can someone please tell me the recovery time after bowel obstruction surgery? i have a 15 mnth and a 4 yr old so kinda worried about the recovery time! i have been dealing with severe pain in my abdomen cramping, nausea, vommiting, horrible smelling gas and pressure on my back like crazy! i did go to the ER but we all know how that goes! anyhow i went to a wls dr and he said sound like a kink or bowel obstruction! odered the test but today has not been a good day woke up @ 4 am with intence pain so i took my protonix and i am still in pain! ugh the waiting game is on! IDK why if he thought this he didnt just send me somewhere to have it checked a.s.a.p!

My weight gain was caused by several factors.

1.  I had two beautiful children starting 2 years after my surgery. (reason I initially wanted the surgery, was scared my weight would make it too dangerous or difficult on pregnancy)
2.  The "tube" that went into my stomach/pouch was way too long, so I never felt a feeling of fulfillment (or hunger) 6 months into the operation because my pouch was being bypassed & never filled as it was suppose to.  I was told my new pouch was being used as more of a tunnel than anything.  This is the reason that insurance agreed to pay for my surgery the second time.
3.  Poor eating habits returned, eating at bed time & I became a grazer & carbs, carbs carbs when I became disgusted that I wasn't able to lose more weight.

I don't come on very often.  At my 6 month mark I had lost 62 lbs.  I do not get on the scale often so don't know what I lost this month.   The scale is not my friend so I try to avoid it.  I got very little support & a lot of criticism from this board for my choice in having this operation. I think people don't know as much about it as they think they do.  Trust your doctor. As you know everyones experience will be different.  Here is mine.

Bad
I have bowel movements all the time 3 a day at least & 2 in the middle of the night.  It is not based on what I eat as some people tell me on here.  I have to take a stool softner daily to avoid hemrhoids which I have never had before.
I hate all the vitamins we have to take.
I am very low on protein & my doctor said this is serious.  I have 3 months to improve or he is putting me a medicine that will help me abosorb protein & carbs better, which will mean I will stop losing weight or even gain. I will have to take it until my level improves.
I eat less now then I did 1 month out after the operation.  Just not as hungry.  I don't like protein shakes. I do try to eat a lot of proteins but this operation makes it harder for your body to asorb.

Good
Diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea all gone, not to mention the 62 lbs.  I'd like to lose another 62.

Bad or Good depends on how you look at it
I have a hernia that will have to be removed. doc says wait another year & half until my weight stablizes so I can get tummy tuck at the same time.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
 

Oh man, Allie...I was really hoping that things had turned around for you.  I know you had a very rough start and I was praying it was just that, a rough start.  Did anyone ever narrow down why you became so ill, or did they just start slicing, dicing, and testing you to rule stuff in or out? I really hate this for you, I hate this for anyone.  I think I would feel some comfort if after all this you were fixed, but you're not! I wish I knew the answer...did you ever get a 2nd opinion or did your original surgeon do all of this? I would still get another set of eyes on this, even if it's the 3rd set, you need the right doctor to help you, one that sees these problems everyday.  I'm trying to remember where you live, but I would find the largest tertiary (teaching/research/university hospital) hospital that you can get to...it's great if it's close, but in my opinion the 450 miles I travel one way to get to Cleveland has been worth every mile.  There are some bariatric surgeons that won't want to help you because they did not do your surgery...what a culture, right? I would be happy to give you the name of my surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, and/or help you find someplace where your problems aren't so rare & bizarre.  Here is my email address (I check that more frequently than I am on here, [email protected])
Don't give up, you're strong, and they won't break you! prayers and hugs to you!

 This is more a rant than anything else. I've been dealing with pain in the area people keep claiming can be a Petersen's hernia...except it likes giving me pain sometimes in my back and arm as well. Nausea pops up randomly just to say hi, I guess. I can get food and pills down but sometimes I feel sick afterwards. Doc sent me to get an endoscopy last week and that came out clean except he found a surgical staple in some area of my stomach. I forget where, I think it was just the pouch. He tells me to call him if the pain is still there, I say okay, fine. I give it a few days, assuming some pain/nausae is expected after an endoscopy. But the pain I've been having (left side, upper area just under the breast, plus pain in the back/arm at times) is still there on Monday, so I call the office.

Doc is out for the entire week. His back-up doesn't take my insurance, so I can't go to him, because he's way beyond what I can afford.

I have an anxiety disorder. To say this has been a nightmare is putting it lightly. I ended up going to the ER on Monday, at the same hospital I went to for my surgery. They did a CT scan and cleared me of anything but a slightly enlarged spleen and apparently I have had a UTI for a month (I went through one round of meds last month for it and it apparently never went away). I was given different meds (I initially had cipro) for the UTI and while I do at least feel a little better, the pain still pops up randomly. People describe it as severe when I read stories about it, the pain is tolerable but constant when it happens. I haven't vomited yet, and there's no obstruction that can be seen by the CT scan, at least, but I've read that might not matter with this hernia. I tried asking about the Petersen's hernia and the ER doctor said he didn't think I have it. I just wish my doctor was back, I'm seeing him ASAP next week to see what steps to take. My PCP suggested it might be my vagus nerve to explain my symptoms, but I don't know if that's the case.

My general symptoms are pain in the left upper area and sometimes right, pain going to my back and shoulder of my left side. This all started about a month ago, around when I also had a bit of a nervous breakdown (my anxiety hasn't been controlled, and hopefully will be soon enough with therapy and meds again) as well as that UTI I mentioned. The cramps down the left side I have been having are likely UTI-related, but who knows? I noticed I've been getting 'clogged up' with constipation and never had that issue before when this all started a month ago, but benefiber seems to have started to help with that, and I've been passing stool and gas fine (sometimes the stool is soft, but more often than not it's normal stool). Yesterday I found a small bump on my back on my waistline that's painful to the touch, which I went to a doctor about today (to make sure it wasn't my kidney, as my meds only focus on the bladder portion of a UTI), and he said it looked like just a muscle thing and to take tylenol for it. Could THAT be a sign of a hernia? Is maybe ALL this pain the cause of muscles? I don't know anymore.

I tell you one thing, if I start puking, it's back to the ER for me. I'm trying to keep a 'normal' diet, albeit a soft one, until I can talk to my surgeon. Thanks for letting me blow off a little steam here. I'm at my wits end and half expecting to die at any moment.