Hi Everyone,

I have a question that I really need help with.....I'm 4 months post-op and things have been going well until 2 weeks ago. During thanksgiving dinner, I ate some extremely dry, overcooked ham and one brussel sprout. Later that night I start having some discomfort in my tummy. this quickly progressed to the most unbearable pain that was twisting my stomach and causing searing pains that radiated everywhere but especially on my right side. The 10/10 pain lasted about an hour but I had abdominal tendereness for 2 days following. I ended up in emerg and, after an ultrasound, the dr. could only determine that it was from what i ate that night. Now, as of tonight, the same thing has happened to me again!!! and it was just as painful as before. this time I had gone out for dinner with my girlfriend and ate some chicken and a few nachos. Then, at the movies, I ate some popcorn. I know, I know people are probably thinking "popcorn!" but i've been eating popcorn since week 7 with no problems at all (with my dr.'s permission)!!!

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what is going on? and, if it was the popcorn, then why now? I feel like I tolerated more foods back in the early post-op days and i'm getting scared that something is wrong.

I am so sorry to hear you are having so much pain and no one can seem to help you!! Can you call your surgeon who did the sleeve? That might be the only way you can get help. What about coming to the US? Not sure where you are in Canada or where you had your surgery done.

I will keep you in my prayers and send you some postive healing vibes and hope you get some answers SOON!! And get better soon!!! (((((HUGS)))))))

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR WELL WISHES!!! unfortunately, things did not go that well at the hospital. the dr. said that, although it sounds like gallbladder stones, there's only a 1% chance that the ultrasound was wrong (because it showed that there were no stones). and, due to me living in canada and the sleeve being unheard of here, he had no options for me except to go see my family dr. and my family dr. can search around for a surgeon that's specialized in the sleeve. well, the little problem remains that there is no one (that i know of) that is familiar with the sleeve!!! the emerg dr. also thought that it might be a stricture which, of course, is really bad news.

does anyone know of anyone else getting strictures? i'll keep everyone updated (although this may take months to get into a specialist!!!)

Im not sure where you are in canada, but if your near Buffalo N.Y. I highly recommend Dr Aaron Hoffman at Buffalo General Hospital, only about 10 min from the piece bridge. My prayers are with you, if you need his phone # let me know...vicki

Hi Everyone,

I contacted my sleeve dr last night, Dr. Alvarez (who is amazing!!), and he believes it to be gallbladder dyskineisa which is basically colic of the gb. AND i have all of the symptoms!! unfortunately, my family dr says that "we" need to find a surgeon near us that has some experience with my type of history so i have to look into that more. the good news is that my family dr. agreed with dr. alvarez and says it's not strictures-it's gallbladder related.

once again, thank you all for the amazing support-i'll keep you updated!!

Hi Everyone,

I contacted my sleeve dr last night, Dr. Alvarez (who is amazing!!), and he believes it to be gallbladder dyskineisa which is basically colic of the gb. AND i have all of the symptoms!! unfortunately, my family dr says that "we" need to find a surgeon near us that has some experience with my type of history so i have to look into that more. the good news is that my family dr. agreed with dr. alvarez and says it's not strictures-it's gallbladder related.

once again, thank you all for the amazing support-i'll keep you updated!!

Where in Canada are you? Maybe I can help you locate someone.

Also you can get "sludge" in the gallbladder that can cause problems but not necessarily be seen on ultrasound. It does sound like colicky spasm-type pain though. Biliary colic is not fun.. hope you feel better soon.

Yup gall bladders are tricky my mom kept complaining to her GP he tested everything was fine...she kept saying no im pretty sure thats what it is finally 3 weeks later she went to ER they got her right in and removed it and even though it tested fine it was terribly diseased and slimy stuck to her surrounding organs.

I am in British Columbia, BC. I live in a small town, Maple Ridge, that's about 1 hr from Vancouver.

After much researching, I have found a dr. that does the sleeve surgeries (i think) and i've also looked up some gastroenterologists. i'm going to try to get into my dr tomorrow. Unfortunately, I had ANOTHER attack tonight after my dinner (which was shrimp). thank goodness it only lasted an hr due to me taking pain meds the second i knew that it was starting again. This better clear up soon because i'm not sure how much more i can take!!

Interestingly enough, when i was telling my girlfriend today about my recent ordeals she said that her mom's (who had 2 weight loss surgeries done in the 80's) surgeon removed her gallbladder at the time of her 2nd wls because "gallbladder's don't like the tinier stomach's and like to act up after". i found that very interesting, so i'm going to try to find more info on that.

i'll keep you all updated!!!!

Well, I lost my gall bladder due to "dieting" and no WLS involved! About 12 years I ago I did Medifast (which at the time was an ALL liquid diet...you could ONLY get it through a drs. office becuase it required constant medical monitoring.) I did lose about 80 over the course of a year (the liquid part was about 8 months) and within 6 months of losing all that weight, the horrible pain began and I had my to have my gallbladder removed.

I was told it was a risk going into the diet, because as you lose weight your gall bladder just cannot process the extra cholesterol etc. that is being released by your fat cells. Therefore, the sludge builds up, and stones began to form, and the pain is a result from your body trying to "pass" the stone. That is why the pain comes and goes. The danger is that stones can get lodged in your system causing your body to fail and can be very dangerous.

I do not know about "surgery" itself being a catalyst, just the resulting weight loss from having surgery. At least that is my understanding.

At any rate, I do hope you find someone and FAST. You don't want to mess around with this any longer than you have to!

I believe that it is your gall bladder. I have had two bouts with mine both of them assoicated with pregancy. When the first one struck, it happened as you described night after night until the doctor was the only choice. They guy I went to was greeted by a women who had not sleep for three nights and not a happy camper. He sent me home with 2 cases of milk of magnesia and told me I had an ulcer. It took a couple weeks but I eventually improved. He had me convinced it was my stomach.

My second bout was in Canada where I was working at the time. The pain was excrutiating and I has not going to tough it like the last time so I went to the doctor straight away. He first gave me a pain killer and than a short bout of antibiotics. He said it was in inflammed gall bladder and he was right. Within hours I could function again.

The pain is a stabbing pain emminating from your back to front but it can hurt so bad it is hard to tell exactly where it is. Now if I get a sharp pain in my back after a meal I know it is my gall bladder. I do not believe I have ever had stones but and inflammed gall bladder is one of the most painful things ever and once it is upset, almost anything will set it off again.

I still have my gall bladder and am 10 days post surgery. I noticed a new dull ache in back after eating mushy stuff with meat. I went back to my cholesteral medicine, thanks to the posts on this blog because I believe my poor organ is trying to keep up with the changes I have put my body through and it has not been called upon to work hard so when it is it is in overdrive (a guess on my part). I hope that the medicine helps the overload situation and it does not progress to stones but who knows. It is really a journey of getting to know my innards again.

How are you doing now? You have my sympathy.