we can do it, but it will be open surgery." Got out of that hospital ASAP, went to my surgeon's hospital, saw him an d he says 'oh, its an internal hernia, no big deal, we'll do it lap and you'll be home tomorrow'. And that is exactly what happened. I know this post is a month later and I hope you found the right surgeon. Don't just let any surgeon open you up, its worth finding the right person. Good luck, Jackie

thanks for the concern!  I headed for Portland, to my surgeon's office, and they did exploratory lap and fixed the hernia and removed my gall bladder. i was in the hospital Friday thru Monday, and a month later the only effect left is fatigue that hits me like a ton of bricks in the afternoon. feels good to be back on track, though. and the silver lining was that in the time I was ailing I went from 195 to 169, and now I'm staying down at that weight. I'm 45 and the last time I weighed this amount was 30 years ago! Joe

I have had this pain too! You're not alone....Read my story towards the bottom of my profile.... The pain SUCKS!!!! OMG...Once I went to ER yelling at the top of my lungs....They rushed me and gave me morphine. Until today, CT scans and X rays are not showing anything. Since July 31, 2007, I have not had pain anymore! I'm so thankful and yes, I did lose alot more weight because I was so afraid of eating. My surgeon thinks I could or maybe had a "kink" (twisted bowel). Be careful. My surgeon, my PCP, and me all agreed to have a standing order to have a CT scan the next time I have PAIN! That way if I experience the pain, hopefully the CT scan can catch the "kink"....Feel free to email me because what you've experienced is what I experienced. [email protected]