Still learning the hard way!

As a few of you know, I learned another lesson the hard way this week! I ended up in the hospital emergency room Monday evening with severe abdominal pain (nothing to do with my recent plastic surgery). We thought it might be food poisoning, but since I never had diarreha, the doctors think something I ate, probably what I sampled at the grocery store Monday afternoon, just did not agree with me and did not want to pass through my intestines without a fight. About 4 pm I started to have abdominal pain & it came in waves across my belly, then about 4:30 the dry heaves started. Both went on for hours!! By the time Hubby got home I was ready to go to the hospital and we left to go to the ER about 5:45. I have never hurt like that before!! No surgery, labor pain, nothing compares to the pain I was in!! On a pain scale of 1 to 10, this was a 9.9. I passed out from the pain several times in the ER waiting room. We called Dr. Sieloff (my gastric bypass surgeon) but he was in surgery (he came to see me as soon as he was out) so I went to the emergency room at TMH. After waiting a while (about an hour) and being the person everyone in the waiting room hates b/c I was moaning & hollering from the pain and wretching into a trash can, I was taken to an ER examining room. The ER dr. sent me for a CT scan to see if I had an obstruction (did not), but b/c I was in such pain & wretching so violently they gave me some really good drugs for pain & nausea. After seeing the CT scan the ER doc & Dr. Sieloff wanted to keep me overnight for observation and to be sure they had the pain & neausa under control. It was after 11pm when I got into my room. Unfortunately, after I got to my room they discovered that the narcotic pain meds worked too well and were repressing my respiration to the point that I was only breathing 5 times a minute! Not good! So they gave me something to counteract the pain meds which made me more alert, and breathing more normally but also brought the pain back. It was weird, for an hour or so every time I'd rouse up enough to open my eyes, there was a nurse sitting by my bed with her face on the bed rail, watching me breathe. After they got my breathing back to normal, they gave me something less potent for the pain and I did fine. Dr. Sieloff ordered an Upper GI X-ray series yesterday. They took me down about 12:30 and I was in Radiology until almost 3pm. I stayed in the hospital until after the results from that were in (no partial obstructions & pouch looked fine) and I got a tray of liquids to eat for supper. Once I "ate" my liquids and kept everything down without pain, they released me to come home. We got home about 7:30 last night. I'm feeling fine today, just have a very tender & sore tummy from the wretching and the radiologist poking & prodding yesterday during the Uppper GI. (I got to watch the flouroscope as the radiologist pushed on my belly - very cool!! The barium moving around in my intestines looked like a lava lamp.) I'm on "soft" foods today and go back to my regular diet tomorrow but I can live with that. I'm just glad to be home! I also learned that the tests showed that even at 18 months post-op my pouch is still about the same size as after my RNY and so is the stoma (opeining into the small intestines). The reason I can eat more now is that the pouch is stretchier than it was immediately post-RNY and the intestines are more efficient at processing the food. I was amazed at how quickly the pouch emptied after drinking the barium contrast medium for the Upper GI X-rays. Of course that is a "heavy" liquid but it does explain why I can eat more now. Dr. Sieloff assured me my pouch & opening have not "stretched out" or enlarged and I'm doing fine. I just need to be careful about what I eat. (I thought I was being careful, but apparently, not careful enough!) I'm a little apprehensive that all the violent wretching has undone some of my plastic surgeon's wonderful work so I'll be glad to see him next Wed. I'm hoping he will reassure me that everything still looks fine and that I didn't do any damage. Hubby had also called him on Monday, but he assured us that nothing he had done would cause that kind of intestinal pain or nausea. His office manager called yesterday to check on me (he was in surgery) and was relieved to hear that I was feeling better and coming home. They are soooo nice!! So the moral of this story is: do NOT sample food at the grocery store b/c even though I read the ingredients before I ate anything, apparently something (Hubby thinks it was the cooked noodles, I'm guessing the ground pork) did not agree with my new "innards" at all. LESSON LEARNED!! Well - I've been sitting up long enough, so I'm heading back to the recliner for some more R & R (rest & recuperation). Vickie J.

Well, that sounds like a fun (LOL) way to spend a few days ! I hope whatever you did, you do not do again...And it sounds to me that while it was not "caused" by recent surgery, it probably did add to the stress on your body. Seriously, I am glad you are better, and hope you get stronger and stronger...DeAnna.

Thanks DeAnna! I'm just glad it is over!! I will be much more careful about what I eat, especially if I'm not at home. I don't want something like this to happen again. I think you're right, it has definately added stress to my healing body. I've been so tired and washed out since I got back from the hospital that I'm just hanging out in the recliner. I'll be glad to see my ps next week just to be reassured that everything is OK. Thanks again for your well wishes. Vickie J.

Oh My Goodness! I'm so glad to hear you're feeling better~you went thru quite an ordeal! Tracy B 328/150 5'9"

Tracy, Thanks for your kind thoughts. I just hope it doesn't happen again - I'm definately going to be more careful about what I eat, especially if I'm not at home! Vickie J.