Hi all,
Hello! I'm back after being gone for quite some time, and even though I don't have cancer this time around, I thought of no better place to check in!
I was around these parts a little over 10 years ago with Stage 2 rectal cancer. Successfully treated, though a lingering side effect was a chronic fissure, for which I had successful surgery in 2013. Things returned pretty much to normal (well, a new normal!) after that, until earlier this year, when I started having bouts of severe, unexplained stomach pain. Eventually diagnosed with a cecal bascule, a rare type of bowel obstruction. Had surgery (ileocolectomy) 2 weeks ago today (Oct. 14), followed by a second procedure two days later when there were concerns about leakage and unexplained surges in my blood pressure. Came home a week ago today (Oct. 21).
For most of the past week, have been dealing with increasing stools -- by two or three days ago, up to about 15x per day, accompanied by serious butt burn and severe rectal cramping/spasms. My doctor gave the go-ahead to start on Imodium; the first day I took 2, which did very little, then yesterday I took 4 over the course of the day, as well as started with a first dose of fiber after breakfast to try to slow/bulk things up. Last night was in so much pain that I took an oxycodone for the first time in several days. And all of it worked... too well! Because while I finally slept through the night for the first time in 2 weeks, I haven't had a bowel movement for about 18 hours (except for a very small amount passed maybe about four hours ago).
So it seems I flipped myself from diarrhea to constipation, which I now recall was often how things went for me. Because of my past history with a fissure, I'm very worried about staying constipated too long and then getting another fissure from straining.... but I'm also not sure of the best/gentlest way to get things going again. My doctor has been in surgery all day, so while I can leave a message for him, I don't know if it will rise to the level of him getting back to me right away (and then it's the weekend). Do any of you knowledgeable people have some thoughts? A full glass of Metamucil or Citrucel? A little Miralax? It's been awhile since I've dealt with this!
Thanks!