Hello there. My name is Jenn (you may know me from my personal blog, 
The abdominal pain is back. Just five weeks shy of a year after my last abdominal surgery (bowel resection), and it returned. It was on Friday, December 21st, and I was at a smorgasboard (I know, I know – the irony of a gastric bypass person at a buffet. It doesn’t escape me, either.) with Dan (husband), Alyssa and Ryan (our children), our friend Jason, and two of his friends. I may have eaten a few bites too many, but not enough to cause me to vomit, which is what will almost always happen if I overeat. But still, it shouldn’t have caused the abdominal pain that it did.
But still, I brushed it off. It was the week before Christmas, so things were hectic, I hadn’t reached my daily protein goals for nearly a week, and hadn’t I had a couple of bites of roughage vegetables?
It’s now two weeks and a day since that night, and I hate to admit it, but I will: abdominal pain has been a near daily occurrence since the 21st. On a pain scale of 1-10 the worst was the night when it was an 8 – I had abdominal pain originating from a source near or on a shared nerve, because my back hurt, too. It took two Tylenol PMs, a swig of Nyquil, and a pain pill to finally knock me out. Every other instance has been somewhere between a 4 and a 7.
I mentioned the pain in passing to Dan, but since there’s nothing he can do, and we’ve been down this road before (resulting in two surgeries), and we’ve got other things to worry about, and HE has to deal with his share of physical pain because of his Fibromyalgia, not to mention it’ll be another couple of weeks, if not a month or so, until I have health insurance again… well, I haven’t really talked about it. Or brought attention to it. I drag myself through it, and for the most part, suffer silently.
Tonight it hit again, shortly before dinner. That was close to an hour ago, and thank god it went away, but the toll its almost daily presence is taking on me must finally be noticeable, because Dan said to me, “I’m worried. Why haven’t you told me?” And my answer, which is the truth: I don’t want to worry you.
And also: I don’t want to focus on or become preoccupied by something that I cannot currently address with anything other than hope, pain medication when it gets beyond tolerable, and sheer willpower to function despite of it.
I know that you mentioned not eating your daily protein or vegetables, but have you considered your diet in general that may be causing these issues or that you may be allergic to something in your diet now.
I noticed today that you had half a cupcake. Could it be too many sweets? Gluten? Dairy? Fats in foods you or Jason make?
I don’t know so much about the food, because my diet hasn’t really changed over the past year. I am wondering, however, about possible gluten intolerance or celiac? I really need to look into that. I know that abdominal pain can be a symptom of those, but what kind of abdominal pain? What could be written off as a stomachache, or pain that is definitely more significant?
I am working on limiting fats and especially spicy stuff, since I know both can cause digestive upset.
Spasms. That’s what coeliac pain is like; just tummy spasm after spasm after spasm, very akin to gall bladder attacks, only lower — at least, in my case. Also horrid bloating. When I get wheat in my system, I look about 13 months pregnant. It’s definitely more significant than a bellyache.
I personally got Crohn-like symptoms from having my gallbladder removed, and daily vomiting and such; the Doctor can’t figure out, why because I checked negative for Crohn yet the symptoms (belly discomfort and constant pain are the most “obvious”) so we’ve determined my body just doesn’t know what to do with some foods anymore. Perhaps you’re going through the same?
Nonna’s last blog entry: Sickly Halfling Blog of +20 Indecisiveness
If you want to know about celiac or anything of the like, just give me a shout. I’ve done a crap-ton of research and have written a few articles etc.
It’s not fun, but you’re taking control and that’s the important thing!
Kylie’s last blog entry: wine and shows