Question:
Question about belly pain... 2.5 weeks out lap Roux-en Y...

I'm having some belly pain, it's kind of strange. Feels like a stomach ache, but it only happens when my belly's empty, if I eat anything, a spoon full of yogurt, pudding, oatmeal, etc it goes away almost immediately, and will stay away for up to 2 hours, then it returns. Is this just my insides healing? I've also found that taking Gas-X helps, but the odd thing is this doesn't feel like gas pain. It's very strange... it just feels like a tummyache. Did anyone else experience this?    — Kimberly J. (posted on November 25, 2003)

November 25, 2003
Don't hesitate to call your doctor's office and ask them about it. Always ask them about medical issues and pain. While there is a lot of great support on this site, it is no subsitute for professional medical advice.
   — Patricia T.

November 25, 2003
I called yesterday, I spoke with the nurse who is speaking with the surgeon today and will get back to me. Unfortunately, I called late in the day yesterday so I wasn't able to get a response yesterday. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. My husband had something similiar when he had his, so I was wondering if this is normal or if we're both experiencing something different
   — Kimberly J.

November 26, 2003
I had some pain like this at first, too. I told my doc's physician's assistant about it at the time, and was told it was pretty normal post-op stuff. As time went on, I think I realized at some point that this is how I was experiencing hunger at that point. It was definitely not like pre-op hunger, and I wasn't sure at first what I was feeling. My pain didn't return at 2 hours, though. It was usually longer than that, like 4 hours or so. I remember using a lot of Mylanta at that stage as well, since I was doing quite a bit of burping and had uncomfortable, gassy feelings. After about 3-4 weeks post-op, all of that stuff had gone away. Good luck to you!
   — Carlita

December 2, 2003
Well, oddly enough I'm not getting that pain anymore, so it must have been a part of the natural healing process... now it's moved on to something different. Now I have pain when I eat, anything. The first few bites are very painful, I have to sit after each bite and wait for some air to work it's way up (sorry, kind of gross). Once I burp I take another bite, then the same thing... after three or 4 times, I'm fine and I can finish eating. It's kind of weird. Oh well, I've never had any kind of abdominal surgery before so this whole thing is a learning process for me.
   — Kimberly J.