Question:
4 wks post op severe abdominal pain

Has anyone any experience with this? I am 4 weeks post op. I have abdominal pain that is severe off and on. I have no fever, can go to the bathroom fine and no vomiting. The pain is in the area of my pouch. It has been 3 days and is not going away. I called the surgeon and they thought that it sounded like I had food lodged in my pouch(not the opening). I was eating some chicken jerky and was distracted and swallowed it before it was fully chewed. Instant pain, same kind of feeling. The doctor suggested drinking carbonated pop to try to dislodge it...no luck. They said they have had patients with food lodged as long as 3 weeks. Evidently there is not the same acids in the pouch to dissolve poorly chewed food as in our original stomachs...has anyone experienced this or has any tips....??? It is extremely painful and scary! Thanks everyone    — Joelle B. (posted on March 15, 2002)

March 14, 2002
Have you tried a little meat tenderizer dissolved in warm water? That might soften things up a little. Sure sounds better then having somebody go in to fetch it! If you try it, let me know if it works. I haven't gotten anything stuck yet but you never know . . .
   — ctyst

March 15, 2002
I hate to say it, but if a person is having 3 weeks of something being stuck,That is not normal and they need an endoscopy...long before that. I think that if its over a day, you need to be checked out and perhaps need to retrive the lodged food by an endoscopy procedure. No offense, but I think your doctor should be more concerned. Good Luck!
   — ZZ S.

March 16, 2002
original poster here. The lodged food finally passed on the 4th day with my daily carbonated pop. I feel much better but a little weak from only having liquids the last few days. Weird side light, Pre-op I was a pop-a-holic...now it tasted so bad! Yippee.... Thanks for the support and tips.
   — Joelle B.