Hello friends,

I am just over a year post sleeve.

I have been having a lot of pain issues since my colon resection in 2015 and other abdominal surgeries on top of that over the past 2 years have only added to the pain. I already know from my surgeon whom I see on a regular basis that my lower abdominal pain is caused by lots of scar tissue and adhesions.

Over the past few months, I have been to the ER a few times, with severe abdominal pain that comes and goes. It is usually in the mid section. Nothing is found with scans or x rays. However, about a month ago, I started having severe pain higher up in the abdomen in the middle part above the belly button and running up under my left ribs. I called my surgeon's office and they said they were concerned about my gallbladder, even though the pain was on the left side and not the right side. So on Nov 22, they sent me to the ER. CT scan, x rays, bloodwork and ultrasound of gallbladder and pancreas. The ER doctor told me that all looked ok and he thought I might have a duodenal ulcer. Followed up with my surgeon and he said that he wanted me to go see my gastro and get an endoscopy scheduled.

Saw my gastro doc yesterday and she said she really doesn't think it's an ulcer and didn't want to do the endoscopy (had one done in March this year). I have been on antacid since sleeve surgery. Gastro doc had the h. pylori blood test done yesterday, that came back negative. So she told me that ultrasounds are not always conclusive enough on their own to determine gallbladder issues. She went over the ER results and did see that notes were made that there was some shadowed spots that they noted as possible polyps, but she said they could even be small gallstones. She said that she wanted me to go for a HIDA scan. I had never even heard of one before. She explains things thoroughly, and I really thought it was a good idea. I need to get to the bottom of this "new" upper pain that comes and goes. I feel like the ER people think I'm crazy, I've been there so many times.

Can anyone relate in some way to my story?

Or, have any of you had a "normal" ultrasound, but then had this HIDA scan come back and determine that you did have gallbladder issues?

Feel free to chime in and thank you in advance. I apologize for such a long post, just wanted to give some background, etc.

HIDA scans are a very common diagnostic tool for gallbladder issues and i believe its much more in depth than an ultrasound which is kind of basic. Hopefully itll get you some answers.