I have no idea if this is pertinent or not, but after they removed my gallbladder, I didn’t exactly have pain, but I was literally unable to eat and a few days later, I couldn’t even drink any water without immediately getting explosive diarrhea. After 10 days of that, I passed out and had to go back to the hospital and they put me on some kind of medication and unfortunately I can’t remember the name now, but it started with “chole” (cholestyramine?) and what it did was it took the cholesterol out of my digestive tract (it was not a statin) and I took it every day for nine weeks until I became allergic to it, which always happens to me, but it did the trick, and then I was able to eat. I had to be on a limited diet for a long time though because my IBS was triggered constantly and I still can’t eat normally, but it got way better. Just a thought. Did he suffer from IBS before the surgery? One of the doctors told me that the worse your IBS is the worse you’re gonna feel after the surgery for a while. Anyway, I hope you find an answer. 💖