X post: Intestinal blockages- make more noise- SAVE YOUR LIFE

Thank you so much for this post!  Very informative, sorry you had to suffer so much but this information can save lives.

Best Regards,
Maxine

I am so sorry to hear what happened. I, too been upset from reading about Vicki's passing. It really makes you aware that THIS can happen to anyone of us. it did happen to my girlfriend as well. I am happy that her Dr did surgery and was able to save her. She had very bad pains in her stomach and she is not the kind of person to NOT just let it go. She digs deeper for the answers and to solve the problem. and she will do whatever it takes! She does not just ingore her problems and her Dr is well aware of this. She will be a pain in their butts if they do not attend to her right away. She told me to do the same and never ignore any pains that i have in the future. Again , Shari , i am so sorry that you had to go through this horrible pain and experience. You are a lucky lady. thank you for sharing your story.

hugss
Lizzy

It's sad that we have to pretty much become doctors to educate "doctors" on how to treat us! Remember - they Practice Medicine. I had a similar experience when I was having pain that was so bad my husband called the ambulance.

So here's a tip - if the pain is SO bad, go by ambulance. I have walked into the ER with the same level of pain, only to have to sit and wait. When you are brought in by ambulance, you are generally seen immediately!

First off Thank goodness you are here to tell your story.  Thank you for educating us.  I am going to talk to my husband about this tonight.  I hope and pray I am not that 1 out of 20 but like you said it can happen to any of us.  I want to be prepaired. 

Again I am soo sorry you had to go through all of this but I am soo thankful you are still here.

Thank you again

I want to add this caution to those with RNYs and DSs.

We have biliopancreatic limbs that are NOT part of the alimentary tract -- of course the DSers' bp limbs are a lot longer, so it is more likely that a blockage could occur in that limb -- and if we get a blockage in THAT limb, our symptoms would make the differential diagnosis a lot more confusing, because we would still be able to poop and fart. We need to be especially vocal about communicating that fact to the ER doctors, because they might not take that into account.

Thanks DianaI I did a search and found this. The link has more information. It is easy to see how this could be missed.

Introduction
 
The loop of bowel draining the biliary and exocrine pancreatic secretions after gastrointestinal surgery is termed the "biliopancreatic limb." The biliopancreatic limb is an afferent loop. However, in some types of abdominal surgery, such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, there are two afferent segments, one at the gastrojejunostomy and another at the jejunojejunostomy. To avoid confusion, many surgeons use the term biliopancreatic limb to describe the latter [1]. The biliopancreatic limb constructed in pancreatic surgery such as the Whipple procedure is anatomically different from the loop used in gastric surgery such as Billroth II and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (Figs. 1A and 1B). Obstruction of this loop is a rare but significant postoperative complication. Clinical diagnosis of this condition is difficult because symptoms such as nausea and postprandial fullness are common postsurgical complaints and nonspecific. Abdominal distention due to bowel obstruction is hard to discern in the morbidly obese after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The best preoperative imaging technique for assessing bowel obstruction is widely recognized as CT [2, 3], although even with CT, diagnosis is not always easy.

^{More Info here!}

http://www.ajronline.org/cgi/content/full/186/1/104
 

It sounds as if the medical community needs to open their eyes to this issue, since WE seems to know about the possible complication and do seek treatment only to be told you'll be fine or that it's something less serious. I knew Vickie, had several conversations with her and her husband about medical stuff....she researched 40 surgeons and had multiple consultations before she had her PS....she stayed in contact with her WLS...I'm sure she had his number and called him when things started happening....I think she was let down by the medical personnel, it's a very time sensative matter.

Thank you for sharing your story. Thank goodness you are here to share.

I went thru something similar just a few weeks ago. I woke up in terrible pain. Logically, I went to the ER. The ER did all the right tests -- CT scan with contrast, xrays, blood tests and they found nothing. Sent me home with pain pills and an appt with my surgeon for the next day. After 24 hours of the most horrible pain I've ever felt, my surgeon saw me, talk to me for a few minutes and sent me directly back to he hospital. He did exploritory surgery, found adhesions, a twisted intestine and 9 inches of gangrene in my intestines that had to be removed. Thank God my surgeon was experienced and skilled or I would not be here today.

I've done some research since then. About 60% of intestinal blockages are caused by adhesions. Adhesions occur in most surgeries although they don't always cause problems. Anyone who has ever had any type of adominal surgery is at risk for adhesions and intestinal blockages. In my case, it wasn't even my RNY that caused the adhesions. It was my hysterectomy that I had a couple years before my RNY surgery.

My daughter thinks it may be losing 100 pounds that caused my organs to start moving around and the adhesions started to cause problems at that point. It makes sense. In any case, I'm just glad I'm here.

This is what happened to my aunt in the ER.
She did die
She didnt have wls.

I am glad you made it.

I am so glad that you are alright. I also had a blockage. I started having pains in my stomach all the time. I just thought it was from spicy foods. I would go lay down and it would eventually stop hurting. This went on for several months. Then Jan 06 I started throwing up alot this went on for a couple of weeks so I went to the hospital they ran tests and said everything looks fine, and sent me home. Told me if it continues to go see my PCP so I did he wanted me to go have an upper GI but my insurance ran out so I could not go. I continued having all the pain and getting sick off and on. July 07 I was on vacation for my anniversary and got real ill started throwing up and ran a high fever I thought I had the flu. We cut it short and came home. I kept on every day getting sicker and sicker, after 6 days of this I told my husband please take me to the ER. They ran some tests and said we are going to put in a tube to see what is in your stomach (by the way I had a large internal lump all this time) out came lots of bile they admitted me and said I needed surgery. I ended up having a blockage and a hernia.

So you do not need to have had surgery to have this happen. Like everyone has said yell if you have to. To think I could have died too. Sue