Quilter47

Hi Pat,
I just discovered these message boards because I was searching for others with this problem.

I have had occasional stomach pains for the past 6 years or so. My doctor prescribed Pepcid; no relief. Endoscopy revealed nothing but an irritated stomach lining. I went to the ER three times because the stomach pain was so horrible. My doctor was baffled.

So the last time I went to the ER (late January), they did a scan of my stomach, and it revealed a little bit of 'sludge' in my gallbladder. After another day of tests, my surgeon and I decided to get the gallbladder out. There is no way I could live with the pain, and without eating I was a goner! He did a laproscopic slit to find a perfectly healthy gallbladder. Then he looked around to discover that I had malrotation of the intestines. There were also bands of fiber that had developed which were causing blockage in my bowels. He took everything out, removed the bands and the appendix, re-arranged everything and sewed me back up. Well, it was a lot more complicated than that (4 1/2 hours of surgery) but you get the gist.

The hospitalization was a week, with a recovery period of about 6 weeks. I have been fine ever since, with one minor 2-day stay in the hospital for blockage due to adhesions (no surgery required). It is a blessing and a relief to finally know what the problem was and what to do should another blockage occur. I'm eating anything I want, have no pain and have regular BMs (something that I've never experienced - lol!)

I'm 58 years old and this is only the second case of malrotation my surgeon has ever seen. The other case was of that in a 20-yr-old male. The diagnosis also came as a relief to my doctor, as she was puzzled.

My best to you; please let me know how you're doing!