Bowel Obstruction

Im glad they found what it was right away.  Im 3 months out from my bowel obstruction, and feel so lucky to be alive.  Unlike you I was having some pain about a month before, little burning in the lower stomach.  The ER doctor said it was my gallbladder after an ultrasound, so my surgeon said to have that scheduled to be taken out.  One day the pain was so severe I had no choice but go to the ER, but once I got to the hospital I went straight down stairs to my surgeons office instead.  I knew something was wrong and didnt need an ER doctor but my surgeon. Of course his residents didnt want to take my pain seriously.  Once they called my surgeon to tell them what was going on  and that I was crying, he told them to take me seriously since knowing Ive been though 4 surgeries with him already and knows I dint cry with pain.   After the CT scan they rushed me into surgery.  I ended up with a complete rupture, so if I had gone an hour longer they said I would have been dead.   Its so scary, but yes we need to always listen to our bodies right away.   I lost a good portion of my bowl, they said if they took any more I would most likely be on a colonoscopy bag the rest of my life.  It sure is scary, and Im always on guard of every feeling I have in my body.   I hope someday I can overcome my fear of something else happening, but since last July I can count this to 5 major surgeries for me now.  

I hope you get on the mend soon.  You dont have all the extra risks of infections like I got because you didnt have a rupture and Im sure you didnt have an open but lap site instead.   Just take it easy, and listen to your body.   Good luck.

Aimee

Aimee...I am overwhelmed reading your story.  I am so sorry you went through this.  If you have not posted this already, please do.  It is our collective experiences that help ohers.

My surgeon mentioned prior to taking me in the possibility existed it could be an open surgery and bowel resection.  I was fortunate.  My bowel was not compromised to that extent.

The burning is interesting.  Was it when you had a bowel movement, when you ate, when you exercised or no particular time?  I do not drive, so thank goodness I was not home alone at the time.

 I am afraid to eat solid food.  I have been drinking shakes the past two days.  I ate some baked sweet potato yesterday, but was too nervous about that and decided to stick to my shakes.

What you experienced is the extreme, and thank God you did not end up with the worse case scenario.  As I said, you should tell you story because there are many, I would imagine, who are not fully aware of the extent and rapidity of this complication.

I had already posted about this when it happened.  It sure is scary.  I got this burning after I ate.  Thats what made them think it was my gallbladder, since it is full of stones but not inflamed.   So they gave me some good pain meds while this was going on.  It wasnt till the day of that pain was unbearable, like you say worse than child birth.  I didnt cry because of pain when I was in labor, like I did with this pain.  

I didnt eat solid foods for a couple of weeks.  Well I was in the hospital for a week after the surgery, and they didnt progress me to solids till my last day, and I still couldnt handle it.  It wasnt till I got home from the second surgery ( about a week and a half after that) I had to have to remove an abscess infection that was to deep for them to get to non surgically.    Im sure I got an infection easily because I had su****hat day for lunch.  Like you I just thought it was some bad food I ate.  My surgeon said he tried to rinse out all the matter he could, but risk of infection is so high with a rupture.   He said he could tell I had something green to eat.   But it took a while to not be sensitive to foods again.  I was getting sick easily by things I had eaten just fine after my RNY.   It took time, and still I cant have to sweet of things.  My tastes have changed since the obstruction, I dont think they will ever be the same.  I used to love sweet tea, well with splenda its a kind you buy already made.  But now Its way to sweet.   So I had to come up with new staples of food for my protein.  

Thank you for all your input.  It is very helpful.

Glad you got it fixed and are home on the mend.

Liz

Thank you Liz

Hi Dasie,

Its great to here that your physically doing better, hope the mental aspects catch up. 
Question, do you know if this is more common for DS and RNY or is the rate of occurance the same for all WLS?

I have dealt with IBS my entire life so I'm not sure how the pain would be different? 

I don't know.  I suspect it would be the same.  From what I have read, anyone who has undergone abdominal surgery is at greater risk due to scar tissue, etc. even if they are a non WLS patient.  I also do not know anything about IBS.  I would do research and definitely talk to your surgeon.  I think DS and RNY are at greater risk due to the nature of our surgeries.  But I'm not a health care professional, so that is my guess.

Great thanks, after two c sections, hysterectomy, and now the sleeve, never know what one would cause it :)

 I'm so glad you're ok and got excellent care at the ER and the hospital where your surgeon is. It is so important for us to be able to recognize the signs and be able to communicate with medical folk. Take care and take it easy.

--gina