Chronic small bowel obstruction from adhesions

I tend to be a bit intense in my verbiage, but good grief, girl, you have been through so much! As to your question about robotic versus laparoscopic surgery, I think that either could be great in the right hands. Your case is complicated, and I wonder if another opinion would help? Maybe it would take forever, and maybe even thinking about seeing another person is exhausting, I don't know... Let me know how you do.
Totally selfish question- how did you put up with so many NG tube placements? I HATE those things- my throat feels like it's on fire the whole time it's in, every saliva swallow burns. I have to stick my hands under my butt to keep from involuntarily grabbing the doctor placing it! Maybe I am just a baby... LOL

The NG tube placements were aweful! They tried 8 times in my hospital room with only KY and a glass of water before they gave up and sent me to radiology. There they numbed me 3 times with lidocaine before putting it in. The next time it had to be put in, they sent me back to radiology, but I had them give me a small amount of morphine in my PICC line to sedate me somewhat. They got it in ok, but this radiologist wasn't as nice as the first one. He only put in the lidocaine right as he did it.
I am trying to get a second opinion and get into Mayo here in Phx, but they are booked out until November and said the Nov calendar isn't open yet to book appointments! Very frustrating as there is no cancellation list to be on. The girl told me I literally have to call everyday to see if there is an open appt. So meanwhile , I am trying to get in to another gastro, not happy with my current one. When my surgeon called her to let her know what was going on with me, she told him "Good luck". No phone calls to me or my husband, nothing. Time to find a new doctor! I am also looking to see a surgeon that does the robotic/laparoscopic vs open procedure for adhesions, to decrease the chance of more adhesions.
Right now my current surgeon wants to wait until December before he will consider more surgery. I see him again on Tuesday, and I am going to ask what type of procedure he plans in the event they have to go back in. I do not want another open procedure. Too hard of a recovery.
I am seriously hungry and would love to tear into some food, but I know I have to take this very slow. I was able to handle about 16 oz of liquid yesterday, small amounts at a time, so if I can start doing like Boost or Ensure and get enough nutrition in, maybe I can get off the TPN.
Thanks for listening!

There's a special place in you know where for doctors who are not compassionate when they put those things in, I swear. Yes, a new GI specialist is in order for sure. Good grief...

Question....when they did the laparoscopy to get to the adhesions , was your abdomen distended? My surgeon that I have now is saying they could not do it that way because of the distention. I really don't want to be opened wide up again. This would be the 4th time!

No mine wasn't. But I can imagine thst bowel loops full of gas would be easily nicked during surgery.

Would you believe the gastros given to me to call refuse to see me? Say I need to find one who would be willing to see me in the hospital should I have to go back in. I was shocked! So now I have an appointment with my old one, so we will see how that goes. My primary also thinks I should also see a colo-rectal surgical specialist, and not just the general surgeon, so we will see what the gastro says tomorrow.
Advanced my diet to full liquids, so I was able to eat some cream of chicken soup last night and today have gotten down a high protein Boost. If I can get close to a good number of injested calories, I can get off the TPN.

I know that those Boost products can be tough to get down. When I was trying to get protein in I used some powdered Cashew butter, put it in whatever things I could tolerate it in. How about spoonfuls of PB, or Instant Breaktast with the nut butters added in. Or be sure to add powdered milk to milk, again, if you can stand it.
How bizarre that the GI doc won't see you. I mean most hospitals have their own specialists, and like you said, you would need a Colo-rectal surgeon anyway. Geeze, it never ends. I hope your old GI guy is better this time around. Sometimes they get the message and behave more professionally. Good luck... gp

I'm at my wits end! Had surgery in 2006 and surgeon perforated my small intestine 3 xs. Got sepsis and he took 15 ft of intestine out. I have NUMEROUS blockages and vomit stool, bile etc. 5 yrs ago had a gtube placed because stomach is paralyzed (gastroparesis) . That has helped somewhat as far as able to stay out of hospital when I get them. I have a suction machine at home I hook up to my gtube.

It does NOT help with the nausea, pain or any of it. It just makes it where I don't have to go to hospital for a NG tube.

I have also a colostomy, central line for TPN and meds, pain pump inserted in abdomen for pain. Since I have short bowel I don't get my nutrition so thus, I have the TPN.

I eat a little cream of wheat, jello and pudding. Doesn't seem to matter. I used to get the blockages 5-6 a year. Now, sometimes every week or 2. Said there is NOTHING they can Do because of all the adhesions from the sepsis and all I went through.

ANYONE have ideas to help me? I take Miralax 4xs a day to try and keep things going. If output is thick at all it wont go thru intestine and get blockage.

Hi @bradleymom1967,

I merged your discussion about finding others with intestinal blockages with this discussion so that you could reconnect with members discussing similar issues. I was also wondering if you had a chance to view this discussion in the Digestive Health group: Ostomy: Adapting to life after colostomy, ileostomy or urostomy https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ostomy-adapting-to-life-after-colostomy-ileostomy-or-urostomy/

Hi, everyone. I'm new here. I had an intusseception as an infant in the early '60's, and had surgery to save my life. Since then I've had several other abdominal surgeries. Two were to "fix" the adhesions that were causing me to have small bowel obstructions since the age of 12, and one was a C-section (that one was worth it! 🙂 ). I have had at least 30 sbo's in my life, and expect to have more. Almost every one of them started during the day with little twinges of pain, etc., but the worst of the pain (horrific!) and vomiting always happens overnight. And almost all of them resolve themselves by morning. Sometimes I go to the hospital, and sometimes (maybe foolishly) I tough it out alone at home. I DREAD them. I live in constant fear of getting another one.
What I find SO frustrating is the lack of helpful information. Every time I ask a doctor for advice, I basically get a shrug of the shoulders.
I'm terrified of eating a big meal and then realizing that an obstruction is starting, because that will make it so much worse. So for the past few years I've been eating my main meal in the morning, and then having things like popsicles, etc., at night. I would be willing to live on a liquid diet if I were sure it would help. I know that food doesn't CAUSE the obstructions, but their severity is definitely affected by what I have in my stomach.
What I want to know--and I just can't seem to get an answer--is what triggers them? I know they're caused by adhesions, but why can I go for months or a year without one, and then suddenly get one? Is it how I move? Pants too tight at the waist? Something in the air? I feel that if I had some idea of what causes things to suddenly twist, I could have some control.
I, too, have read about Clear Passage, but it sounds kind of iffy. I've seen "studies" on it, but the authors of the studies always include the people who run the company, so I don't put much stock in them. If I did, I would do it in a heartbeat, at any expense.
I've also read/seen on Youtube claims that massaging the area when you feel the first symptoms, and just moving around, might help clear it before it gets bad. Again, I have no idea if this is true.
I've looked for clinical trials dealing with the issue, but haven't found anything.
Sorry for the very long post. I'm just so scared of getting another sbo all the time, and so frustrated because I feel that I have zero control over it. There must be something that will at least make it less likely that I will have to spend more nights yelling in pain and vomiting endlessly (or having to go to the hospital)! I'm hoping that someone here might have a clue!