Question:
I think I have a stricture.
I threw up yesterday for 8 hours straight, and 5 hours the day before. Went to my surgeon today, he wanted to admit me right away-but I asked if I could wait till tomorrow. He was concerned about dehydration, and possibly a stricture. I'm 4 weeks out, and have increasing difficulty eating anything and taking my pills. Tell me everything you know (or have personally experienced) about strictures. Thanks. — Cathy S. (posted on February 27, 2003)
February 27, 2003
I had Lap RNY on Nov.26, 2002 and on December 28, 2002, I thought I had
gotten some fish stuck. I burped & felt fine. I had been noticing
that whatever I ate would feel like it was getting stuck but after a few
minutes, it would go down & I would feel better. On this day, I felt
fine for about 2 hours. I then started having a burning sensation in my
stomach along with cramping. After about 45 minutes, I threw up and my
night of hell started. For 14 hrs this pattern continued. At first, I
would feel relief after vomitting, but after about the 2nd time...the
burning & cramping was continuous. We called the dr about 4 hrs into
this and he said that I could come to the hospital & have my stomach
pumped & an upper GI done or stay at home & not eat or drink for at
least 12 hrs then see how I felt. Of course, I opted to stay at home. The
dr called at 8:30 the morning of the 29th to see how I was & when he
found out that I had been vomitting all night long (every 40-45 minutes),
he said to come straight to the emergency room. They put in an IV and did
an upper GI and found that where they had run my intestines through a hole
they made in my colon to reattach to my new pouch, a stitch that was
supposed to keep the intestine intact had pulled loose and about 6 inches
of my intestines had loop through & knotted up. I had emergency lap
abdominal surgery through the same scars from the RNY. I was in the
hospital for 2 days (same as my rny) and the recovery was about the same.
In the hospital, they had me back on a liquid diet, but once home, the dr
said I could pick up where I had left off. Of course, I was scared to
death to eat anything! I still won't eat fish! I had had fish 3 times in
the 2 days before my sick spell!! I HATE FISH NOW! Please have the dr
check you out! I feel your pain, but after getting it fixed...you will
feel so much better! God bless & good luck!
— leighsme
February 27, 2003
At 4 weeks out you are a prime candidate!! I had 2 strictures, you can
read more about them on my profile. I know its miserable, but there is
relief in sight!
— Cheri M.
February 28, 2003
Don't wait before checking it out! Do it now! It may not be a stricture,
which can wait, but something much different. As an early post-op, I
started vomiting everything that went in my mouth to include water. Got
very dehydrated very quickly, rushed to the emergency room and it turned
out I had a kinked bowel caused by a hernia. Then I had to have an open
surgery to repair. So, please, don't mess with it. Determine if it is a
stricture or something more serious right away.
— Cindy R.
February 28, 2003
My weight was slowed because of the striture I had. Get it taken care of
right now. I had problems with chicken and most meats from around 3 to 8
weeks post op. Eating was becoming an obligation that I'd rather not
fulfill, but I had to. I was calling my surgeons nurse every other week.
They kept telling me things like, "oh, that's normal" and
"everyone heals differently". I knew what I was going through
wasn't normal, I was experiencing pains that I never experienced pre op.
But I decided to be patient and let my healing take its course. The
condition seemed to worsen, food begin to stick in my esophagus no matter
how small of a bite I took, especially chicken. Not only that, I begin to
develop severe cramps in my back and abdomen. I got the feeling it was
intestinal, but I'm not a doctor so I couldn't be sure. Again, I called my
surgeons nurse, she asked me if I was throwing up, I told her no, because I
wasn't at that point, so he(my surgeon) diagnosed that I was having muscle
spasms and prescribed 3 different medications. The spasms or cramps dulled
in intensity, but still remained. Finally, I began to throw up 5 days in a
row, it was only then that an upper endoscopy was ordered by my surgeon and
it was discovered that I had developed an ulcer or stricture around the
opening of my small intestine that was attached to the new pouch. The
procedure was quick and painless. And guess what? I could eat chicken
without any problems for the first time since my surgery!!
— aprilbaree
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