The Colon Club

This past Thursday I woke up at 2AM with severe abdominal pain. My husband wanted to call for an ambulance, but we wound up driving to the local hospital instead. I really thought it would turn out to be a bad case of gas, or something else that wasn't too serious. Well, it turned out to be a closed loop small bowel obstruction, and by the time I had arrived at the hospital, they had to give me a pretty high dose of Dilauded to control that pain. I had surgery pretty soon after arriving, and luckily they were able to go in, snip one adhesion, and untangle the whole mess.

My surgeon used the term "hostile abdomen," which I know another forum member heard to describe her abdomen as well. Anyone else in the "Hostile abdomen club" here?

Also, anyone else have problems with repeated adhesion-related obstructions? I'm hoping this won't be a recurring problem.

You can count me as a member of the club. A few months ago, I made an unscheduled trip to the ER with a small bowel obstruction, suspected to be caused by adhesions. Mine resolved with the help of the dreaded NG tube after about a day. Haven't had another incident, butt I'm sure it's possible. I've always been a slow eater which probably helps.
Best wishes, peanut

I hope you feel better soon!*hugs* That sounds awful!

I am a member of the club. Have been for about 4 years now. I am currently on the waiting list for surgery. They are going to give me a colostomy. I can't take it anymore and my anastamosis is too low for any other intervention. Wish me luck and if you are so inclined pray for me. Good luck to you.

Count me in as well, have had about 15 blockages, 7 required ER and admission to the hospital, had 2 surgeries to remove, but each surgery puts you at risk for another SBO....very scary and frustrating.

I'm beginning to suspect I can join this club too - I think I've got adhesions starting to cause a few problems. I know I had a lot they found when they reversed my ileostomy. I get keloid scars too, I wonder if keloid-y people are also adhesion-y people?

Anyway, over the past eight months or so I've begun to have the odd episode of unexplained abdominal pain. It feels *almost* like the bowel obstructions I had but its not quite that bad and I do still get a little gas and output. But it hurts like the blazes and lasts 24-48 hours when it strikes - kind of diffuse, all over abdominal pain, with a lot of tightness and pressure behind it and it really really hurts to engage my abs - as in lifting a leg to step into pants. I was at the movies Sat. night when it came on and I wanted to cross my legs an I swear, I just could NOT lift my left leg to do it. As time goes by, it narrows to my left side (sigmoid colostomy) and sometimes feels like a hot poker up my intestine, my back will hurt and then it gradually abates.

I've had a colonoscopy and CT scan six months ago, partly in relation to my mentioning this to my doc, and its all fine so as best I can figure it must be adhesions causing minor blockage.

So yep, my abdomen can get pretty angry and hostile.

Count me in. Had emergency bowel obstruction surgery that was caused by adhesions in 2010. Spent two weeks in the hospital, part of it in intensive care because the bowel had become necrotic and I was starting into sepsis. Lots of fun. NG tube for a week and a half.

My LAR, I was told, had a 90% chance of being done laparoscopically, but one look inside with the camera and it was changed to open. The surgeon spent an hour and half cutting away adhesions. I've been clearly told that it's not a question of if I'll have another bowel obstruction, but when. I feel like a walking time bomb.

Some people are more prone to growing adhesions than others and every time they open you up, they will probably cause more to grow. I've been opened up five times now, so it's not surprising that I have so many. I asked if there was anything I could do to prevent the adhesions and was told there isn't.

I will say that when I had my bowel obstruction, the pain was worse than the natural childbirth I went through 4 times. It is not a fun experience. They told me it was kidney stones at first and when that proved false, they said it was a stomach flu and sent me home with a prescription for pain pills and nausea medication. I was back in the ER the next day and a CT with contrast showed the obstruction they had missed on the first CT. Good thing I didn't stay at home taking the pills they gave me or I would have died. Almost did anyway because of the delay.

Never mess around with these things. They are serious. If you are having severe abdominal pain and vomiting, get to the ER right away and let them know that you've had abdominal surgery.

Judy

In June 2013, DBF wrote:... My OB/GYN, who is a high-risk doctor, and my surgeon are planning to do a joint C-section and colon resection surgery in four weeks...

In November 2015,DBF wrote:... Well, it turned out to be a closed loop small bowel obstruction...

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Low fibre diet for the prevention of bowel obstruction
http://www.health.qld.gov.au/nutrition/resources/gastro_obstruct.pdf

Digestive health guide for bowel obstruction
http://www.clearpassage.com/site-resources/digestive-health-guide.pdf

Ref : http://www.clearpassage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Abdomen-web-page1.jpg
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What causes abdominal adhesions?
Abdominal surgery is the most frequent cause of abdominal adhesions. Almost everyone who undergoes abdominal surgery develops adhesions; however, the risk is greater after operations on the lower abdomen and pelvis, including bowel and gynecological surgeries. Adhesions can become larger and tighter as time passes, causing problems years after surgery.

Surgery-induced causes of abdominal adhesions include
• tissue incisions, especially those involving internal organs
• the handling of internal organsn
• the drying out of internal organs and tissues
• contact of internal tissues with foreign materials, such as gauze, surgical gloves, and stitches
• blood or blood clots that were not rinsed out during surgery

Ref: http://www.iffgd.org/site/gi-disorders/other/abdominal-adhesions

Wow, sounds scary! Glad you are ok! Btw, if you have insurance and it's maxed or will max each year, I say just call an ambulance so you can get in right away.