I have been out of town for a few days and am trying to get caught up on e-mail. I am so sorry to hear about your history. You have been struggling with this for a long time. I just wanted to reaffirm your findings that fruit/veges especially the raw/gas causing ones increasing the symptoms and obstruction. From my own personal experience - I have found that if I stay away from them my symptoms aren't nearly as bad. I have learned with dealing with this over the years that the doctors don't know all there is to know - even if they present themselves to be all knowing. If they are not familiar or have never heard of something before the in there mind it must not exist or be real. I would encourage you to look hard and long for a pcp that is open to what you say makes the symptoms worse or better. You have lived with this condition longer than they have - you are obviously the more educated about your condition and what helps and what hinders. We are here for you - most of us are going through some similiar problems as you - so we are a good place to vent and compare experiences with this condition.
I'm sorry you need us but am glad you found us!
Tina
At 07:51 AM 8/24/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>I can't believe I have finally found this site after months and months
>of surfing the web for information. I don't know anyone else who
>suffers from this problem, and I'm hoping perhaps someone out there can
>identify with this:
>
>I am a thirty-year old female who underwent surgery as an infant, to
>remove an obstruction in my small intestine.
>Since then, I have suffered unbearably painful episodes of intestinal
>obstruction, which doctors have diagnosed as "adhesions of scar tissue."
>These episodes are characterized by vomiting, swelling and tenderness in
>the obstructed area, extreme, agonizing cramping which occurs every few
>minutes, and a feeling of bloatedness in the stomach. (probably from
>all the food that is not going through.) usually, when this happens, I
>have to go to hospital where they hook me up to an IV and shove a
>Nasogastral tube down my nose to "decompress" me. It typically takes
>about one to two weeks for the obstruction to clear on its own.
>
>I have noticed, (and no one doctor I have discussed this with believes
>this,) that these obstructions only occur when after I've eaten
>vegetables or fruits, especially those high in fibre, such as
>cauliflower, broccoli, celery and oranges where the pith has not be
>removed. I have this idea in my mind that the fibre from these foods
>gets "tangled" in the scar tissue in my small intestine, thus "blocking"
>and "restricting" the passage of other substances. This has never been
>diagnosed (because all x-rays and barium enemas and all those newfangled
>tests I've endured all declare that my intestines are "normal.") But
>surely, it cannot be pure coincidence that each time I eat something
>fibrous my intestines become obstructed.
>
>anyway, i have been told numerous times that there is no cure for my
>condition, as surgery to remove the scar tissue would only result in the
>formation of more. i am now at the end of my tether. doctors continue
>to tell me that nothing can be done, and nobody understands just how
>horrifically painful this condition is. i weigh only 95 pounds, even
>though i'm 5'4". people always assume I'm anorexic, when in fact, i
>have this rare condition i cannot even begin to explain.
>
>i hope someone out there can relate to this, and tell me if there's any
>hope.
>
>jennifer
>