Hi everyone. My name is Koren. I am 24 years old and on Nov 7th 2023 I had a life changing diagnosis and surgery. For the past few years I have had increasing amounts of abdominal pain, fullness after eating, bloody stools, urgency etc. For awhile, doctors assumed it was just anxiety or stress, or maybe just bouts of IBS. I listened to them for awhile until I finally had enough and kept going back to the doctors demanding answers. I was then referred to a colorectal surgeon who assumed it was maybe Crohn’s disease or UC. I had a colonoscopy done September 11th 2023, and it came back clear. I was very discouraged. My surgeon did not want to give up on me though. She ordered a CT scan to view my small intestine to see if Crohn’s was higher up. I had the CT scan done on Oct 31st 2023, and told them to mail me the CT results and CD when it was done. I got the results in the mail that following Sunday before my doctor even had the chance to look at the scans! I opened it up and my jaw hit the floor when I read “small bowel volvulus” everything started to make sense. I started doing immense amounts of research that night. My friend told me I needed to go to the ER. I decided to go to the ER the following day. The doctors did another CT to confirm and immediately phoned general surgery. The surgeon said it was the weirdest and rarest case she has even seen. I was then diagnosed with congenital malrotation of the intestines, and she did a LADDs procedure to correct it. I stayed in the hospital 5 days and it was the longest, most tiring 5 days of my life. The doctors came into my room one day and said “wow how are you still alive, this is a miracle” and another doctor said “how have you lived with this for 24 years” and my answer was simple: doctors didn’t want to look into my pain. I’m so grateful to be alive. Suprised my intestines were alive as well, I didn’t need any resections and for that I am so thankful. I should also add that my mom noticed I would projectile vomit a lot as a baby but the doctors told her I would grow out of it, so I have been dealing with this for a long long time. I hope i can heal normally from this day forth.. and I hope my story can inspire others who may have intestinal malrotation or know someone who does. I am now a second year (last semester) nursing student going into pediatrics. I wonder if I will ever encounter a baby with this condition in my career. I hope to be a great advocate for my patients in the future because of what I have gone through.
