intussusception 7 years after rny

I have been on this board b4 but not for several yers and could not remember my login or password.

I had lap rny 7 years ago, reasonably successful...did not loose all the weight but lost over 100lbs.  No complications, take all vitamins and supplements.  I lost one close friend to a sudden bowel obtruction 3 years ago (watched her die in emergency room) and almost lost another close friend to an intussusception 2 years ago...35 days in intensive care.  These are supposed to be very rare.  I am beginning to think the statistics are wrong and these are much more common then we are lead to believe.

Now I almost died Saturday night from an intussception. Most horrible pain, 11 on a scale of 1 to 10.  I truely thought i would die that night. Amazingly mine resolved itself...otherwise I would be dead because the emergency room refused to let me see a surgeon and had internal medicine fuss around guessing my problem despite my pleas for a surgical consult. 

Now I will carry a letter from a Kaiser Bariatic surgeon stating I am see a surgeon immediately if I present with severe stomach pain.  The surgeon is following me  now, Lots of tests, cat scans,  MRI etc.

Has anyone else had this problem...especially this far out?  I am terrified and depressed.  wondering when it may happen again.

You should post this on the RNY and main boards, this board doesnt' get much traffic. Sorry, I dont' know anything about this subject.  I do know that at about 3 months post op, I started out having terrible abdominal pains and burning pains. Actually thought I had an ulcer. I had an endoscopy and every other possibly test in the book and everything was  normal over the next 3 months.  I went for  my 6month follow up and my Nurse practitioner was blowing off my pain and I finally insisted on seeing the surgeon. I saw him the following week.  He said I needed exploratory surgery to see what was going on inside and sure enough, I had 4 sets of adhesions, 1 causing my intestines to be all twisted, 2 were at the connection sites of the where the stomach and intestines were joined and where the intestines were rerouted - both places were adhered to my abdominal wall and dont know where the 4th one was.  I also had a 1 inch hole in my intestines.  Everything was repaired and I was pain free in the recovery room.  Unfortunately the complications we get don't show up on tests and the only way to diagnose us it to operate.  I wish you luck with finding out what is wrong with you

I'm sorry you have had trouble with this.

You and I seem about the same length of time out.  In June of 2009 I was in the ER with what turned out to be intussusception.  I was referred to a surgeon and and GI doc, this resolved on its own.  It happened again a couple of months later, again resolving on its own.  October 25 rolled around and again I was in the ER.  Again, I had intussuscepted, but this time I threw in on obstruction with it.  They got me to the floor and the surgeon I had consulted came to see me early that morning.  He said looking at the xray he thought we'd wait and see if both problems resolved on their own.  By 5:00 that afternoon I was in surgery.  He said the more he thought about it the more he knew it was going to get worse.  He was right.  My bowel had opened up into a big circle, another part had slipped through that circle, then it decided to tighten up.  I was in the hospital for nine days and out of work for six weeks (my incision dehissed and it got infected).  Not a fun time.  A year later I'm good to go.

You're right that in adults it's not common at all.  I work in a children's hospital and we see it in infants pretty often, occasionally in toddlers, but in all the time I've worked with adults, I can never remember hearing about a patient with it.  Leave it to me  lol.

Consult a good surgeon, tell them your story.  Have them in the shadows for when you need them.  I hope it doesn't happen again, but you need to be prepared in case it does.

Best of luck.

Wenda

Hope you're feeling better.

Thank you for Replying Wenda.  What you are describing is what I expect may occur.   Kaiser now has a full time Bariatric surgeon on staff in San Diego who just takes care of post ops who get in trouble and he is now following me.  My biggest fear is it occuring while I am out of town.  I have been told by the surgeon to wear a medic alert bracelet 

My intussusception was in the small intestine near the rny limb...where was yours? They speculate that it was initially caused by swollen lymph nodes in that area as a result fo extrmely svere gastroenteritis I had the week before (treated by antibiotics).  The surgeon said we are never the same after this surgery and we are more prone to these sorts of things becasue of our newly designed "plumbing."  I am finally getting my head together but am frightened any time I feel the least cramp or gas.

I am glad your surgeon was able to save you....and that you are doing better


Once again thank you for responding and sharing.

Rochelle

You know what?  I don't know that I ever asked where the obstruction was, much less the intussusception.  I just assumed it was the alimentary limb because they were able to visualize it with contrast on CT and that's not usually possible with a DSer's biliary limb.  I assumed the intussusception and obstruction were near each other.  Now you have me thinking!!  I need to have my PCP get a copy of the op report so I can look at it.

Do you travel for work, is that why you're worried it will happen out of town?  Who suggested the medical alert bracelet, and what did they want you to put on it?

Thank you for the well wishes, the same is going back to you.  I hope things work out well for you and your issues are resolved soon.

Please take care.

Wenda

Hi Wanda

I need to travel to visit my 91 year old Dad in Pennsylvania (I live in San Diego CA)...but will not now ever travel alone and will not go until I calm down and feel more stable.  We talk on the phone daily.  

 I also travel to see my son and his family 500 miles away in the Bay area.  I plan to go at Thanksgiving (with my husband...only an 1.5 hour flight or 8 hour drive) and I know where the nearest Kaiser facility is (very close to my kids).  Do you think this is wise of me? or should I wait longer?

The Bariatric surgeon who is following me suggested the medic alert bracelet (probably because he sees so many the post surgery issues) and said it should say the RNY gastric bypass and that adding "prone to bowel obstructions" or "check for bowel obstructions" would be a good idea.  He is very honest and feels we have traded one set of issues for another.

Thanks again for your support

Rochelle

I went to the ER last week and got the opposite treatment.  Wicked pain.  They took me right back and in about 10 minutes I start farting like crazy and have a huge bowel movement.  The pain went away and I said that I was ready to go home, feeling rather sheepish.  ER doc said to stay put.  I had a CT scan and an ultra sound done wthing 3 hours.  They took the situation very seriously and understood my added risk of obstruction because of my gastric bypass.

Bump

Hi Rochelle,
  I understand your fears.  I would go ahead and live your life.  I'm not saying don't think about it and not to pay attention, but you can't hole yourself up at home waiting for something to happen that may never come.  I SO hope it never happens for you again!!
  I'm flying out of DFW at 6:15 Wednesday morning for LAX then driving on to visit family in the Bakersfield area and the Mojave Desert.  You know, it never crossed my mind to worry about flying or being away from home when I was having my problems.  I knew I couldn't stop them and if it was gonna happen, it was gonna happen.  I'm glad you're staying on top of things.
  I hope you enjoy Thanksgiving with your family, it sounds like a great time.  Take care of yourself!!
  Wenda