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.Comment 001

I am a female Meckel's "survivor." It's nice to see this being studied because the only reason I'm alive today is my doctor had a Meckel's case in Vietnam. My diagnosis was made during exploratory surgery in 1977. Since then, I've had to explain it and spell it for all but one physician. The only other case I know of was an acquaintance's father, whose diverticulitis was not diagnosed in time to save him. I would be h) to discuss my case with any gastroenterologists who study this birth defect. cbsmith@redshift.com or cbsmith@usc.edu


Comment 002

sometimes these cases can be missed on the tc 99m scan because of faulty interpretation


Comment 003

I am a survivor of this too. I am a 33 y/o male,who suffered 15 years. No one could diagnose this after seeing at least 20 doctors and specialists, finally I gave up and went to 'coping with pain' classes. After eating at a drive-in,I got food poisoning and got sicker until I went to my local hospitals ER and was sent home,I was told I was 'constipated'. When I got home I got a call from the ER sayinG come back because the doctor coming on shift had seen something the other doctor had missed, a large pocket of air in my abdomen. Two long surguries later and 7 months later I have never felt better. Doctors reading this,please don't make anyone suffer for so long like I did. I'll bet that I am the only person in the world that got sick at a drive-in and was thankfull, thanks Jack.


Comment 003

I am a survivor of this too. I am a 33 y/o male,who suffered 15 years. No one could diagnose this after seeing at least 20 doctors and specialists, finally I gave up and went to 'coping with pain' classes. After eating at a drive-in,I got food poisoning and got sicker until I went to my local hospitals ER and was sent home,I was told I was 'constipated'. When I got home I got a call from the ER sayinG come back because the doctor coming on shift had seen something the other doctor had missed, a large pocket of air in my abdomen. Two long surguries later and 7 months later I have never felt better. Doctors reading this,please don't make anyone suffer for so long like I did. I'll bet that I am the only person in the world that got sick at a drive-in and was thankfull, thanks Jack.


Comment 003

I am a survivor of this too. I am a 33 y/o male,who suffered 15 years. No one could diagnose this after seeing at least 20 doctors and specialists, finally I gave up and went to 'coping with pain' classes. After eating at a drive-in,I got food poisoning and got sicker until I went to my local hospitals ER and was sent home,I was told I was 'constipated'. When I got home I got a call from the ER sayinh come back because the doctor coming on shift had seen something the other doctor had missed, a large pocket of air in my abdomen. Two long surguries later and 7 months later I have never felt better. Doctors reading this,please don't make anyone suffer for so long like I did. I'll bet that I am the only person in the world that got sick at a drive-in and was thankfull, thanks Jack. Jeffk@pacifier.com


Comment 004

39 yr old female , 22 days post surgical. Over the past 15 years I was sent to ER over a dozen times with suspected appendix inflammation. Had previous episodes of colitis, "food poisioning", gastric flu and a various assortment of GI complaints. Had full GI barium series and colon scope. Nothing was found. The general suggestion was that the cuase of my problems was "in my head". Bout that resulted in the surgery w/roceeded by 1 week of keeping nothing down by mouth and extreme discomfort in upper right quadrant. Am doing much better now.


Comment 004

39 yr old female , 22 days post surgical. Over the past 15 years I was sent to ER over a dozen times with suspected appendix inflammation. Had previous episodes of colitis, "food poisioning", gastric flu and a various assortment of GI complaints. Had full GI barium series and colon scope. Nothing was found. The general suggestion was that the cuase of my problems was "in my head". Bout that resulted in the surgery wGroceeded by 1 week of keeping nothing down by mouth and extreme discomfort in upper right quadrant. Am doing much better now. armstroj@terraport.net


Comment 005

My aunt is a survivor of this, I don't know too much about it but one of the reasons the doctors might have known what she had might be her last name.....Meckel


Comment 006

I am a student in Nuclear Medicine and I actually just finished doing research on Meckel's Diverticulum. I can tell you a little bit about it. It is a remnant of the omphalomesenteric duct and can be anywhere from 1 to 56 cm in length and .5 to 50 cm in diameter. It is usually found in the right lower quadrant of the body. I read a previous comment about it sometimes not being detected...the reason for this could be posi¿al, it may be very close to the bladder and be mistaken as a part of it. Another reason is that in order for the Meckel's to be detected it has to contain and secrete ectopic gastric mucosa. The reason for this is that the radioisotope used, 99mTc pertechnetate, only goes to the Meckel's Diverticulum that contains the gastric mucosa; therefore, if it does not secrete ectopic gastric mucosa, it will not be detected. I hope that I clarified this for all who were interested. My e-mail address is kbonagura@mcp.edu


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Comment 008

Thanks for putting this on the net - especially the picture. Would be good to contrast a positive scan with a negative and to briefly commment on sensitivity and specificity of the technique. I'm writing from New Zealand, writing a paediatric surgery essay in my sixth and final year of my degree. Phew.. only 4 months to go and htis is my last essay! Sharyn Seaboryne seabors495@wnmeds.ac.nz


Comment 009

my son, who was 8 years old was in the hospital twice. The first time, he was given an upper GI series with barium contrast. Nothing was found, but the symptoms dissipated. The second time, we rushed him to the hopital with severe pain, vomiting and diarrhea. None of the doctors had any idea of what was causing the problem. His X-rays were shown to be "surgical". We were told that he required immediate, emergency, surgú At this time, the surgeon, who still had no idea what he had, told us there were three possibilites. One was that some of his bowel would need to be remove. The other was that he had Meckles Diverticulum, which was the best to hope for, but probably not possible. The third possibility, was that all of his bowel would need to be removed and he would die within 2 days. Needless to say, we were scared to death. I have searched through this directory and have seen that there is a simple test for Meckles and am shocked that none of the pediatric gastroenterologists had any idea that this might be needed. I feel that we were needlessly put through the worst hell of our lives. I hope that more doctors are alerted to Meckles so that noone has to suffer like my son and myself and husband. Sincerely, PCH gary.segal@mci2000.com


Comment 010

laurascott@thecmigroup.com I have been really sick with upest stomach and shootiing pains for four months now. I also have had blood in my stool. after many test and several months later, my doctor called today and told me i have meckel's diverticulum. I am nervous and am trying to find out exactly what this is. I am ready to start feeling better and feel normatl again.


Comment 011

My 3 year old son just had this - thankfully the doctors picked it upon the 2nd Nuclear Scan - he was bleeding excessively and his hemoglobin levels had dropped dangerously low. We had an excellent pediatric surgeon group here in South Florida (South Florida Pediatric Surgeons) and they picked it up immediately. Fortunately, my son is having a great recovery.


Comment 012

I am 44 years old and had suffered for 21 years with severe abdominal pain, bloating, constipation/diarrhea, nausea, vomiting. At the age of 21 I rushed to the ER d/t severe abdominal pain radiating from the RLQ to the umbilical area (McBurneys Point). The ER physician said it was probably appendicitis, (I should mention I could not breath when standing, but when lying down I could breath). After vomiting copius bile (bla)reen) I was rushed into surgery; later the Chief of Surgery told me I had Meckles and he removed 1 inch of my colon. He said if I had waited another 20 minutes I probably would not have lived. I am now an RN who takes patients abdominal pains seriously. Please don't tell a patient their stomach pain is in their head or they have a "nervous stomach".Anurse@worldnet.att.net


Comment 013

norma hunt hunt835@webtv.net I had surgery for small bowel obstruction caused by adhesions and the surgeon also discovered an asymptomatic meckel's diverticulum which he also removed. My nephew also had one which was causing lots of pain and vomiting and had surgery for it. My son is suffering cronic diarhhea, unexplained, he is a desert storm vet. Are these meckel's hereditary?


Comment 014

tc30@mail.csuchico.com I am 18 years old and suffered for the first four years of my life. The doctors finally decided to do exploritory surgery and found the growth when I was 5yrs old.


Comment 015

Joanne rlahey@ionline.com Last Oct.98, my meckles ruptured. I passed out on the bathroom floor.The ambulance came,brang me to the hospital where there was a "code blue" called.It was detected by nuclear medicine after a GI and Barium did not find it. The surgeon saved me but I still have severe abdominal pain. Is my meckles fixed by surgery or is it still there?


Comment 016

When I was 10, I suffered from severe cramps and pain off and on until I was 11 and the meckles diverticulum began bleeding severely so badly that I came fairly close to death. My older brother had the same thing happen to him when he was 3 or 4. I'm 22 now, meckleless and doing fine. Wondering if this runs in families? What's the risk for any child I might have developing the problem? W. H. Henley Hamphenley@hotmail.¯


Comment 017

My name is Travis. Last year I was diagnosed with having Meckel's also. I was stationed at Ft. Myer, Virginia (in D.C.), in the Honor Guard as a Presidential Escort. Last year I drove 3 hours south of my station to Virginia Beach for spring break weekend. Needless to say, shortly after renting an expensive room that overlooked the beach, I had my first run-in with Meckle's. I had severe rectal bleeding for an hour. Itided to drive back to my duty station that same night. In the morning I went to see the doctor and they rushed me into Walter Reed Hospital. For a couple of days they couldn't figure out what was going on. To make a long story short, during the surgery they removed a piece of my large intestine and a SIX INCH long Meckle's. They said that they had never heard of one that long. To this day I feel healthy. I am though, very lucky to be alive.


Comment 018

My daughter Sara (7 yrs old) came home from school complaining of her tummy hurting.. she said she felt she had to go to the bathroom. when she went i thought it was just diarrea.. it gushed out of her so forcefully. when i went to wipe her, it was complete blood. We immediatley got her an ambulance and took her to Arkansas Childrens Hospital, where she was diagnosed with Meckles. She had surgery removing a portion of herestine and also her appendix. It scares me that she had this at birth and i didnt become aware of it until it all of a sudden hit her. Her tummy would hurt her some at night, but we always thought it was because she didnt want to go to sleep. Could it have been this all along.. So glad to have a site like this to post this to. Our email address is kash1@tds.net.


Comment 019

Hi! Survivor also! I'm a 38 year old female who had been searching for what ailed me for some monthes. Earlier this year, without pain, I had a massive G.I. bleed. I lost 4 - 6 pints of blood FAST. After being hospitalized with the entire work-up complete I had a Nuclear test. THERE IT WAS!! Because it is so rare, we came back at a later date for a second Meckles Scan then surgury to remove it. Now four weeks later, doing fine, alittle sore still every once in awhile but fine! Good luck to all with this unusual condition. BUT, if you are ever in Baltimore and need help with it - the entire team at Mercy Medical was FANTASTIC. A overwhelmingly caring staff who are tops in their fields and compassionate also. A very rare trait these days. I owe them my life I am sure.


Comment 020

Evan Oulashin (for Sean) eno@pdxconnect.com Just returned from hospital where my almost-3 year old son has just had his meckles removed. He spent the last week with some fever early on, little appetite, several mild vomiting events, and no bowel movement for most of the week. Last night at the ER the pictures were pronounced uneventful, but this morning they called us back into the ER saying they had in fact sèsomething. He had a barium scope which was also inconclusive but they transferred us to the local pediatric hospital in an ambulance saying this needed attention now. After being parked in our room for 4 (!) hours we finally (after some quite vocal comments) were able to get the multitude of doctors to decide on what to do; the surgeon recommended a small laparoscopic incision to investigate, and subsequently remove the growth. He also removed the appendix as a preventative measure. Sean is recovering well now with Mom sleeping at the hospital. We're told his recovery should take only a few days. The surgeon said after the procedure that meckles may appear in 2% of the population and that it only rarely results in problems like Sean's (obstruction caused by a twisted segment of bowel).


Comment 021

jocoma@interlynx.net Corey, male,age 25 - I was just diagnosed two days ago with meckles diverticulum. I have been suffering from this off and on for the past year and a bit, coincidentally after a trip to Mexico. All of the symptoms started during and right after my trip. The doctors here feel that the parasite I probably picked up "Switched-on" my meckles. I suffered from a gurgling sound in my stomach followed by EXTREMTight red blood diareha every time it happened. Never any sharp /major pain to speak of. It was like turning on a tap for about 2hrs. at a time. Every time my hemoglobin would drop to dangerously low levels and just as it got back up , it would happen again. In the past year I have had four trips to the ER, 2 colonoscopies, 2 endoscopies, 1 berrium swallow, and finally a meckles scan at the Nuc. Med. unit of McMaster Hospital, Hamilton,ON, CAN. My GI doctor was stumped and finally decided to run the meckles scan as a last resort, telling me it was usually only found in children. I am glad to see there are a good # of adults who suffer from this. I just wish more doctors were aware this can happen to adults as well, it would have saved me a lot of stress, aggrevation and being poked and prodded the past year. I know I won't be going back to Mexico anytime soon! Good luck to all who have this and don't know what it is. I don't wish this on anyone! I am going in for surgery soon to have it removed. Just curious about recovery times, if I can eat normal after this and drink the odd beer! If someone can let me know what I can expect please let me know at jocoma@interlynx.net


Comment 022

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Comment 023

I'm a 63 year old female. After years of abdominal pain (starting in early childhood) five trips to emergency room with suspected appendicitis attacks, nausea and stomach ache after eating out (thinking it was food poisoning)I finally was rushed to the emergency room and after ruling out appendicitis, gall bladder with a Cat-Scan, I agreed to exploratory surgery which was performed 25 hours after I entered the ER. I was ònosed with a meckles diverticulum -two inches - that had perforated. The surgeon removed it as well as my healthy appendix. He performed the operation laparoscopically with 3 small incisions. I experienced severe abdominal pain for thirty days but now at about six weeks, I feel very good - no pain but I tire easily.


Comment 024

I am a 43 yr old male and had been misdiagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I had gone to the ER twice with gut wrenching pain only to be sent home without finding the cause due to the pain residing while there. The third trip to the ER felt like death and I was lucky to have a CATscan done this time and a very aware surgeon, Dr Fredrick Itzkowitz. Do not get comfortable with the IBS diagnosis.


Comment 025

Hi, my name is Jim and I had a Meckle's taken out when I was 14 or else I wouldn't be here today. I somehow managed to twist it (maybe doing flips into a pool the day prior) and ended up cutting off the circulation to it. I was presumed to have appendicitis despite the somewhat atypical presentation. Regardless, they found it and took it out. I'm happy to say that I'm in medical school now and I also think of Meckle's whenever someone has right-sided lower abdominal pain. js@neoucom.edu


Comment 026

Hello, I'm eighteen and a few months ago I had an operation to remove my meckles. It started in the summer, with heavy bleeding and was diagonosed as a bacterial infection since it went away. But it wasn't till fall and after a few cases of bleeding did they finally find out my problem. I had all the scoping done, in both ends, as well as the barium swallow, a g.i. bleed, and two meckles scans (that should have found it but didn't for some unknown reason). I was losing half my blood count and recieving several transfusions until as a last resort they finally decided to cut me open and take a look. ***Just so that people are aware, the meckles scan does not always work!***


Comment 027

Hi! Recovering from Meckles surgery 3 weeks ago and am doing fine. I had several overnight episodes over the past two years w/ severe abdominal cramps that would come and go w/ regularity. Usually about 15-30 seconds of pain and then it would subside for roughly 1-3 minutes. This always seemed to occur after eating Chinese food (needless to say I didn't eat Chinese after the 3rd episode) but I'm not sure if that is relevant. Last episode occured after eating hot wings, stuffed jalapenos, a few beers and a shot of tequila - again, probably not relevant(?). Pains got worse as the night went on and by Morning were unbearable. Got to ER around noon and they asumed ruptured appendix. After several hours of testing and much morphine (thank god!) they realized what it was. I had a very large (about 6.5") Meckles. Have a large incision from navel down about 4". Also removed my appendix while in there. After 6 days in the hospital and the past 3 weeks at home am doing well. Eating normal foods again w/ ease. I'll just have to wait a couple of months until I can go back to working out again. Any questions? smercer@gte.net


Comment 028

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Comment 029

Hi I had unbielvable stomach pain for 5 years. Everyone I was so sick of me comaplaining about the stomach pain. After being seen by 10 doctors or more - it was always diagnosed as acid refux or irr. bowel sysndrome. Not until I got the stomach flu and was throwing up continuosly- was it detected. i had emergency surgery because i was in such intense pain- and I was also 3 months pregnant. Thank God I was alright! I ended up having a healthy baby girl


Comment 029

Hi- kosborn@keller.edu My name is Kelly 34 and i had unbielvable stomach pain for many years. After being seen by 10 doctors or more(7 year period) - it was always diagnosed as acid refux or irr. bowel syndrome. Not until I got the stomach flu and was throwing up continuosly- was it detected through emergency surgery( and by the way I was also 3 months pregnant). Thank God I was alright! I ended up having a healthy baby girl and have no more stomach pain. I wish I would have demanded a scan of my body. No one should have to live with such pain -and have it brushed off as an ulcer of stomach reflux. To think I may have lost my life or my daughters because of many wrong diagnosis.


Comment 029

Hi- kosborn@keller.edu My name is Kelly 34 and i had unbielvable stomach pain for many years. After being seen by 10 doctors or more(7 year period) - it was always diagnosed as acid refux or irr. bowel syndrome. Not until I got the stomach flu and was throwing up continuosly- was it detected through emergency surgery( and by the way I was also 3 months pregnant). Thank God I was alright! I ended up having a healthy baby girl and have no more stomach pain. I wish I would have demanded a scan of my body. No one should have to live with such pain -and have it brushed off as an ulcer of stomach reflux. To think I may have lost my life or my daughters because of many wrong diagnosis.


Comment 030

I am among the 2% of the population born with Meckles Diverticulum. I had stomach problems my entire childhood and was told it was "nervous stomach". After I got married it was then called "IBS", irritable bowel syndrome. Had problems that led to a laparaoscopy and laparotomy that led to an 8 lb tumor and a hysterectomy by age 30. At that time they removed my appendix but told me I had Meckles Diverticulum and to let ALL my doctors know should I continue to have stomach problems. Well I continued for years to have "the flu" and finally developed gall stones that ended me up in the hospital because the stones had gotten stuck in some of the ducts. (you feel like you are dying with a heart attack - except my pain raidiated from the right shoulder down my right arm). So my GASTROENTEROLOGIST did the surgery for gall bladder and removed the MECKLES, AT MY REQUEST, at the same time. I requested it because I was tired of being cut open and was NOT coming back again. I still have foods I can't eat and DON'T eat because it still causes problems. From that surgery I developed a hiatel hernia and REFLUX disease and still can't eat fried foods or spicey foods without problems. and YES polyps can return as I just had a colonoscopy and endoscopy and had a couple of polyps removed for biopsy. I am on prilosec and librax helps but occasionly still have to take a liquid antacid for FASTER relief. So, the excitement in my life just continues on. They now sedate you for a colonoscopy and it was great because 35 yrs. ago they didn't sedate you nor was the scope made of a flexible material. netgold@aol.com


Comment 030

to continue with the last comment I made you should also know that people with these problems even after surgery need to be careful with FRIED FOODS, SPICEY FOODS, COFFEE, SMOKING AND ALCOHOL AND CHOCOLATE because in many cases your system will still react badly. netgold@aol.com


Comment 030

to continue with the last comment I made you should also know that people with these problems even after surgery need to be careful with FRIED FOODS, SPICEY FOODS, COFFEE, SMOKING AND ALCOHOL AND CHOCOLATE because in many cases your system will still react badly. netgold@aol.com


Comment 031

I am a 24 year old male, got operated for meckles 2 years ago, during the surgery they removed a piece of my intestine and a FIVE INCH long Meckle's. i still suffer from acute pain in the abdomen and have general symptoms i suffered earlier. can any body help me ? vikasg1977@rediffmail.com


Comment 032

Rebekah rkaider@yahoo.com I'm concerned about my 4yr old. He complains periodically of tummy aches. Recently I have noticed what looks to be blood in his stool. However their does not seem to be any pain involved. Could this still be a sign of Meckles???


Comment 033

My 8 year old son had meckles. We did not know what the problem was. His color became pale, I mean really pale, no energy (all of this from just returning from the beach), no appetite, lips had no color and then the blood came. Well after surprisingly two doctors, they found the meckles, operated and I now have my active boy back. We were scared because they couldn't find the source of the bleeding and were talking possible leukemia. But further testing showed the meckles. Thank god because a lot of people on here have talked like it is life threatening but our doctor never acted like it was a threat at the time. Maybe they caught it in time. Good luck to other potential patients and keep after your doctor to find the problem. We did! Any one need advice e-mail me terenajones@citynet.net


Comment 034

30 yr F-had surgery a wk ago-went to ER & was diagnosed w/reflux-i've had ulcers & "upset" stomach for 3 yrs-one day later still had bad pains on my rt side-went back & Dr thought I had appendicitis-had emergency surgery to take that out-but found it to be ok-took it out anyway-found radish sz meckles div on my sm intestine & removed it-feeling MUCH better thanks to Dr Ronald B @ Stoughton Hosp-YOU ARE MY HERO...YOU ARE THE BEST!!! brendabirkrem @ webtv.net


Comment 034


Comment 035

I suffered for 15 or so years of what can be best described as severe stomach cramps lasting for for up to 3 days every 2 or so weeks. Much of this time was spent doubled over in pain with absolutely no form of pain relief available. Over the course of 15 years, I visited countless Doctors (including a bowel specialist would you believe) Anyway, when I was 21 I had an attack that sent me to the floor. Before I knew it I was in surgery where it was confirmed that I had a Meckels' Diverticulum attached to the rear of my navel causing a volvulus - no wonder I was in so much pain !! The Meckels was removed and it has been 7 years since then, I have had absolutely no recurrence of this pain.

I write this as my wife wife is 4 months pregnant with our second child and we have been told that the baby has a hernia at the base of the umbilical chord, apparently the intestine should have retracted by this stage. It seems much too coincidental that this is happenning - can somebody tell me whether or not Meckels is inherited ? Apparently, my great grandfather suffered from similar stomach pains so there appears to be a possibility. Would appreciate a response. craig@gta.com.au


Comment 036

Dzurilla@core.com My 7 month old son has been having occasional specks of blood in his stool since he was 2 months old. He does not have any "colicky" systems, such as fussiness or gassiness. Doctors have first determined the cause to be "cow's milk protein allergy," but now want to do a meckel's scan. I am terribly afraid to have this test done on him since he is so little. ANY SUGGESTIONS?? Please write Dzurilla@core.com


Comment 037

Dot Ford, Harvey410s@aol.com

Today, January 8, 2002 our 9 year old grandson had surgery for Meckles at PG Hospital, in Cheverly, MD. He vomited for four days and our son and daughter-in -law thought he had the flu. After not getting any better, losing energy, looken ashen and cheeks sinking in, they took him to the ER and after having a CTscan Meckles was diagnosed. He is out of recovery and doing fine according to our son. We are so thankful they caught this in time.


Comment 038

Four days after my husband (age 23) and I got married, he was suffering from a massive GI bleed. Other than severe abdominal pain and one visit to the ER a year ago that turned up nothing, he seemed almost normal. We spent our honeymoon in the Lakeland Regional Medical Center ICU because he had lost so much blood and his hemoglobin count was very low. After six days in ICU, 4 blood transfusions and a sereies of 9 scans including; meckles scan, numerous bleeding scans, 2 colonoscopies, barium test, etc... that all came out negative. The doctors were completely baffled! They finaly saw a small spot in the final bleeding scan and decided that if they didn't operate soon, even thought hey had no idea what they were going in after, he would continue to receive blood. New years day he went in to exploritory surgery at 5pm. The incision is 12" long! They found the 5-6" long meckles and he is now after 10 days in the hospital recovering at home! Thank God!!! He has only been home for a few days, but seems to be doing much better. I can't tell you how good it feels to finaly know what is wrong and to have my new husband home!!! I couldn't bear the thought of becoming a widow so soon!! When he fully recovers we will celebrate our honeymoon!! Would love to hear any comments! John and Jennifer Weekly jenelee60@hotmail.com


Comment 038

Four days after my husband (age 23) and I were married, he suffered a massive GI bleed. The only symptom he showed before was severe abdominal pain and a visit to the ER a year ago that turned up nothing. After a few days, the pain subsided. THis time he was severley bleeding. They kept him in ICU at Lakeland Regional Medical Center because he had lost so much blood. In the six days he remained in ICU, he uderwent 4 blood transfusions and a battery of 9 tests, (all negative) including: a meckles scan, 2 colonoscopies, numerous bleeding scans, barium tests, etc... The 9th and final bleed scan showed a small area in the lower right quadrant. The doctors were baffled, the didn't know what they were going after, and decided exploritory sugery was the only option with no guarantee they would find anything! New years day at 5pm. he went into surgery, we were told it would be long!,but an hour later, the surgeon came out and told us he had the best thing he could have found! Meckles diverticulum! After 10 total days in the hospital ( Great place to spend your honeymoon:) He is fianly home and recovering nicely! After he fully recovers we will celebrate our honeymoon. Doctors say it will probably be a month or more before he can return to work, but he is just glad to be recovering from something that really does exist!! If anyone knows whether or not this is hereditary, please let us know, I want to be on the lookout when we have children, so they don't have to go through what we did. Would love to hear comments! John and Jennifer Weekly jenelee60@hotmail.com


Comment 039

I am a 13 year old Meckles "survivor". I would like to give thanks to all docters who study and have made advancements in this field. It makes me feel good that people care about others who are different. Any news about the disease contact me at BinkstaC@hotmail.com.ONE


Comment 039

I am a 13 year old Meckles "survivor". I would like to give thanks to all docters who study and have made advancements in this field. It makes me feel good that people care about others who are different. Any news about the disease contact me at BinkstaC@hotmail.com.ONE


Comment 040

I never really had symptoms only chronic constipation, But on thursday 17 Jan. 2002, I was taken into surgery for appendectomy, only to find out the appendix was perfect but I had Meckel's diverticulum which had perforated, I was sick 5 days prior with a self diagniosed stomach virus..(I work at hospital and have for 24 yrs) I'm 41..and surgery went well with a small bowel resection...9 days postop.....roboj25914@aol.com


Comment 041

I have been experiencing terrible pain in my LRQ for the past 12 months after purchasing a Torso Track, accompanied at times by a burning in my stomach. This pain is usually accompanied by pain around my belly button. After having a CT was diagnosed in March 91 with Malrotation. They are at a loss as to what could be causing the pain (no kinks, or blockage). Recent surgeon referred me to a Gyno. and he diagnosed endometriosis. I have been reading the comments in this site and feel this could be related to me. Informed him and have a Meckels Scan scheduled. Any info as to what is involved in this procedure (scan), and does this ring a bell with anyone? Any help would be appreciated, tired of suffering, and running from one doctor to another. Thanks!


Comment 042

I am a healthy 34 yo w/m who was recently diagnosed with Meckles Diverticulum. After waking up last friday morning feeling slightly nauseous and with what I THOUGHT was diarrhea, I was shocked to find a bowl full of bright red blood! I was scared, to say the least, since I hadn't done ANYTHING to bring this on that I knew of. After tubes down my nose, an endoscopy, a nuclear blood scan, an angiogram, a colonoscopy and copious amounts of blood loss, I stopped bleeding,,,without any sort of diagnosis. A Meckels Scan showed that I had it.

Does anyone know the extent of the surgery--like recovery time, how severe the inscision, scarring, etc? ANY information on this would be helpful, sice i can't even SEE my surgeon to schedule this for 2 more weeks. Thanks mdr_331@hotmail.com


Comment 043

icabetts@onetel.net.uk Am 54 yrs old female. Umbilical hernia at birth, appendectomy at 18, 2 children, frequent GI upsets, womb removed at 50 for profused bleeding, clotting and never ending periods, 3 yrs later hydrosalpinx - bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy - at which point a Meckle's diverticulum was noted. I was not informed. Found out only when I requested medical records from Hospital in London. Still abdomen pains, right side shooting pains and for 2 yrs reddening and itching inside belly button treated with antifungal creams. Also had an unconfirmed renal colic treated in ER in 1999, right side, again. In '93 a bout of nausea and inabibility to eat lead to a 14lb weight loss. I became so weak I was prescribed antidepressants. I recoverd, maybe it was Meckle's all along? My mother died at 82 following surgery for intestinal occlusion, both parents had diverticula. Will I need yet more surgery?


Comment 044

I have been experiencing terrible pain in my LRQ for the past 12 months after purchasing a Torso Track, accompanied at times by burning in my stomach. This pain is usually accompanied by pain around my navel. After having a CT was diagnosed in March 91 with Malrotation. They are at a loss as to what could be causing the pain (no kinks, or blockage). Recent surgeon referred me to a Gyno. and he is leaning towards endometriosis. I have been reading the comments in this site and feel meckels could be related to me... Informed the doctor and had a Meckels Scan ..results negative. I am scheduled for a laparoscopy in a few weeks. Any help would be appreciated, tired of suffering, and running from one doctor to another. Thanks! Please email me with any information that could be of help..layla5461@mediaone.net .


Comment 045

Alison Pierce, aj093050@cs.com

I too am a Meckel's survivor. I suffered a childhood riddled by incidents of "nervous stomach." I was diagnosed with possible appendicitis numerous times. The operation however was not performed. In 1972 while pregnant with my first child I developed severe abdominal pain. My doctor's were convinced it was a gall bladder problem and were eager to operate. My husband and I decided because proper examinations could not be made that I would have the operation after the baby was born. I lost the child and when the pains returned I had the diagnostic tests done to determine if I in fact had gall bladder disease. The tests were negative. For the next 9 years I had continual bouts with abdominal pain and made numerous visits to doctors and emergency rooms. The pain was so bad that I passed out frequently. In 1980 I passed a gall stone. Not a pleasant thing to do I do not recommend it! I was admitted to a hospital in Melbourne, FL and was finally diagnosed properly and had gall bladder surgery and more. During the surgery it was discovered that I had a large Meckel's diverticulum. A bowel resection was performed. Since that surgery I have had recurrent colon cancer and am happy to report that at 51 I seem to be relatively healthy. What I would like to say to anyone who "suspects" there is something wrong and that is not "in their head" as I heard many times. Keep looking for a doctor that will listen to you. I know now that my childhood should not have been so miserable.


Comment 046

We recently had a premature baby (28weeks) have difficulty with his bowels 13 days after his birth and after a GI series determined he had a blockage where the the small and large intestestine meet the surgeon operated with a diagnosis of Meckels diverticulitis. The problem is, he is 6 weeks old still in the NICU and has had 2 very serious episodes where his abdomen becomes very distended and hard his intestines become very dilated and of course this affects his breathing and heart rate. The first time they allowed him to decompress and put him on antibiotics in case of infection. No infection the blood cultures were negative. They started feeds (OG tube) after 3 days of decompression. About 1 week later the same symptoms returned and after decompression the did another GI series and found nothing also no infection. Please if anyone has information on whether this could be related to the Meckels or have had a baby with an a loop of his intestine falling down into his Meckels diverticulum area which is what happened the first time please E mail me at Dansolomon@msn.com We are concerned this may occur again when he comes home from the hospital and may not detect the symptoms soon enough.


Comment 047

meeps50@hotmail.com. I am a 52 yr old female, who had an abdominal hysterectomy three weeks ago. My gyn spotted the Meckel's, and immediately called in a surgeon to remove it. (I had told him to please remove everything possible while he was there.... and he told me what he was doing, anyway, because I was awake during the surgery.) After reading the comments I am delighted with his decision. I went back to work half days last week, and while I think I may wait a few more weeks before trying out the picante sauce or Tobasco, I have not had any trouble with eating red pepper on my food & drinking beer in the evening. (No doubt it was very small - I was asymptomatic.)


Comment 048

IN 1991 MY DAUGHTER WAS FOUND TO HAVE A MECKLES. FROM BIRTH I FELT THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING NOT RIGHT. SHE WOULD THROW UP HER FOUND BEFORE SHE WAS EVEN FINISHED EATING SHE WOULD GET VERY HIGH FEVERS THAT WOULD GO AWAY AS FAST AS THEY CAME. DOCTORS RAN HUNDREDS OF TEST AND BLOOD WORK FOR MONTHS AND NEVER FOUND ANY THING WRONG. AFTER SHE HEMORAGED WE WERE SENT HERSHEY MEDICAL CENTER WHERE THEY DID THE MECKLES SCAN. AFTER 3 BLOOD TRANFUSSIONS HERE VITALS WERE GOOD ENOUGH TO DO SURGERY TO REMOVE THE MECKLES AND HER APPENDIX. SHE HAD NO COMPLICATIOS AFTER SURGERY. SHE IS NOW 12 AND DOES HAVE BOUTS OF IBS. IF THAT IS WHAT IT IS.ALSO HAS HAD A UPPER GI THAT SHOWS ACID REFLUX, HAD A SMALL BOWLE FOLLOW THROUGH THAT SHOWED NOTHING ABNORMALS BUT I HAVE TROUBLE TRUSTING THOSE WHO READ THE RESULTS.


Comment 049

angelwingsandco@hotmail.com hi my daughter is 8 years old and has suspected meckles has just had a blood tranfusion and iron cell r so low probably a slow bleed for 2 yrs with 3 day large blood loss. meckles scan and berium meal taken but not 100% conclusive so as bleeding has now stopped due to rantitidine medicine how can i get her diagnosed if problem is fixed till next time , will she have a 12 hour bleed then ill lose her, everything points to meckles i cant exept for her sake that its k now. please help with some advice for me at mo she is fine blood count 4.1 after tranfusion 9.1 a week later 9.4 waiting on another one today not sure were were going from here very scary.angelwingsandco@hotmail.com


Comment 050

siobhan@carroll9035.freeserve.co.uk I am a 49yr old survivor of Meckles. I suffered abdominal pains & GI bleeds for yrs everytime I said how much blood I was passing I was told it always looks more in the water of the loo pan & was told it was likely piles. Following long episodes of severe pain and many scans etc I was diagnosed likely Pelvic inflamatory disease & my womb was removed 15yrs ago, finally in June2002 folowing two emergency admissions to hospital within 2wks & having been in and out for yrs with a pain that was 'likely in my head' I became so ill that I received a nuclear scan & was rushed off to surgery within the hour with suspected colon cancer they found my Meckles & removed it, my appendix & a portion of my colon. I feel better than I have in yrs though still get occasional mild pain. Please listen to people who repeatedly say they have a pain. Good luck to you all.


Comment 051

Female 56 Meckles survivor. Had nausea, coated tongue, general malaise and rebound pain. Underwent emergency surgery for Meckles, adhesions from previous surgery, and incidental appendectomy. Day following surgery, doctor visited me and said "good thing you came to see me yesterday or you would not have been alive today".

Ten years earlier, my first cousin suffered same. Received Last Rites twice and then was saved by a competent surgeon.

Meckles is probably what happened to Maurice Gibb except his doctors at Mt. Sinai wern't very smart and now they are trying to cover up their incompetence.


Comment 052

My son, who is now 26 had surgery for Meckle's at age 9 months. The only reason we knew something was wrong was extreme fussiness overnight. His legs were mottled blue when I took him to the ped. He flat-lined in the ER and was revived. Exploratory surgery was done 2 days later, removing half of his small intestine. He gets B12 injections and has chronic diarrhea and is underweight. marilynss@yahoo.com


Comment 053

AidanMatt77@aol.com Had a sigmoid colon resection in January for diverticulitis..been in and out of the ER numerous times and have been told that I have had, among other things, prostatitis, kidney infections, and urinary tract infections. Finally the doctors told me they didn't know the specific cause of my pain and sent me off to pain management. The pain has been getting progressively worse in my lower right quadrant lately. The diarrhea has been like acid and streaked with blood, and I can't get warm to save my life. Don't know where to turn to next....


Comment 054

My 10 yr old son is recovering from surgery this week removing Meckles. It has been a very frustrating year. Have seen many Doctors, some suggesting it was "all in this head" to " I have no idea". He had severe abdominal pain & vomiting about 3-4 times a month & would last about 2-3 days, then a bloody bowel movement would follow. Last week it got to the point that he had not been able to eat or drink for days due to ++ pain. Obviously became dehydrated & required IV fluids. He also has lost about 12 pounds in last 3 months. Must also mention that he has had, x-rays,ultrasounds,Barium enema,small bowel series,blood work.....etc. Then when I arrived with him at the ER at CHEO & he was admitted, all it took was one simple, painles Meckle scan to determine the diagnosis of Meckles Diverticulum...which was removed that very evening. He is doing well..but don't think he still can get his head around the fact that he will not have any more "sore tummy". Help our stories my be helpful to someone. ajbenoit@nrtco.net


Comment 055

I have been having LRQ pain and also pain around my midsection for about a year. Have had a barage of tests - 2 ultrasounds from gynecologist. Recently, endsoscopy, colonoscopy, small bowel series...a hiatal hernia and stomach polyps w/ scar tissue on my esophogus showed on the endoscopy. (Waiting on biopsy results) The colonscopy showed diverticulosis, a few small polyps (which were benign)None of which the Dr. feels would be the cause of my pain. It seems to be getting worse and more frequent- especially at night. My abdomen also swells up like a balloon several times a day, and I have bouts of 'weakness' ...when I phoned my dr's. office last week with this complaint, the nurse's comment was that my pain/swelling was 'probably just gas'. Searching the web for answers (being my own advocate) and came across this site. Am scheduled for CT scan of my abdomen/pelvis on Thursday of this week. I'm searching for answers, as I REALLY want this to be over with! MKLady6@aol.com


Comment 056

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Comment 057

Stuart Richardson, stuart.ian.richardson@tinyonline.co.uk

Wow so many comments, I was searching for info regarding B12 deficiency and did a search on Meckels diverticulitis. Diagnosed at age 7. Now 41. Yes some time ago remember the recovery period. The infection led to 22" of Bowel removal. Any comments to add on this page regarding aftercare. Currently I've been on B12 since then and take questran powder every day keeps the IBS away.. Regards, Stuart


Comment 058

bycheryl@epix.net We just returned home from a week's stay at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, Pa. Dr. Estrada a surgeon at the hospital performed my daughter's surgery. She was brought in for what we considered an appendix attack. She is a very active 9 year old that has suffered for years with stomach aches, but this one was very severe. They did the cat scan and determined that the appendix probably needed to come out. Dr. Estrada came out and explained the surgery to us, and he drew a diagram. He added a 1% chance that it could be a meckles diverticulitis and drew that picture. He explained that it was a very rare genetic disorder where the bowel doesn't separate from the ambilical cord properly after birth. That when the ambilical cord dries up and falls off a nipple is left and usually absorbs into the bowel. Some rare cases it does not and forms this little pocket that fills up with bowel seepage and bacteria. My daughter's meckles burst causing the contents of her bowel to spill into the abdomen. He took out her appendix, cut out the meckles, and cleaned out her lower appendages. She is newly home from the hospital, so I don't know how this will change her life, but we always thought that she had a "nervous" stomach or lactose intollerance. A week ago she actually looked 5 months pregnant on a photo taken on vacation. I'm sure if anyone needs information on Meckles, Dr. Estrada would be the person to correspond with. He said that he saw one case of this 15 years ago. God looked down on us and brought him to us - he had a nagging feeling that it was not the appendix, so looked further. He said that most surgeons just take the appendix and don't look further. He just didn't feel right about not looking further when he saw the amount of puss, etc. in her belly.


Comment 061

My 11 year old son has recovered from Meckles after a very frightening experience. We were visiting family in New Zealand for 5 weeks followed by a 10 day stay in Fiji. 3 days after we arrived home his symptoms began. I am a RN and noticed the odor of rectal bleeding, a very distinctive smell. My son told me he had blood in his stool. We went to our pediatrician and my son passed out in the office. He has then tranfered to the local hospital where he passed out again. Blood work was done showing slightly elevated white count and low blood count. We then were tranfered to Childerns hosp San Diego where he started having frequent bloody stools. After several hours his blood count dropped dramatically. He was given a couple units of blood and a Meckles Scan. The scan came back negative. The physicians were thinking he has some sort of bacterial infection picked up in Fiji or possibly cancer. We were terrified. The next day he started bleeding so bad they did an exploratory laparotomy and found that he did have Meckles. He is now doing fine and has recovered without incident. I was told that the Meckles scan will give a false negative 1-2% of the time. We are very thankful this happened at home and not in Fiji.


Comment 062

My 16 month old son was just released from the hospital after having surgery to remove Meckles. He started with flu like symptoms - vomiting, not eating, fever and he was very pail. His belly became very distended and he seemed very uncomfortable. He was sent to the hospital from his primary doctor and after running several tests they could only see that there was a blockage in his small bowel and they needed to operate. Once the operation was complete the doctor came and told us that he did not expect it to be Meckles since in his 21 years of being a surgeon he has only seen this one other time. My son spent the next 3 nights in the hospital and is slowly regaining his normal personality. I am wondering if anyone could let me know what could have caused him to have this? Please e-mail veronica2@charter.net


Comment 063

12-10-03 was operated on for severe upper GI pain diagnosed as 2 severely twisted meckels diverticuli(like a slinky toy!)that may have lead to a tumor (looks begign but in boston pathology now for study) pain leading up to this was bad and i could hold very little food in my GI tract. Emer-Room at Portsmouth, NH Hospital Dr Heller and later Lap-Surgeon Dr. Pacuilli did great job identifying this and then fixing it surgically. Now Home Feeling Ok but tired and need to get back to regular sleep pattern but minimal pain. The MED-Types here are very talented and post-op hospital care was great. Hope this helps someone in pain. Utote123@aol.com


Comment 064

Hi,I had a Meckel's Diverticulum removed last year after years of tests, E.R. visits and some doctors treating me as if I were a hypochondriac. Luckily, I had a doctor who took the time to find out what was going on- it was diagnosed while undergoing laparoscopy. Apparently, it was pretty big-about 4 or 5 inches. I think that if you are female and on the young side, sometimes your complaints aren't taken seriously.


Comment 065

I am a 60yr old male, taken to ER (Shaarey Zedek, Jerusalem) with severe abdominal pains. After Xray and CT diagnosed as Meckles diverticulum and operated immediately. Removed 60 (80?) cms of small intestine. It had looped, strangulated arteries and become cretonic. Abdominal pain continued for 5/6 weeks after surgery Now after 7 weeks pain almost gone BUT am having continuing problem with diarhea. It was 10 X p day dropped to 4, now back to 10. I have to go within 10 - 60 min after eating. Have not yet found a food/diet to control the problem. Causes tiredness and pain in the kidney region. Anyone similar? Suggestions.David, kuzari@hotmail.com


Comment 066

angelwingsandco@hotmail.com have made a previous entry number 49 now 16 months later my daughter has had another large bleed like i feared a lot quicker this time 12 hours nearly lost her again had another blood transfusion to save her life another meckles scan which was negative, this time the doctors had no idea again so was transfered to a gaustrienioloy speacialist in bristol they imediatly operated camera up and down found nothing so they opened her up and found meckles but only just after taking out most of the intestines found it hidden and removed part of intestine with it and also appendixs as scar would indicate appendix have been removed and could cause problems in later life. my daughter is now in recovery and will be 10 on monday. thank you so much to the surgeons and doctors (angels) who saved her life . all symtoms were meckles but no evidence could b found , the reason i knew it was happening again this time was the distinctive smell when going to the toilet my heart dropped as i knew she was bleeding again .good luck towards diagnosis to all other meckles sufferers.sandra and daughter amber x


Comment 067

Polly W. Neldner, pwneldner@hotmail.com

After reading several of the comments on this defect, I find myself becoming extremely distressed that it is so often over-looked and missed. I just lost a friend, 61 years-old to this. He had been in pain and going back and forth between doctors for close to 20 years. He had every test they could do, endoscopies, colonoscopies, CAT scans, PET? Scans, blood tests. Finally, when he already had had blood tranfusions, and had peritonitis they opened him up and removed the Meckel's (it was roughly the size of a baseball) and a mass of connective tissue the roughly the size of a grapefruit. He died at home Sunday evening. I can't help but feel that if our medical schools were teaching our physicians to think "outside the box" and not rely strictly on what the majority of cases are that he might still be alive, and might have been saved the pain he had been going through all these years.

He thought he was crazy and a hypochondriac. He as passed from doctor to doctor and they all performed that same tests, and all said that they could find nothing wrong. If just one of those doctors had "thought outside the box", had pursued it further than what the tests showed, done exploratory surgery, he would still be here.


Comment 068

Just a quick note: my wife, at the time age 36, had a severe hemmorage due to an apparently rare condition known as an intersuscepted Meckel's diverticulum. 3 units of blood and one emergency surgery later, she is fine. Interesting to note was that the diverticulum was only found due to a trace done while actually bleeding. An earlier bleeding episode went undiagnosed and the Meckels did not show with a "Meckels scan".


Comment 069

Just a quick note, my 9 year old daughter has just had a large meckels removed and is doing well,she had always compalined of nervous tummy, had suspected appendix, bad breath. 3 months ago she began to bring up blood and pass blood in her stools, she lost 1/2 a stone and became very pale, her meckels scan was negative. but in the end our surgeon operated and found a large meckels and a bleeding ulcer, thanks to this websit I pursued the surgeon until he operated. Scarry thing there are very few British websites about Meckels. I have had the same symptoms all my life and had my appendix out 2 years ago which was healthy. Is this a hereditary condition? someone please reply andrea.palmer@yellgroup.com