Abdominal Pain PSA
I've had a run of people admitted to the ICU after have 1-2 weeks of abdominal pain who were struggling to eat or drink that ended up having conditions leading to necrotic bowel. Dead bowel makes people incredibly sick. Like, death's door sick. Anecdotally, I'd say maybe 60% of our patients make it through such an ordeal. Every time I talk with their families, their loved ones say that they looked bad and they tried to get the patient to go get some help. Often, these people wait too long.
So.
PSA: if you're having abdominal pain and can't keep anything down for more than 48 hours (especially in the context of N/V WITHOUT bowel movements), you NEED to go to the ER. Not urgent care. Not your PCP. The ER. Please get checked out. Do not let things sit. If you have known GI disease like diverticulosis, a hernia, etc, even more of a reason to get checked out.
