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...

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

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/

Hello @nancybev,

You’ve come to the right place to get support from people who understand what you are going through – welcome. Here are a few other conversations that may interest you as well:
– SBO due to Adhesion https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/sbo-due-to-adhesion/
– Lumpy, Dumpy & Grumpy https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/lumpy-dumpy-grumpy/

I found this, recently paper published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology; the study researches the quality of life and (2) rate of recurrent small bowel obstructions (SBO) for patients treated with novel manual physiotherapy vs no treatment:
https://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v24/i19/2108.htm
The study concluded: "A manual physiotherapy significantly improved quality of life and significantly decreased the rate of re-occlusion for patients with a history of SBO. Performed in an outpatient setting, the non-invasive therapy significantly reduced repeat obstructions. In addition, the physical therapy has a much lower risk and cost than hospitalization or surgery."

@kanaazpereira , thank you! I will read the other threads you referred to. As to the journal article, once again, many of the authors are associated with Clear Passage, so that makes me think that it's not completely objective! I would love to talk to a gastroenterologist, or read an article, that recommends that therapy but has no connection to the people who would profit from people utilizing it. I haven't checked, but I highly doubt that insurance would cover such a treatment, as it seems to be somewhat experimental and not endorsed by the medical community at large. If an independent GI recommended it, I'd be on the next plane to Florida! 🙂 But I appreciate your recommendations.

@thull , thank you! I've started to do that when I start to think I MIGHT have an sbo coming on, just in case. It just seems to make sense that if things are just starting to stick together in there, some gentle massage in the area snd a little stretching might loosen things up. These are all the kinds of things I wish a GI could explain/confirm/deny for me, but hearing others' personal experiences is also a big help!
In the past few days I've made a major change in my eating habits (nothing but juice, water, coffee, tea, and popcicles until evening, followed by a really healthy and easy-to-digest dinner). I've put a lot of thought into it, and I'm hoping that it will make future sbo's a lot less severe, or at least change the patterns so that the worst of it happens during the day instead of always in the middle of the night! We'll see what happens, but I feel a lot less anxiety when I know there's nothing in my stomach that would have too much of a hard time getting through quickly.

Hello @nancybev @thull @bradleymom1967 and @ginpene05

It has been awhile since you have posted about adhesions from surgery and I was wondering how you were feeling? Any changes that you would like to share?

Thanks for letting us know about your new eating plan, @nancybev. I hope it is successful for you and accomplishes your goals.