The Colon Club

I just wanted to add to the idea of stress being a huge contributing factor, if not the root cause, to cancer. When i was first DX,they told me that they estimated my tumor had been forming basically for about 8-10 years. Of course, I thought back to around that time and was in fact going through a ton of personal, financial, emotional and work related stresses. Very dark times indeed. Of course, there's no way to know for sure, but my gut instinct is there is some correlation at least,even if it was just a prolonged weakening of my body's own immune system. Just something to think about.

Miss Molly, you seem pretty knowledgeable about small bowel obstructions. My first one was right after the holidays and they sent me home, but I am still having significant pain. It will be 4 weeks. Doesn't this seem like a long time for recovery. I have been on a Miralax regimen, low fiber diet, (am having bm's and passing gas) but something clearly isn't right and i think it may be inflammed bowels. Any suggestions, or is this at all normal. I have seen my surgeon, my GI and my PCP.

rtcasper wrote:I just wanted to add to the idea of stress being a huge contributing factor, if not the root cause, to cancer. When i was first DX,they told me that they estimated my tumor had been forming basically for about 8-10 years. Of course, I thought back to around that time and was in fact going through a ton of personal, financial, emotional and work related stresses. Very dark times indeed. Of course, there's no way to know for sure, but my gut instinct is there is some correlation at least,even if it was just a prolonged weakening of my body's own immune system. Just something to think about.

I was told the same thing, tumor had probably been around 10 years before discovery.

Hope all is ok Mike..........
U haven't posted in a while,,,
Missing Ur updates

ADELE X

The obstruction has been a continuing problem though on the order of once a week. I usually lay on my left side and it would eventually pass. I'd have a lot of watery output and get emptied out. Work has been stressful for quite a while - one of my coworkers is in the hospital with a collapsed lung, the likely result of working through the flu.

I tried eating potatoes to firm output a few days ago and that was a bad idea as it firmed output in the small intestine. I would feel pressure every two minutes for quite a long time until things eventually pushed through. I am in that situation right now and can't find a comfortable position and can't seem to sleep. I sent a note to my surgeon asking if there's something that she can do. This is one of those things where I feel like I could die from this. Part of the problem is that the condition results in a deterioration of your overall health.

The waves of pain are interesting. I guess that this is how the intestines normally work - they wake up every two minutes to push food along. There can be some gurgling too.

It would be nice if there were a surgical answer. I know that removing the scar tissue could have it come back but right now I'd prefer an ileostomy to what I'm going through right now.

We're not going to make our dates and my manager has indicated that and is getting pushback from another group on it as it's their part that wasn't ready. I'm glad that she's arguing the issue. I am not productive at work - I can do little things right now. My coworker is doing little bits of work from the hospital. They are going to try to inflate his lung with an antibiotic. If that doesn't work, then it has to be repaired with surgery.

Mike, if you have short term disability available to you now might be the time to take some time off to rest your body and let it heal. It would give you some time off if you needed surgery, etc to fix the obstruction too. Just something to think about. If you pay into it or your company does it is there for you to use, no matter how busy the company is at the time you need to take it.

Sorry to hear that things haven't resolved, mike.

I second what cbsmith says. Stress est no bueno!

Keep us posted!

Sorry you are having such a rough go of it Mike. I know it is tough to be gone from work, but the short term disability route, if it is an option, might be a good thing to look into. I am sure your company wants you at your best for the long haul not just part of you for the short term.

Praying for you and hang in there,

Dave

I sent a note to my surgeon with my status and asked her if anything can be done. The weather has created problems in our area generally.

I'm going to write a note to my manager.

NHMike wrote:The weather has created problems in our area generally.

I'm going to write a note to my manager.

The weather is fun here too. -37 with a reall feel of -52. We hit a real feel of -66 last night. So a day with no school. That doesn’t happen around here much.

Dave

I'm trying to reach a GI person at a local clinic. This is the same office for the GI guy that did the colonoscopy and set me up with the oncologist and radiation therapy doctors. He's left to go to another hospital so I'm trying to get someone in the office to see me on short notice or tell me to go the ER. I don't feel like I need to go to the ER but the body can deteriorate rapidly. It helped that I got some sleep last night. I need to lie down for a lot of hours to get a decent amount of sleep as the waves can keep me up.

The GI doctor really wouldn't be able to help so the GI's office is going to talk to a general surgeon to see what they recommend. I would prefer my own surgeon but I haven't heard back from her.

Mike, I had surgery to remove scar tissue 4 weeks after my resection for a blockage. I went into the hospital had an ng tube inserted and waited a week to see if it would resolve itself. My surgeon decided to remove the scar tissue and reverse my ileostomy at the same time. That was 3 1/2 years ago and I have been okay since, although I am careful and blockage is always in the back of my mind. Maybe you need to have scar tissue removed. I also have a small hernia that my surgeon is watching that does not bother me. He does not want to repair unless necessary I'm sure because each procedure increases the chance of scar tissue. I hope you can get things resolved. Have you tried miralax or stool softener to help things along.

susie0915 wrote:Mike, I had surgery to remove scar tissue 4 weeks after my resection for a blockage. I went into the hospital had an ng tube inserted and waited a week to see if it would resolve itself. My surgeon decided to remove the scar tissue and reverse my ileostomy at the same time. That was 3 1/2 years ago and I have been okay since, although I am careful and blockage is always in the back of my mind. Maybe you need to have scar tissue removed. I also have a small hernia that my surgeon is watching that does not bother me. He does not want to repair unless necessary I'm sure because each procedure increases the chance of scar tissue. I hope you can get things resolved. Have you tried miralax or stool softener to help things along.

That's hopeful - that surgery could fix it for good.

I have a little pain with just water going through my system.

When I go, it's usually mostly liquid as there is water behind the stool.

NHMike wrote:
The waves of pain are interesting. I guess that this is how the intestines normally work - they wake up every two minutes to push food along. There can be some gurgling too.

It would be nice if there were a surgical answer. I know that removing the scar tissue could have it come back but right now I'd prefer an ileostomy to what I'm going through right now.

What you can do to help with the motions of the peristalsis is to lightly massage your abdomen, in a clockwise motion. Start from your appendix and gently (let your
discomfort level be your guide) rotate the flat of your hand in a large circle - visualize going up the ascending colon, then across your transverse colon, down descending colon and back to appendix. Do that as many times as you feel needful, gradually pressing down more firmly with the flat of your hand - you're helping to push along any
bloating and faecal material. I have qualifications in tactile therapies and Compassionate Touch massage and whenever I get the sense of there being a
kink-in-the-hose and I'm seeing the bright flashing lights of an ambulance in my immediate future, I give my tummy a rub. I now give myself an abdominal massage before and after eating as part of my self-care.