The Colon Club

I had a blockage 4 weeks after my resection. Nothing in the bag, no gas and pretty bad abdominal pain. I don't remember after reversal, as I had it reversed when I had surgery for the blockage, then got c diff in the hospital. So had to deal with that horrible uncontrollable diarrhea.

But I believe if you had a blockage, you would be having pain. Are you passing gas? That's a good sign of no blockage. The pain meds don't help either, they cause constipation. About a year ago I had some pain went to hospital and was constipated. Pretty embarrassing, but I was worried after going through a blockage once.

I'm sure if you had a blockage you wouldn't be passing gas and have pretty bad abdominal pain. Plus if you're not eating much you're not going to go much. Problem is we are now so tuned in to our bowels it's constantly on our minds. My gastro once told me the more I stress about it the worse it'll be. It's hard tho, I'm always so aware of my bottom.

Good luck, hopefully things will start moving soon.

susie0915 wrote:I had a blockage 4 weeks after my resection. Nothing in the bag, no gas and pretty bad abdominal pain. I don't remember after reversal, as I had it reversed when I had surgery for the blockage, then got c diff in the hospital. So had to deal with that horrible uncontrollable diarrhea.

But I believe if you had a blockage, you would be having pain. Are you passing gas? That's a good sign of no blockage. The pain meds don't help either, they cause constipation. About a year ago I had some pain went to hospital and was constipated. Pretty embarrassing, but I was worried after going through a blockage once.

I'm sure if you had a blockage you wouldn't be passing gas and have pretty bad abdominal pain. Plus if you're not eating much you're not going to go much. Problem is we are now so tuned in to our bowels it's constantly on our minds. My gastro once told me the more I stress about it the worse it'll be. It's hard tho, I'm always so aware of my bottom.

Good luck, hopefully things will start moving soon.

Thank you! Am passing gas. Not a ton but some but I don't have a lot of food in my system. No abdominal pain whatsoever so I think I'm good. I will no doubt be back posting about clustering and urgency in short order. What fun journeys we lead!

Basil:
The intestinal tract is often traumatized by surgery, including reversal surgery. The effect is a slowling of the neuromuscular coordination involved with paristalsis.

I know that you have had loose, watery stool the day after reversal and are now concerned by a lack of bowel movement.

You do want to keep they GI attract moving when taking narcotics for pain. But you want to avoid swinging the pendulum too far toward repeated diarrhea. Options:

1. 1/2 dose of milk of magnesia. Take 1 tablespoon with ample fluids.
2. 1/2 dose of Miralax. Take 1/2 cap with ample fluids.
3. 6 oz of warmed prune juice or PlumSmart (a prune juice cocktail drink).

Both MOM and Miralax are osmotic agents that nudge along a sluggish colon. Both can be taken safely after a reversal.

Repeat the 1/2 dose if you do not have results within 12 hours.

Avoid taking a harsh stimulant laxative (Sennacot or E-Lax).

Stool softeners are often inadequate. Stool softeners add water to the large intestine but without any kinetic or movement assistance. The result more than often that the stool sits in the lower sigmoid colon like heavily weighted cement. And sits. Without producing a bowel movement.

Simple yoga postures - especially those that have an element of torso rotation - can be helpful in massaging a slow colon to begin to move. And, of course, walking. The intestines are a long tube of smooth muscle and are stimulated and engaged by walking and exercise of skeletal muscles of the legs and lower abdomen.

It sounds as though your early recovery is progressing well. You are a champ. Best wishes in the days ahead,
Karen

Well any low grade concern was misplaced. Had some solid food - pizza - and we're off and running.

I'm not taking anything and after 24 hours of calm silence it's coming in bursts. Oh well, to be expected.

I've been working steady for years and this is my longest reprieve by far. So it's still sorta nice.

Also, one of the tips from the MD Anderson bowel control program is drinking a hot liquid can sometimes can initiate a bowel movement. Just some information if you have issues in the future. Doesn't have to be tea or coffee, hot soup will work also. Good Luck, sounds like you're doing pretty well.

Susie

Basil wrote:Well any low grade concern was misplaced. Had some solid food - pizza - and we're off and running.

I could not resist pizza the other day either- it tasted so good and was the first food I've really been hungry for and eaten in any normal volume since my reversal last week. So great! No obvious effects either which is nice. Even with oxy I'm still having loose runny poops, which I guess is good?

Well, went to the bathroom twice yesterday. Otherwise, all silent and normal. No urges or emergencies. We'll note it as a good day and soldier on.

And nothing today. Had a couple of small BMs late last night. I can hear gurgling like normal but no output. Obviously no clustering or urges. Just . . . quiet. Not sure if this is a positive sign or there's a storm a brewin.

So Monday I got worried and took an enema in the morning. That cleared a lot out. Tuesday went three times, noon, five and midnight, with minor clustering. The midnight bout cleared everything out. Today, nothing, but all I've had to eat is a piece of toast. I took a fall yesterday and have had pain at the incision site so a hernia worry is in the back of my mind.

All and all, things have been very manageable so far. BMs are sometimes few and far between, and three has been my max. But, again, I'm eating very little. Still recovering from the reversal nine days ago.

Sounds like things are going pretty well. Good news.

And if anyone is checking this thread because they're anticipating reversal and have interest in another traveler's journey, let me know. I'm happy to update but won't do so if it's not going to help out anyone else.

Basil wrote:And if anyone is checking this thread because they're anticipating reversal and have interest in another traveler's journey, let me know. I'm happy to update but won't do so if it's not going to help out anyone else.

It's good to keep updating Basil.
If not for those currently, there may be folks in years to come that may gain from the information you share.
I know there are lots of threads from several years ago that I come across sometimes in a google search that I find relevant.

Keep progressing. Sounds like things are going quite well for you.

best wishes.