Necrotic bowel?? (tmi possibly)
This situation with Penny has me totally freaked out!
How does this happen? What exactly are the signs? How do we tell a doctor to check for something like this?
I have had plenty of issues with my bowel with constipation. Even ended up in emerge one time I thought I was constipated and the other time, I had NO idea because I go every day. Things have been a little better for me lately, since I added a probiotic in the morning and more fibre to my menu plan.
I also have recently learned about family history of bowel issues (my grandmother has diverticulosis and my grandfather just had a colostomy in January).
How does this happen? What exactly are the signs? How do we tell a doctor to check for something like this?
I have had plenty of issues with my bowel with constipation. Even ended up in emerge one time I thought I was constipated and the other time, I had NO idea because I go every day. Things have been a little better for me lately, since I added a probiotic in the morning and more fibre to my menu plan.
I also have recently learned about family history of bowel issues (my grandmother has diverticulosis and my grandfather just had a colostomy in January).
this is something i'm going to be doing some research on, Leanne. I'm incredibly freaked out too. I don't think that this is an incredibly common complication, but something that we do need to be aware of. I'm having my one year follow up with my surgeon on March 8, and i will be asking him about this, specifically. I want to know if there are any routine tests we could have done that would alert someone to something going wrong, before it gets that far. I will also be asking my family doctor about this.
Diverticulosis is a common thing, especially in older people. (its basically pockets in your bowel where its lost its elasticity (think of an old pair of socks) where the stool can collect)
Diverticulosis is a common thing, especially in older people. (its basically pockets in your bowel where its lost its elasticity (think of an old pair of socks) where the stool can collect)
This is a pretty rare complication, in WLS patients it would arise from a twisted or kinked bowel, or intussussception or some other form of blockage, or possibly a hernia, any of which can lead to the blood supply being cut off in part of the intestine if the problem goes untreated. The part no longer getting blood basically dies and becomes necrotic and then infection spreads and sepsis can set in and it becomes deadly.
Something like 1.5% of RNYers will have some kind of kink or blockage in the long-term, and hernias are common, but complications from hernias are very rare. Usually these can be discovered and treated surgically. Even necrosis can be treated surgically with great success (75% survival) if it is caught early enough.
The main sign is pain, especially after eating/drinking. You might also have vomitting, or a distended belly from infection or fluid accumulation, and constipation or bloody stool.
I was looking through Penny's old posts and there was one from December where she describes terrible pain after an indulgence, but she mistook it for dumping. So sad to read that now.
Something like 1.5% of RNYers will have some kind of kink or blockage in the long-term, and hernias are common, but complications from hernias are very rare. Usually these can be discovered and treated surgically. Even necrosis can be treated surgically with great success (75% survival) if it is caught early enough.
The main sign is pain, especially after eating/drinking. You might also have vomitting, or a distended belly from infection or fluid accumulation, and constipation or bloody stool.
I was looking through Penny's old posts and there was one from December where she describes terrible pain after an indulgence, but she mistook it for dumping. So sad to read that now.
I was googling for information and came across a ver interesting OH post. I hope I'm not stepping on anyones toes by posting this, but the tone of the post is one where I believe the original poster wants to get the word out.
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/3673440/X-post-Intest inal-blockages-make-more-noise-SAVE-YOUR-LIFE/
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/3673440/X-post-Intest inal-blockages-make-more-noise-SAVE-YOUR-LIFE/
Sandy
"The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up"
Mark Twain 
About five weeks ago, I started having mega pain in my stomach.. was a different feeling than dumping. I could still eat however I could not stand up straight and bowels were either the runs or nothing... I went to ER and they ran a bunch of tests all came back NORMAL... yah right.. okay time to head to Guelph to the surgeon.
The surgeon did not like the pain level I was having and decided to do a CT scan.. God love him!! I assumed they were going to tell me it was bad gas pains.. however, the surgeon told me that I have bowel intussecption.. there were three pieces of small intestine that needed to be removed surgically as they were showing up on the CT scan as being a problem.. I do not know if this is the same thing as a necrotic bowel.. I do know that I had to have small intestine resection due to parts of bowel growing into other part and thus cutting off blood supply. I do not know all the technical ins and outs but was told that this is a very rare occurrence usually seen in kids under 5.
My heart goes out to this family. I was in complete tears when I read Freakie Chick's story. Again, I am not sure what I had was the same thing, but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up if you are in severe pain and your local ER cannot find anything... GO BACK OR AT LEAST CALL your surgeon's office... I have had three surgeries in three years,
1/ RNY
2/ gallbladder
3/ small bowel resection
I love my surgeon and the staff at the bariatric clinic. Just be aware of your body and keep an eye on symptoms.
Hope I helped somewhat...
The surgeon did not like the pain level I was having and decided to do a CT scan.. God love him!! I assumed they were going to tell me it was bad gas pains.. however, the surgeon told me that I have bowel intussecption.. there were three pieces of small intestine that needed to be removed surgically as they were showing up on the CT scan as being a problem.. I do not know if this is the same thing as a necrotic bowel.. I do know that I had to have small intestine resection due to parts of bowel growing into other part and thus cutting off blood supply. I do not know all the technical ins and outs but was told that this is a very rare occurrence usually seen in kids under 5.
My heart goes out to this family. I was in complete tears when I read Freakie Chick's story. Again, I am not sure what I had was the same thing, but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up if you are in severe pain and your local ER cannot find anything... GO BACK OR AT LEAST CALL your surgeon's office... I have had three surgeries in three years,
1/ RNY
2/ gallbladder
3/ small bowel resection
I love my surgeon and the staff at the bariatric clinic. Just be aware of your body and keep an eye on symptoms.
Hope I helped somewhat...
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