-- At Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Tina Shelby wrote: > >Hi Jennifer, > >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 >> .