Severe pain....gas? slippage? not sure

IHadENuf · September 8, 2007

Hi all- I am now 4 weeks post op and for the last two days I have been expereincing a really awful pain on my left side beneath my breast, directly under my firts rib. Does anyone else experience this pain. SOmetimes it is so bad, it takes my breath away.

Please if you have expereinced this or have heard of this...I need some relief.. Go for 1st fill on Wed. hope it does not interfere with that.:help:

SElaine · September 8, 2007

Hi Ihadenuf......

I don't mean to alarm you, but I would definately call your doctor and tell them about your pain.

I had the same pain that you are describing. It was on my left side, around my rib cage. It hurt terribly; Sometimes it hurt just to breathe. I asked about it on this board, but really didn't have much luck with answers. The pain lessened for a while but kept coming back again.

Long story short I had an abcess (puncture) in my stomach from the banding. The abcess became infected. The infection spread to my liver. I had to have an emergency surgery, two blood transfusions, and spent 11 days in the hospital.

I certainly don't mean to imply that you are in the same situation. However, I do wish I had done something about my pain earlier and saved myself a lot of trouble.

Call your doc. And keep us updated.

IHadENuf · September 9, 2007

Hey SElaine-

Wow..okay well that sounds a bit scary. I am going to call my doctor on Monday, like you said the pain comes and goes but when it comes...it is really bad. Well I hope that is not the case for me...but i will keep you posted. Thanks:help:

eclipse · September 13, 2007

I have the same problem. It hurts about 2 hours after I eat. I'm suppose to go to the gastro. dr. tomorrow but with this storm headed my way I think I will have to cancel. Selaine how did they find the problem? What type of test did they do?

Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Eclipse

SElaine · September 13, 2007

Hi Eclipse.

I certainly hope you are able to get an answer from the doc and I certainly hope you don't have complications like I did. But, if you do have any type of complication, it's good to find out early.

Here's my situation: About 3.5 weeks after being banded I started to feel a sharp pain on my left side, under my left breast, near the bottom of my rib cage. It came and went, but at times was extremely painful. Sometimes just taking a deep breath hurt. But, in my case it didn't come consistently like you are describing (2 hours after eating). It would hit out of nowhere. Sometimes (but not always) it almost felt like it was radiating through to my back.

Anyway, it was almost 3 months after being banded before the problem was realized. The first test I had was a CT scan. The CT scan showed a pocket of Fluid around my band. I subsequently had two barrium swallow x-rays and an EGD. The following morning I was in for surgery.

The truth is, I don't know if the pain was related or not. I can only assume it was because I haven't experienced the pain since my surgery. I also have had no fill in my band since surgery so I don't know if restriction had anything to do with it or not. But, I don't think it's worth taking a chance.

I hope this helps. I hope you get answers soon. I know it sucks being in pain. It's even worse when you don't know what the problem is. Good luck. You are in my thoughts.