About 1 or 1 1/2 years ago I started to have pain and little knots in the middle of my stomach. Around the middle of the upper rib cage area. I also started to experience stool changes. I was very constipated and then would have loose stool. I wasn't going as often as I used to and also experienced pain when going. Sometimes I would have blood, but it wasn't in my stool.

I told my doctor about it and he just said I need more fiber. So I tried more fiber, more water, different foods and still had the same problems.

My current doctor sent me to a specialist and she did a colonscopy on me. Turns out a large portion of my colon has stopped working. The muscles around it don't exist anymore. So, it's just like "beating a dead horse" according to the doctor.

She has tried me on zelnorm. Didn't work. Then she said to try zelnorm with these fiber wafers 3 times a day. That worked for a little while. Then it didn't work anymore (don't know why).

So now she is going to give me something called a marker test.

Then she started talking about surgery and removing the part of the colon that isn't working right.

I'm scared to death already! Has anyone here had this happen? My doctor said that there is no way of telling why part of my colon stopped working. Does anyone have any suggestions that would help me maybe avoid having to have surgery?

Thanks,
J