Can a blockage be misdiagnosed as a gall bladder issue?

Its amazing really. I remember when Nowra Fair opened an d we used to travel up to Nowra as it was fabulous shopping!
Also was an easier drive than going up the Clyde mountain to Canberra!
Mmemories!!!

Hi Ellen good to see your a bit better,we go down to Lake Conjola at easter and xmas i think that must be near you,not sure though,i know we don't have to spend much money as there is only really Nowra shopping centre,a bit oooof a drive away,and my husbands friend lives in Greenwell point.

Thanks Linda! I'll get some next time I'm at the supermarket. I went on Friday, but ofcourse, forgot! arrrgghhhhh....

I do love living here and it's great being on a few acres. I miss decent shopping centres as Nowra is a hole... but the upside is we are close to Booderie National Park which has an awesome beach & fabulous picnic areas. And now the Huskisson pub has been done up, it's really good to go to. Not that I can eat there now... but maybe in a while I can :) I dropped into a cafe at south nowra on Friday as we'd lost our power here. No point hanging about so I went to the movies, but needed some lunch. They had a delicious chicken & corn soup, homemade which they blended for me and put in a large coffee cup take away. I was so full I could barely eat dinner. But I bought some cruskits, light cream cheese & smoked salmon. I've been able to eat them and it's been awesome. To have flavour again and a bit of substance has been divine! Yah!!!!

Yakult is excellent for your gut, especially when you have been on lots of antibiotics. i have taken it regularly over the years...... plus I love the taste! I usually just get the homebrand one, seems to work just as well!
Good luck and u have a great weekend too......
You are in a lovely part of the world there Ellen, My Mum is at Greenwell Point and. i have a daughter down at Moruya so used to drive through when I lived south coast :-)

Oh... I meant to say I was thinking about taking Yakult as a supplement. Anyone take it or know anything much about it?

Hi Linda

It's been awesome being able to eat some food while being on the antibiotics. I think the infection must have been big enough in my little stomach to block anything trying to get thru properly. Hence, water or watery foods were about it.

I've been able to have the seeded bread again, one slice with crusts cut off then I put it in the Breville flat toast/melt maker and it makes it super thin. I've upgraded this week to some tomato on it! Yay!! Oh joy!!! We lost our power today till 3pm (thanks Integral) so I took myself to the movies after I dropped the kids off at school. I went to a cafe I know that makes awesome soups and asked if they could blend the soup and put it in a large coffee cup to go. Yummo! Homemade chicken and corn soup with a peppery taste :)

I have done that too with foods I have wanted to eat but knew I couldn't. Chewed it up till nothing then tossed it. It was fun doing it once at the movies with popcorn lol.

I stopped taking the Supradyn, but I'll go back on it now. I was having chronic diarrhea on the antibiotics for nearly 3 weeks... not fun. I will go and get a blood test next week and see the doctor if I need to. The awful wind pain has moved from my back but it's settled into my right shoulder/collar bone. When I hiccup, it aches :(

Having a bit of smoked salmon & low fat cream cheese for dinner tonite... can't wait :)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend Linda!

Hey Ellen,
Glad to hear your doing okay!!!

When I was first out and onto proper foods like meat etc, I used to chew the meat till there was no taste left then spit out the fibrous bit cos was a little worried about swallowing it.

If you can tolerate milk and dairy they are a good way of getting protein into you also.
Drinking yoghurt is good too especially if you are feeling a bit weak.

Do try and make sure you are getting adequate protein to try and avoid the post sleeve hair loss or thinning too. I still take a daily hair skin and nails tablet as well as my centrum 50 plus!!

Good luck and hope you continue to improve!

Linda :-)

That's fantastic about getting into the jeans! I have 2 pairs of faves that I can't wait to get back into. I reckon to wear them loosely, I need to lose another 10kg... but I'm in no rush lol. It's funny ripping around in my old clothes that are getting too big. I refuse to buy anything new until I know where I'll stabilise at.

I was tempted to munch on a bit of the soft chicken in the soup this evening but last night I ate some of the mince from the inside of 2 mini pies... chewed it up properly, had water with it... but the indigestion just wasn't worth it... I think that's why I took it easy today. I was worried about getting that feeling again :(

I do miss bacon I've realised... sigh.... lol

Im doing great... no issues at all with food and can eat steak etc though only tiny amounts but no pain at all... weight on scales no moving but clothes getting very loose so something is happening. I put a pair of jeans on today and they were loose.... last week they were an inch too small ...go figure.

I figure I have been lucky so far but then I did move very very cautiously through the early stages to the point of being rediculously afraid of breaking my sleeve.

I still only eat a 1/4 cup or less but am now finding I am getting hungry after about 2 hours of eating.. which is fixed by a small amount of food so not too bad I spose.

Thanks Trish :) Though I didn't have a gastric band, I went from overweight to a gastric sleeve straight up :) This is my first experience and I've got to say... hopefully once things settle down, I'll never have to worry about weight issues again.

I've dropped down to just under 80kg now, but I think that was to be expected when drinking just water & clearish soups for 2 weeks. I was off food today, but had some tomato soup at lunchtime then decided to take the kids out to the club for the raffles tonight. I ordered some chicken & sweetcorn soup which I had about half of. I should have asked them to make it half thick... I kept having to squash the spoon down to get the soup! lol First time ever I've been to the club and had a pot of tea... no alcohol!! I used to go on a Thursday night and always have a bottle of wine plus chinese... Things, they are a changin'!

How are you going?

oh I am soooo glad its getting better hon... it must be bloody horrid.. first the band now the sleeve causing you misery. I have heard of others having a stretch done... Hopefully though the antibiotics will do the trick.

Feeling better almost a day after the antibiotics started, thank god. The pain in my back (wind??) is still moving around and has gone back into my left shoulder/collar bone area. I'm on the second course of antibiotics now. After the 3rd, I'll get another blood test to see how things are going internally :)

So whats happening now Ellen...how you doing

Thanks for your replies Linda, Cherry & Kate.

I think that was why the surgeon told me to try the coca cola a couple of weeks ago but it did absolutely nothing....

I had another CAT scan and blood tests. Turns out the mild inflammation in stomach has grown in size... It's now only 3.3cm, but hey, that's probably half our stomachs now, right? lol My blood tests showed evidence of an infection too plus there's a really high gas pocket somewhere. I didn't quite understand what he meant by that, and wondered if he meant it was the gas buildup that seems to move around in my back. He didn't think so. I think he's talking that it's around the infection.

He then watched me drink some water and his face said it all. He heard the noises that a little bit of water makes when it tries to slide down and then watched as it was pushing air bubbles back up. Not water, but it's air that I have to try and burp out.

I am on antibiotics now for 3-4 weeks. I have the paperwork for another blood test in 3 weeks. He's thinking that he may have to put me back into hospital again to run the laproscope down and try to widen the opening into my stomach. He thinks there might be a bit of a build up of scar tissue there which might be restricting anything bar liquids from getting in.

So today, I've got a chicken & vegetable soup on the boil. If I can only have liquids, I better make sure they are nutritionally sound. I've been so tired lately. I'll be glad for the day when I can wake up and feel great again!

Cheers

Ellen

Hey Ellen,

I was on another forum looking around and found a gastric sleeve patient referring to a bezoar he had. Bezoars are retained concretions of undigested foreign material that accumulate within the gastrointestinal tract, most commonly in the stomach. Phytobezoars are food vegetable or fruit fibrous tissue (like coconuts) that accumulates as opposed to people who eat their own hair. One of the treatment for bezoars is drinking coca cola!! I think you should check with your doctor, but perhaps this what he thinks is wrong?

I hope this helps. I didn't even know this could happen!!

Kate

So glad you're ok. Good luck with the tests. I have to say the nexium worked much better for me on an empty stomach too. I've still got reflux but NOTHING like it was. Hopefully tonight I'll be able to sleep horizontally!

Good to know u are okay, hang in there and keep sipping!
And its okay to put the nexium in water to get it down just dont cut it.
You can get it in a dispersible tablet , dissolvable
I think, taalk to doc re that as well.
Linda

Finally got onto the surgeon. I only had the number for the rooms they use as Bowral Bariatric and he wasn't going to be there until Friday. I must have been given a card with his mobile & the other surgeon's mobile on it, but lost it. Thank goodness for facebook as the lady who was sleeved same day as me had the numbers.

At first he said to come down to Bowral tomorrow for some tests but then he said, oh... your not insured are you. He actually said that he was reluctant to take on uninsured patients in the event there are complications. Gee... talk about sinking the boot in when you already feel low :( I said I was happy to wait around for the tests, or why didn't he just contact my doctor and direct him to make the referrals and I get them done locally. Happy with that. Once I have the results I make an appt to see him.

I am getting full bloods again and another cat scan. He said to me it can't be that bad because if it was, I'd not be calling him from home. I'm very tired today and a bit dehydrated. My skin is pinching together a bit so I'll try and up the fluids now. I've not been able to eat really, so it's all been water, an iceblock or some lemon gelato like last night.

Thanks for your wonderful support as usual ladies. I'll try the nexium whole tomorrow on empty stomach. I thought any tablets or tabsules of that size had to be cut. I hate taking the pills in the morning the most as it's uncomfortable.

Cheers

Ellen

I have to say I have been taking nexium for 4 years now and it definitely works better on an empty stomach as I was instructed.

I was taking it with food or close to food as the the package info instructed but once my gastro surgeon told me it works at its optimum on an empty stomach it kicked in a dream and has never failed me.... (except when the band went completely tail up then nothing was going to work but removal)

I agree that in mild cases it will work either way as Linda stated but in my experience it is better taken on an empty stomach.. as it gets swept away with the food and its full dosage is not realised... or so my doctor explained.

Yep. Get to your surgeon ASAP. It's probably nothing, but you have to be sure.
Goodluck Ellen.

i agree stick to liquids and call the surgeon. hope things are better quickly

Hey girls,
nexium can actually be taken with or without food and can be taken with other meds too..... check nexium cmi for that but the advice re putting in some water if u cant swallow whole is great.
should always check cmi or package info as lots of meds need to be taken whole.

For goodness sake see ur surgeon again or go to ed as u definately shouldnt still be having these issues....

And, i really think u should lay off the food till u see doctor, just rest urself and stick with nourishing fluids only till then.
good luck
Linda

nexium has to be taken on an empty tummy with no food for at least half an hour that includes any other tabs with it.

You cant cut nexium up or chew it or it wont work properly but you can dissolve it in a little water... just drop it in a 1/4 cup or less and stir it till it breaks down then drink it.

If your pain keeps up you need to go back to your surgeon...in fact I think you need to make an appointment today because its not normal.

Hi Trishah, The pains in my back got worse again and each time I try to eat or drink anything, it feels almost like there's an air bubble making it not painful to eat, but uncomfortable. I have my cut up tablets sitting in front of me, contemplating how the hell I'm going to get them down. I've included some panadol extra to try and ease the pain. I've been careful not to have pain relief as it bungs me up. I almost feel like getting someone to stick a pin in my back so the air can escape! lol How crazy is that!!

how goes it now Ellen?