Severe complication 7 years after RNY surgery

It was suggest that I post this here.  I had posted on the WLS complications board which is not very active. (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.

My program claimed none for a long time, but 2 this summer were surgical candidates due to the repeated episodes of pain.  The first only about 6 months out but the pain had been with her prior to surgery--only because of the surgery did it get taken as seriously as needed to find the problem; the other was 5 years out. A good friend of mine currently was told that it probably caused the pain she had a month ago, only 3 months out- especially since she had a 2nd bout of it last week (only last 45 minutes that time).  I also have one, but in a unusual place.  Most are down near the JJ connection or in the more free areas of the bowel.  Mine is right at the pouch to intestine anastimosis.  I get pain regularly with a bloated feeling and nauseau.  My surgeon and I have found that if I keep the stool soft and moving I seem to be better off, and a little zofran when I feel the nauseau lets me get through it.  Apparently, gravity pulls mine back into position so it works itself out and I probably will never get worse--but if the nauseau won't go away or I get any obvious bulge I need to be seen immediately.

There is more and more anecdotal records showing up of these.  It seems that from what I've read, they can be simple like mine or they require surgery pretty obviously. 

Keep an eye on it and be willing to push for the consult.  You only need to mention a law suit by your survivors and see how quickly they let you see the surgeon.

DAMN.

I hope you are feeling okay?

How on earth does it "resolve?"

An intussusception is like a telescoping of one section of bowel into the next larger section.  As easily as it can telescope IN, it can telescope back out - IF you are lucky enough that inflammation did not prevent it from resolving itself.  This can so often require a surgical repair.

Thank you both for your replies.  Any annecdotal information I could get would be appreciated.

I am terrified and afraid to be alone or far from the hospital (And I am not a nervous drama queen). the odds of my having 2 clsoe friends also have this (one dying) are insane.  I really do not know many rny bypass people any more., this far out I did not think I had any more surgical issues.

This  Intasusception is like a telescoping of the small intestine near the rny limb. Somtimes they just untelescope (sic) or the area of intestine dies and without very fast surgical intervention one can die quickly.

The lawyer idea is good.  My son is actually a litigator for a Major Chicago based law firm (1000+ attorneys) and would be really annoyed and litigious if I died from lack of surgical intervention. 

Can you list the signs and symptoms?

Very scary stuff.

Hope you don;t have to go through it again.

Intussusception is most common in infants and children under the age of two.  It is very rare in adults.  The problem is that the symptoms are vague, and it can be hard to tell intussusception from appendicitis or hernia or even kidney stones.

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/tc/intussusception-sympt oms

In adults, the symptoms of intussusception may be less obvious but include vague abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, abdominal bloating, or a change in the usual stool output, color, or pattern.

Scary!  The ER docs who were going to let you DIE  should all be tortured to death!  What kind of medical "professional" DOES that???  How on earth can they sleep at night, knowing what could have happened?

I'd be compaining BIG TIME to that hospital, plastering the executives with complaint letters, naming names and detailing everything.  

So glad you're okay!

Hi, my name is Roxanne, I read about you'r intussusception and have experianced a couple myself. The first time i had one was in june 2010 they kept me in the hospital overnight and it resolved by it self.then on August 29th 2010 i was at work and had a lot of pain again ,luckily i work a mile from the hospital,which is the same hospital where i had my gastric bypass surgery.by the time i made it to the hospital i was in so much  pain i could not walk . They called my surgeon and did a ct scan and had me in surgery a few hours later. I hope the chances of reacurrance are slim. My surgeon said it is possible but unlikely that it will happened again.I wish you the best of luck..........Roxanne

I just saw your post.

Yes, I had this too.  It was a HORRIBLE experience!