Gastric remnant was the cause of the horrible pain

Just got home from a week in the hospital (3rd time in the last month due to severe upper left quadrant pain).  Surgeon did exploratory lap Monday evening and found that the gastric remnant was filled with fluid and not draining like it should so I ended up with a GT (YUCK) to drain the area.  All of my sx resolved now that the area has had a chance to empty.  In 4 weeks she will go in and scope the gastric remnant to see if there is an issue there.  I guess there is really no other way to visualize it?  She says she has never seen it before and not much in the literature.  I do hope she figures out a long term solution because this GT is NOT GOING to stay in longer than the four weeks.  It is pretty painful and not a way I want to live.  Not to mention I can not work like this either.  Whoever says GBS is the easy way out???

Bless your heart, you have been through the ringer.  I wish you nothing but the best and a speedy healing process with an answer to your problem FAST.  Easy way out.. yeah right.

That's horrible...I'm so glad they discovered the problem and so glad you posted it here. Please keep us posted on what they find. I'm sort of thinking the reverse end stricture? I mean the top can close up for no apparent reason, why not the bottom? So good to know. Thanks!

I sure hope you feel better.

I'm so happy for you, that they finally discovered what was wrong!

But I guess I'm being a little dense today.  What is the gastric remnant?  The left over stomach?  What causes it to fill with fluid?  And is the GT like the drain after surgery?  I hated that thing!  It got stuck and removing it was really painful!

No way is GBS easy!

Michele

Thanks so much to everyone for there kinds words of support!  Here I am thinking I am posting so that others can learn from my experience and in turn I get many reaching out to me to offer kind words of healing and hope....things I have been a bit short on lately.  The good news is that the tube they put in to drain has alleviated ALL of the symptoms.  The bad news is the tube is defintiely not a long term solution for me.  It is just too painful to tolerate for long.   

I'm sooo sorry to hear of your discomfort and hope that they are able to determine the cause and resolve it for you soon.

Barb

hello, I am going thru the same thing right now, I have had the G Tube in place since 2/1/2011 I too had left sided pain which radiated to the back, then it seems that at first it did alevate the symptoms, then I start to get this pressure type pain , like burning cold, like when your IV infiltrates fluid going into the tissues instead of the vein. This pain comes and goes. I have had almost every test that they can do. I did have Surgery set up for 4/6/2011 to explore or take the remnant stomach. What happen to your situation.

So sorry to hear you are sick Sandi.  I hope the surgery on the 6th gives you an answer.  I ended up with  the GT in for about a month and then once it was out a bit of a struggle to get back to eating normally.  I was good for 2 years and then just had another bout of that double you over, take your breath away type of pain.  This time it was intussuception (partial bowel obstruction).  I didn't have to have surgery this time.  It resolved on its own but I have come to accept that I will have difficulty from time to time.  Keep in touch.  When I was sick I was at a very low point thinking I would never get better and this forum and a few others going thru the same thing were a lifeline to me. 

Thank you for your response, I am at that point where I am so frustrated, that I go from so high to so low, I keep thinking I since I have had this g tube in place the pain is worse or I should say different. I keep thinking its the tube inside but my docs don't think so. Now did you have your stomach remnant remove? If so how are you feeling these days. The pain I feel now is like when you have an IV in place and the fluid is going into your tissues outside the vein instead of in the vein and with alot of pressure burning/cold type of pain. Lower abdomin, and lower back. How long were you into your second bout of partiel bowel obstruction before it resolved on its own. I just want to go back to normal whatever that is.

I remember that roller coaster Sandi very well.  I got very depressed and thought here is my punishment for having GB surgery.  It was a terrible time for me.  The GT is a horrible thing...the pain from that I thought was worse than what I was suffering with and I don't think I would ever agree to do that again having experienced it now. I didn't need to have the remnant removed.  I am doing okay these days and have learned to read my body's signals and when I am getting into trouble (i.e what the new normal is).  I finally got better over time but I honestly don't know what helped to get me there.  I stopped going to the doctor since I was only getting sicker and took myself off of all the various medications they were trying and little by little added food back and learned what I could tolerate and what did not agree.  I was out of work for about 3 months which also was very stressful.  I am well now but am very mindful of my pouch, gut, etc and when things are not right.  The last partial obstruction pain was 20 out of 10 for more than an hour at home so I had to go to the ED.  It took about 3 days before I could begin to drink again and then another few days to get back to soft foods.  It is very difficult when we know something isn't right but they can't pinpoint the cause.  I felt like a hypochondriac and tried to convince myself it was all in my head and to just get a grip!  The sad part is though there really was something wrong and it took some time to have my symptoms validated.  That was the biggest relief of all to know ah ha!! There is a physical cause and I am not crazy!