I have been hospitalized twice in 20 years due to one tiny diverticulitis pocket. Saw the pocket on photo from test done and it is about the size of a pea. Food gets stuck in there and rots causing pain and inflammation. Mine starts with a twinge about 3 to 4 inches above the left hip. If I let it go it gets bad, really bad pain. Then the hospital and doctor put me on a liquid diet. Antibiotics Cipro and Flagel and a pain killer. The trick is not to let it go to the bad point. When I feel the twinge I immediately start drinking Slim Fast and Metamucil. Plus no solid foods only clear liquids. In a few days it is gone. The surprising thing to me was the change in attitude between the 20 year hospitalizations. 1st time I was told not to eat seedy things like tomatoes, cukes, nuts, etc. for the rest of my life. The second time I was told it had been discovered that "any small piece of food" could cause the problem. Doc and dietician said it could be a grain of rice, a crumb of hard toast, anything! Just make sure to handle it quickly, I didn't because the 1st time I didn't know what it was. Second time it was 4 days before Christmas and I thought it could wait. Mine is only one pocket, my girlfriend had a ton of pockets and they removed that piece of bowel and she has no problem now. Good luck.

http://www.gastro.org/guidelines/acute-diverticulitis Question 5. Should Consumption of Nuts and Popcorn Be Avoided in Patients With a History of Acute Diverticulitis? The AGA suggests against routinely advising patients with a history of acute diverticulitis to avoid consumption of nuts and popcorn. (Conditional recommendation, very-low quality of evidence). The relevant data on the consumption of nuts and popcorn and subsequent diverticulitis outcomes are derived from observational studies of incident episodes of diverticulitis. There are few data on consumption of these products and subsequent recurrence of diverticular disease. The key study reported modest estimates of relative risks (range, 0.55–1.13) and has a high degree of statistical uncertainty (95% confidence intervals that surround 1.0). In the absence of more compelling evidence, it seems that advising patients to avoid these items is not useful.

I'm glad this error was caught before any unnecessary treatment! Unfortunately, this happens all too often. You have to be your own advocate. About 15 years ago, my son had an MRI on his knee. The radiologist report said he had a (don't remember exactly) but the problem he identified was in the humerus, ulna, and radius. That could have been one to make the medical journals -- having an elbow where the knee is supposed to be.

A friend had diverticulitis. He passed away years ago in a nursing home. Low-fiber is one of the causes of diverticulitis, and this friend had to eat stewed prunes for breakfast. Some docs use antibiotics are used to treat diverticulitis, such as Bactrim, Flagyl, Cipro, amoxicillin. I don't have diverticulitis, but I was prescribed many antibiotics in my 61-year life for dental treatments, Staph infection (from poison oak), and pneumonia. I took 3 of the above antibiotics that are also used to treat diverticulitis. After each antibiotics (esp. Bactrim DS), my guts COULD NOT even handle lettuce, and I doubled over with horrendous gas pain just from eating 2 leaves of romaine lettuce. Antibiotics kill all the good bacteria that help to digest fiber. After each antibiotics, I had horrible gas and stomach pain from eating any fiber. Culturelle probiotics helped immediately, and I was able to eat lots of veggies & beans with no problems. It's best to buy Culturelle from a busy store like Walmart, it's fresher. There are too many fake products made in China from Amazon. The Culturelle I bought from Amazon was either too old or doesn't work well like the one bought in Walmart. Another probiotics I like is Garden of Life Probiotics for Men or Women. After reading thousands of Amazon Reviews, and checking the ranking of probiotics by Prevention magazine, Garden of Life DOES work for better sleep and digestion. I used to have horrible gas if I eat banana before bed-time (can't even sleep), now I have zero problems with banana before bedtime. Banana is high in fiber. Some info. from below site: Diverticulosis & Diverticulitis: Symptoms, Treatments, Prevention (clevelandclinic.org) Diverticulosis is very common in Western populations and occurs in 10% of people over age 40 and in 50% of people over age 60. The rate of diverticulosis increases with age, and it affects almost everyone over age 80. Not eating enough fiber causes a buildup of waste (constipation) in your colon. This puts extra strain on the walls of the colon. This increased pressure causes the little pockets — the diverticula — to form in weak areas in your colon. The infection starts due to the bacteria in stool that gets pushed into the diverticula. You are at increased risk of diverticular disease if you: Are over 40 years of age. Are male. Are overweight. Eat a low-fiber diet. Eat a diet high in fat and red meat. Don’t exercise. Take aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil®, Motrin®) and naproxen (Aleve®); steroids; or opioids. And Smoke.