3 yrs Post RNY- Stomach gets bloated and hot????

I'm almost 3 years post RNY and for the past 1-2 months I've been getting bloated and a hot stomach after eating.  Doesn't matter what I eat.  It can be grilled chicken breast, an orange, soup, salad, no matter what I eat I get bloated and a hot stomach (as if my stomach had a fever).  Small portions is not as uncomfortable but if I eat a normal portion of food I'm uncomfortable for 2-4 hrs after.  I had an appt with my surgeon a couple weeks ago and he had me complete a CT scan.  CT scan was negative.  Doc says if symptoms persist or worsen his only option is to perform an exploratory surgery with possible gall bladder removal if no problems are found.  ????  I'm not sure that EXPLORATORY surgery sounds convincing.  Why would I let my Doc cut me up and not even know what he is going after???  Has anyone had any of these symptoms?? and if so, what was the final outcome??  By the way, symptoms started out as a really sharp pain to the left side of my belly button and ever since then bloating and hot stomach are my symptoms.  No pain really unless I eat a large portion of food.

You might want to have an EDG rather than a cat scan--the
EDG is an actual camera put down your throat
(you are not awake!) and he can see your stoma, etc. You may be developing an ulcer. Ask him for that before exploratory surgery.

I agree that an EGD would be a better next step than surgery because an ulcer in the early stages might feel "hot" rather than painful and the EGD is a simple, non-invasive procedure.  I am actually surprised that your surgeon did not suggest it...

Sometimes exploratory surgery is necessary because not everything shows up on CTs or MRIs -- I had an OPEN exploratory surgery last August after almost 18 months of unexplained intermittent, severe pain with numerous normal looking CT scans (and as soon as the surgeon opened me up she could see the problem) -- but unless the problem becomes severe, I would agree with your initial reaction to not rush into surgery, especially since each surgery creates scar tissue that can become problematic.

Lora

Thanks for all the feedback.  I didn't even think about an Ulcer and he didn't mention that to me either.  He did say to go on about life as usual and if discomfort started to become severe pain, then to call him back and surgery would be the next step.  I'm just concerned that if this keeps going on over and over that I might be making things worse or create an emergency situation.  I will definitely ask him if the camera procedure can be an option prior to going in for exploratory surgery if symptoms of bloating and hot-stomach lead to another appt.  For now, smaller portion eating for me until symptoms subside.  I feel like a lil' rabbit nibbling food here and there to avoid symptoms.  I guess this will help keep me at bay with my weight.  LOL.