Back in to see my surgeon today about my abdominal pain.

Earlier I posted about me going into the ER on Friday with abdominal pains. Well since then I have been home & not eating much all weekend. So last night I made a pan of some mini quiches & ate 2 of them & started feeling like I was going be sick. Finally it eased up & I had some water & I had the same sick feeling & it took forever to feel good enough to be able to lay down & go to sleep. This morning I tried to have some pintos for breakfast & the same thing happened again & also with water again. So I go into work & called my surgeons office to make an appointment. They scheduled me an appointment at 3:20 then called me back saying they want me in there now. So I go & the PA examines me then checks my CAT scan from Friday night & then consults with my surgeon who came up after he was done in surgery. They said it could possibly be a few things. 1) Muscle pain 2) Ulcer 3)adhesions that have kinked off some of my intestines 4) constipation. They want me to rest & take it easy over the next  couple of weeks & see how it goes. He asked me how much do I eat & I said anywhere from 3/4c. to a cup depending on what it is. He said he never wants a patient to know how much they can eat. He wants us to measure 1/2c & stop there & eat 1/2 like 5-6 times a day. Does that sound right to ya'll? He asked me how I know how much I eat & I said because I measure. I was like baffled. I told him I thought I was to start gradually eating more up to a cup by a year & apparently he does not think so. He said I'm forcing too much food through those small intestines. I dunno, I'm just kind of stunned at the moment. He said if things have not gotten better or get worse then we will do an endoscopy to check for an ulcer. I feel frustrated.

Have you tried eating smaller amounts to see if that helps? 

I have barely eaten anything all weekend. Even just sipping water makes it hurt & the feeling of throwing up. We are going to try the decreasing of intake & see how things go.  I know on the CAT scan they said I had alot of stool in my colon. I do go regularly every other day at least. I take 4 stool softeners a day & a laxative on Fridays to get things kind of cleared out more over the weekend. I took a laxative after I came home from the ER Friday night & another dose on Saturday which I did go quite a bit but not as much as I thought I should of considering the amount of laxative I had taken. I do have bathroom issues. My stools have gotten really large around & I do poop a lot usually & it doesn't want to flush almost every time I'm having to plunge the toilet. So I dunno what's going on.

It is common for people -- WLS or not -- to show a significant amount of stool on a CT scan.  It just means you are a bit constipated, which may or may not be contributing to your abdominal pain.  I had four CT scans in the 18 months I was fighting my mystery abdominal pain, and on two of them there was a significant amount of stool present, but both times the ER doctor assured me that it was normal with mild to moderate constipation. If your stool is very dense, you are probably not getting enough fiber and fat in your diet.

Lora

I hope you feel better soon.  I know for me I suffer from constipation and more than once I had such severe pain I thought about going to the ER.  I now take 4 colace w/ stool softener a day to keep as regular as I can.   Best of luck and keep us posted.

I too take 4 stool softeners a day. If I don't then its not good for me in the bathroom.  I also take a dose of laxative every Friday after work too. Thanks for the support. It's just frustrating.

No, the amount of food doesn't sound right to me.  Can you get in enough protein and calories eating only half a cup of food (even if you eat 6 times a day)?  I can't, unless I eat nothing but protein at every single meal (and that wouldn't last long... and this is about developing eating habits that you can continue long term).  At almost a year out, the amount that you told your surgeon you were eating is much more realistic, more appropriate IMO, and more sustainable.  Personally, based on times when I have not eaten much for several days for various reasons (and the amount I ate would probably work out to be about half cup meals), I would be lethargic and struggling to get enough protein in.  You are not "forcing" food through your intestines!!  That is a ridiculous thing for him to say.  Your intestines were designed to process the amount of food you could (reasonably) eat with your natural stomach and that is a hell of a lot more than a cup of food!

The surgeon can suggest whatever he wants, and throw out all sorts of nonsense to try to scare you, but HE is not the one who has to live with your meal plan forever, YOU do. 

Lora

Thanks Lora! When we were leaving I must of had a look on my face because my husband asked me why I was looking that way & if it wasn't what I wanted to hear. I never want to hear oh yeah you have major problems & we need to open you up & take a look but I don't want a bunch of BS thrown at me either the way I think he was doing it. He literally acted like he didn't know what the heck he was talking about. He even asked me if I would believe him if he thought it was muscle related & I said probably not since I feel sick when I eat or drink & that would not explain that at all. I dunno. I may have to look into a different surgeon. I'm really not satisfied with what I got today from him.1/2c. of food for life, I felt like telling him to get a life.

Wow! I hope you're feeling better! I also had my surgery done in fargo and think your doctor didn't have an answer for you so tried to scare you into one or something. Right out of surgery they brought me a ton of food and told me to sit and eat until I ate it all. I didn't because it was a pudding cup, ground meat, ground veggies and a protein shake. Way way too much food, more like a cup all together! How would he explain that?

Yeah, I'm not sure. I think he is the newest to the group & thinks I'm dumb or something. I have news for him, I've done my research & can't be thrown some BS & think I'll go for it just to get me out the door because he doesn't know whats going on. I'd rather he say I'm not sure whats going on but lets give it a few weeks to see how things go. I'm not happy with what I did get. Kinda scary that gave you that much food right out of surgery. I'd be like forget you! Lol How have you been doing?