Be Diligent!
I have not been on here for a very long time. My surgery was back in 2012 and I have since reached my goal. I am back tonight to warn others not to forget to take care of yourselves and be diligent about your body. I had my gallbladder removed approx 4 months after my bypass surgery. Then last summer I had a hernia repair and exploratory surgery for cramping and pain. The hernia never showed up on any tests. But it kept hurting and surgeon was willing to take a peek anyways. Glad he did. It was the worst surgery ever. It hurt so bad and it seemed to take forever to get to feeling good. It hurt so bad that when I started cramping and having pain again over last winter, I was reluctant to say anything and ignored what I could. It slowly got worse. It got to the point where it hurt everyday and the cramps were everyday. To the point of causing me to double over. I finally went to my surgeon at the start of June this year. He did all the usual tests. Ultrasound, CT etc. Nothing showed up. Then he wanted to do a scope and look for an ulcer. I explained no blood or black stool, and there was nothing that seemed to cause it to hurt like being hurngry or eating. He decided it was prob adhesions and scheduled surgery for adhesions and exploratory to see what else might be going on. It was sup to be quick half hour surgery, outpatient style. Well, surgery lasted an hour and a half. And I spent the night in the hospital. He said he knew something was wrong right away when got in there. My remnant stomach was swollen and so was my small bowel. I had two hernias. One of which my bowel was looped through and partially blocked. If it had twisted and I ignored the pain I could have lost part of me bowel. Or it could have killed me. He also removed some scar tissue/adhesions. Please do not ignore things like I did. No matter how far out you are. And this surgery was nothing. I was up and moving around like normal in a few days. No lifting of course. But it did not hurt anything like the last one did. Be aware of your body. And if something is wrong, let your Dr know. If they cant find anything, demand they keep looking. Opt for exploratory surgery if needed. Neither of the hernias or swollen remnant stomach or even the partial bowel obstruction showed up on any tests. I feel stupid for waiting as long as I did.