Hernia/Twisted Intestine

Well I hope you heal quickly! I am finding it difficult to eat as well. I tried eggs this morning and fish for dinner and both times my stomach hurt and felt weird.. I am just so nervous about it happening again.. And I am sore and tired today. :( 

Was it a Petersen's hernia?  Those happen after laparoscopic surgery due to a mesentreric defect, when the lap equipment is used it leaves a hole in the mesentery, basically a lining in the abdomen.  That can allow a part of the intestine to slip out.  It happens to WLS patients because of the weight loss apparently leaves more space for the intestines to float around.  I am sure I am not explaining it correctly but you can read more about it here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_hernia

and here

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3481246/   I was cautioned about this back when I had my first WLS and I think all surgeons should inform their laparoscopic patients know about the symptoms.   It also seem relatively common for WLS patients to develop unexplained abdominal pain.  I went through that myself a few weeks ago and spent a few days in the hospital.  I have had that kind of pain on and off for a long time but it was much worse and lasted much longer then it had in the past.  A CT scan indicated a bowel obstruction, even though I had been having regular bowel movements.  Apparently things can get by an obstruction for a while before it is completely blocked.  Talk about pain.  They asked me to give it a number and I couldn't think of a number high enough.  My surgeon is following up and has ordered an upper GI with small bowel follow through to see what is going on.

The doctor just said hernia.. However, she did state that when people lose over 100 pounds in a fast manner, this can happen. So it may be.. A Nurse in the ER scolded me, because I was going to ignore it to see if it would go away, but my BF made me go thankfully. She told me she was not a fan of the RNY because of the complications. And that anyone that has had the RNY that has abdominal pain should never ignore it, and seek medical attention right away. Thanks for the info! Hope you feel better soon!

Any laparoscopic surgery can put you at risk and any abdominal surgery will cause adhesions, which is what most likely caused my obstruction.  I've had ten abdominal surgeries so it isn't surprising that this happened.

She is right about not ignoring major pain.  Pain is not normal and it is telling you that something is wrong.  Never ignore major pain.

I learned my lesson! :)

Yes. And yes. And a third time.  I am good for now. 

Oh my word! Did the pain feel similar each time, or did it vary? How long did it take for you to recover? And be able to eat normally? Is there any way to try and prevent them? Sorry for the twenty questions, but I am so nervous about it happening again... (I know the DR said that the risk is higher then people who have never had it, but it is still relatively small. But with my kind of luck..) :/ 

Most people have it one time, they doc fixes it and it is done... I was the unlucky one... Most likely you will be fine...  Mine first one was not fixed properly (I think) and almost right away I was in a very similar pain.  But I did not wanted have another surgery so I waited almost one year...  Eventually have another doc do a surgery and he found and fix a huge hernia. After that I was fine for at least 2 years.  The last surgery I had show a "fliped" intestines, and my doc fixed that.  Butto this day I am not sure if that was a cause of my discomfort.. or I develop food allergies... ( I am seeing a doc on Feb 11). 

Most people are fine afte rone surgery..  and eventually - you will be able to eat RNY normal...  

I think my food issues may be due to RNY or independent, and were there way before that, but the new anatomy makes it difficult for me to eat some foods...  

 

I had sudden belly pain today and i have an ulcer... it is all across my upper stomach even my pain meds were barely touching it... it's a little better now though.. good thing u got it checked!! I have another endoscopy on Tuesday to check on my ulcer.

I have a peptic ulcer as well.. So I can understand your pain there. The pain from the twisted intestine was on the left side underneath my chest. When my ulcer acts up, it's usually dead center where my pouch is. My stomach is a mess.. Cannot wait for everything to heal! Good luck on your next endoscopy!