Connect
Bowel obstructions caused by adhesions following abdominal surgery
I just joined this site and am looking to see if anyone talks about bowel obstructions caused by adhesions following abdominal surgery. I had successful sugery for colon cancer in 2008. About 6-months later I was hospitalized for 5 days with a bowel obstruction (that did resolve without further surgery). It took several months for my system to get back to "proper working order," but it did and for the past 5-years everything worked normally. Then, out of the blue, I had another bowel obstruction 2-months ago. I was hospitalized for 6-days, but again, no surgery. At this point I can only have bowel movements by taking Miralax and then I have diarrhea. I'm trying to eat a normal diet, just smaller amounts at a time and more frequently. I'm paranoid about another bowel obstruction, and also that my guy will not get back to normal. Has anyone had experience with this?
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Digestive Health Support Group.
Connect
Ohhh I love standard poodles too!! 🥺. That would be so much fun. I'm a big dog person ❤️❤️. As I was making PT appts for next week I asked if I had actually been approved 😳. They approved me for FOUR visits. One more and I'm done. Pretty stupid if I'm doing it to help my body get back in shape after 7 years 😳😳
Love "channel my inner litter". We would probably get along great !!!
This sounds horrible. I am so fortunate to have been connected with a cancer center that has a hospital right next door. I can’t even imagine not having a competent care team. I was in for six weeks with my bowel perforation, much of it in ICU abut the care team was amazing and my surgeons came to see me every single day. I’m hoping you’re doing better
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionSmall bowel obstruction
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionThat was 2015. In 2016 I had a resect only he did it too early, I was low on iron and I had to tell him! Then got allergic reaction to iron infusion. He did resection. I had severe diverticulosis and he finally took my sigmoid colon and when he sewed up where the colostomy was he left a half inch opening that over a few years would periodically form a blood bubble and burst!!! I'm like what is this stuff and if it's not coming out through this hole, where is it going ???? When I had my hernia fixed later on, I asked specialist to look into it and fix it and he refused because it wasn't his surgery. It finally sealed on its own I think. ..... ask me anything. I have had the most horrific hospital and doctor experiences than anyone I know. I could write books. And yet I still survive.
This thread is so old. Is there something more recent specific to living with adhesions? I have adhesions on my small intestine (due to total proctocollectomy surgery) that caused an obstruction, which resolved itself. The hospital surgeon told me to go on a low fiber diet. In a follow-up visit with another colorectal surgeon, about a year after the obstruction, the surgeon said I should be on a low fiber diet to prevent further obstructions. She didn't give me any documentation and googling around and reading low fiber books written by physicians and scientists, I have found completely contradictory information, such as avocados ok, no avocados, broccoli tops ok / no broccoli whatsoever, strawberries / no strawberries, any thing but nuts and seeds as long as total fiber per sitting 2 grams or less, quinoa is great, no quinoa, etc.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a low fiber diet that has worked for them? (I also have to coordinate it with a low FODMAP diet).
I would just experiment, but since making the wrong choices could end up with me being hospitalized for an obstruction, I'm pretty terrified to do that.
Thanks for any advice.
I’m going to see a nutritionist. I have been hospitalized twice for a small bowel obstruction. I have had multiple abdominal/pelvic surgeries and I’m full of adhesions. I had an extensive lysis of adhesions and it seems like they just re form worse than before, for me at least.
I was told by a few different surgeons who said low fiber diet is the way to go. Everything I eat and drink causes me pain so I tend to eat whatever but I don’t eat fiber or veggies/fruits with skin on them. I eat a lot of soup and soft foods. I also have a prescription for Ensure for days that I need to eat something.
My father use to suffer not infrequent adhesions following a bladder pouch surgery. He went and lived just outside of Paris for two years and that was the last I heard of him having adhesions even after he had returned back to the states. He always ate out a lot, perhaps the French style of eating may have helped somehow. He sounded pretty set in what he would order (probably because he did not speak French!), so I am thinking smaller portion sizes served much slower artfully on a succession of different plates factored in (At least that was my eating experience at a local French restaurant in the states).
My heart goes out to you. You are a mirror image of me. I live in Australia & also had radical radiation treatments 30yrs ago for cervical cancer. My bowel is a mess from radiation. Have had several bowel obstructions over the past 2 yrs. Recently had to have ngt put in to help unblock it. My specialist suggests to have exploratory surgery to see if the adhesion can be taken from the bowel to give some quality of life. Have lived miserably for years. Hope they find they can actually remove adhesion so I can at least eat more than soup, bread & crackers!!