Long term complication, a twisted intestine

December 31, 2001

My fifth surgery in 18 months really put me back a bit, so I have not

posted for quite a while. When a WLS patient loses a lot of weight, 175

lbs in my case, the small intestine can develop a blockage. The small

intestine is like a water hose that is coiled up. If it is not coiled

right, it can kink up. When the body shape changes through weight loss,

the coiling of the intestine can change to bring about a blocking of

intestinal flow. This happened to me. The surgery to correct it is

just an incision followed by a manual manipulation of the intestine to

rearrange it. Incidentally, the symptoms are cramping in the abdominal

area.

During the diagnostic testing, a stone was found in my gall bladder, so

the gall bladder was removed during the same operation. The gall

bladder is storage place for bile. When food enters the intestine, the

gall bladder releases some of the stored bile. When the gall bladder is

removed, bile trickles into the intestine on a continuous basis. In

most instances, this does not cause a problem. I am problem free to

date.

I am feeling much better and look forward to communicating more often

with my WLS friends.

Ray Hooks

For WLS nutrition info, visit

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