Stomach Pains, weight gain, need a revision maybe???

I had RNY in 2004.  Went from 254 to 134.  Now weigh 170ish.  Have been this weight since having a baby in 2008.  I have been having major stomach pains recently.  Not only severe gas pains in the bottom left quadrant but stabbing pains in the upper left quadrant whether I eat or not.  I do not know what this is all due too. 

My original surgeon in ATL sucked with the aftercare and when he took my gallbladder out in November 2004 he never told me to stay out of work.  He told me it was outpatient and I was good to go.  I found out on 12/18/2004 that I was supposed to have been out of wor****il that date.  My surgery was 2 days before Thanksgiving and I went back to work the Monday after.  My gallbladder surgery was an emergency and they totally sucked with the care before and after.  If I didn't know for sure that it was taken out I would wonder about that as some of my symptoms mimic gallstones.

Sorry I am rambling...in pain and my mind if wandering...haha!

I have an appt with a new surgeon in Concord, NC today but ATL still hasn't gotten my medical records to them.  It has been since the first of December.  Not sure what the new doc will do without any OP notes or anything.  He still wanted to see me due to the pains.  Maybe he will at least set up ad endoscopy or swallow test or something.  

thanks any ideas, help, advise would be appreciated.

 Went to doctor today.  I have a CT Scan with Contrast first thing Monday morning.  Depending on what that may or may not show will do endoscopy and if still having pains with nothing showing up on tests he will do an exploratory surgery.  He pressed on a few places on my stomach and it hurt pretty bad.  Not sure what is going on but hoping to have more answers next week.  

Tired of hurting...I can live with pain, I have two other conditions that leave me in pain all the time so I have a pretty high tolerance but this is getting ridiculous.  This pain bends me over and had me crying.  It also has me running to the bathroom for dry heaves and the other end too.  TMI, sorry!  

I did a bit of reading and saw about a fistula...do any of you know anything about this?  Would love some advice!

Thanks,
Tiff

 
They wanted you off work for a full month after gallbladder surgery?  Did you have the full open incision or lap?  Usually people go back to work in a week or so after that, two weeks max unless you are lifting heavy things.

 Evidently about 2-3 weeks...but they never told me so I went back to work in 6 days.  Surgery on Tuesday and I was at work the following Monday.  It explained why I was so tired and having a hard time with everything.  I definitely don't recommend my surgeon to anyone.  I have been trying to get a copy of my records and OP notes since the first of December and still no luck.  My doc in NC is pissed off at this office for their lack of care and crappy record handling.

My doc even called the ATL doc while I was in the office.  He was not impressed...haha!

wow, i'm sorry you've gone through all this. I'm having some pain in the top left side of abdomen. nurse at the office i'm at thinks its a bubble of gas. Im praying that's all. it started lastnight.

Hi there,

I think i went through the same thing! Sorry to hear about your pain...I had RNY in 2005. About 2007, I started with this pain the bottom left quadrant of my abdomen. It felt like my abdomen was filled with gas and then sharp stabbing pain would start. The pain would last about a couple of hours. It wasn't bad at first but the next episodes were horrible.

The 2nd time i got it i was out of town. Had gone out...then @ 2am, the gassy feeling started up again. I doubled over with this uncomfortable feeling and slowly within minutes it escalated SOOO BAD...the stabbing pain started from my sternum to the left side all the way to my back. Ambulance was called...i was rushed to the ER. They did every xray, mri, and test u could think of. The doc gave me morphine and the pain did not go away. Every time i would get the pain all i could do was double over push my fist into my belly and try to massag eit out...didn't work. It got so bad that night the doc even came in and told me to hush cuz i was scaring the other patients. 6 hours later i was released (pain gone)...and referred to my doc.

I saw a gastroenterolgist. He did EGD other exams...and found nothing. I would end up getting the pain again about 2-3 times here in town...rushed to the ER (same symptoms)...they even had hard time straightening me flat on my back cuz my pain was so bad. And they still found nothing.

LONG STORY SHORT...please read this:  I got the pain again a couple of years ago. I was out of town (AGAIN)...the pain came on so fast (a matter of minutes). I rushed to the ER...was taken in immediately. Pain medication was administered. My orginal RNY surgeon came in...gave me some green jello shot type thing. asked me if i still felt the pain...i said yes. He said i had a pinched intestine somewhere (hernia type deal). HE DID EXPLORATORY surgery. He opened me up (not laporascopically)...FOUND THE PINCHED/KINKED INTESTINE, pulled it out and straightend it up. And put a mesh ligning where the intestine was crawling up. He basically said "it happens sometimes." There are pockets where fat disappeared from before we lost the weight...the intestines are constantly moving and find these places and end up getting stuck there. Nothing is able to pass when it's kinked (imagine watering and stopping the hose the old fashion way by bending it)...so water, gases, oxygen, etc gets backed up and caused my excrutiating pain!!!.

It happened once more...i ended up having surgery again. I apparently have alot of spider web like scarring inside that my intestines decided to pinch again. I get the pain every so often but not as bad. I only pray that it never gets as bad as all the other times.

My doctors ended finding out what the problem was and where it was only when the pain happened and they just plain opened me up. The intestine kinks never appeared on ANY exam (MRI, xray, etc)...it's just some freaky thing.

I HOPE YOUR DOCTOR'S CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU'RE SUFFERING FROM...but for some reason your experience/pain sounds like what i went through.

Best of luck.

 Thank you for sharing.  I am sorry it has taken me a bit to respond but I have been in the hospital for a few days.  

Turns out I have a few things going on.  They discovered that I have or had a blood clot at some time in the past in my SMV which is the vein that drains blood from the small intestine.  It apparently had been old as my body created tributary veins to take up the slack over time.  Due to this they now have me on two types of blood thinners (2 pills and 2 shots per day).  The doc thinks I could still have something going on that the tests can't see.  If the meds don't help then he will probably do a laporectomy (however you spell it) to go in and look to see what is going on.  If it appears there is nothing else then I will probably have to see a specialist about the Thrombosis SMV as it is a rare condition.

So technically we still do not know what is causing the pains but we are hopefully going to figure it out.  It could be something within the veins due to the clot that is causing the pain or it could be something to do with my stomach.

Thanks for all your advice and good thoughts.  I will keep updating here as I learn what is going on.

Thanks, Tiff