1. < Digestive Health

Reoccurring Bowel Obstructions due to adhesions

Posted by elewis23 @elewis23, Feb 8, 2021

I had pelvic surgery roughly 10yrs ago, in August 2019 I had my first bowel obstruction caused from adhesions. I’m May of 2020 I had my second bowel obstruction due to adhesions, this surgery was much worse. My surgeon tried laparoscopy but had to stop and do a mid line incision because of how dense the adhesions were. She accidentally nicked my intestines which caused a infection, long story short I spent two months in the hospital. Fast forward to January 2021 I had appendicitis and once again another surgeon knowing I had adhesions tried avoiding the area we thought was the worst. But he made several small incisions and nicked my intestines. I ended up with abcsesses and spent almost a month in the hospital very sick.
My question is are their other people going through similar problems? Did anyone ever warn you about the possibility of adhesions when you had your first surgery? Does anyone know about anything that will help stop the recurring bowel obstructions caused by adhesions?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Digestive Health Support Group.

docm | @docmeehan | Feb 19, 2023
In reply to @elewis23 "Hello, I have never had much success with Doctors helping with my adhesions. I’ve been told..." + (show)
@elewis23

Hello, I have never had much success with Doctors helping with my adhesions. I’ve been told adhesions don’t usually hurt, so they don’t believe me.
I do a few things that help me, no the pain doesn’t go away but mentally I deal with the pain better. I have acupuncture done several times a month, I practice breathing exercises( I know when I’m really hurting I hold my breath), I do yoga, I use the CALM app. etc.
to be honest you are the first person that I’ve found who also has adhesion in their belly. Sadly it’s nice that someone understands what I go through on a daily basis.

Jump to this post

Hi, thank you for replying. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through this. It's no fun.
Thanks for the tip about acupuncture.
I can't believe you and I are the only ones with abdominal adhesions.
All the best.

REPLY
marciakeren | @marciakeren | Feb 20, 2023

I am catching up with these posts; I think there have been multiple threads discussing SBOs, and what to do about them. I have gone to a pelvic floor specialist, who has suggested other PTs, since she did not feel that she could be helpful. I will look into her recommendations... Through a chain of recommendations, it has been suggested that I consider consulting a surgeon for lysis of adhesions, which, as you can imagine, scares me. Meanwhile, I watch what I eat all the time... I have occasional "pre obstruction warning pains" when I know I may be headed for trouble and immediately stop eating solids. This is not fun, but I am not sure what else to do. ... I wish all my fellow sufferers good luck and I will let you know if I find abdominal massage successful... if I can find the right person to do it.

REPLY
1 reply
susanh824 | @susanh824 | Feb 20, 2023

Unfortunately, if they try surgery to remove your adhesions, it will just create more. After weight loss surgery, gallbladder removal and internal hernia surgery, I had so many adhesions that a reconstructive surgery was done. It took 7 hours and 4 pints of blood. I haven’t had a bowel obstruction since then.

REPLY
1 reply
marciakeren | @marciakeren | Feb 20, 2023
In reply to @susanh824 "Unfortunately, if they try surgery to remove your adhesions, it will just create more. After weight..." + (show)
@susanh824

Unfortunately, if they try surgery to remove your adhesions, it will just create more. After weight loss surgery, gallbladder removal and internal hernia surgery, I had so many adhesions that a reconstructive surgery was done. It took 7 hours and 4 pints of blood. I haven’t had a bowel obstruction since then.

Jump to this post

I am so sorry to hear that. I am nervous/worried/skeptical about surgery... having had 10 or so abdominal surgeries over the last 30 years, you can imagine that it is something I don't really want to consider... but I will go through with a consult, at least, just to hear what they say.

REPLY
docm | @docmeehan | Feb 25, 2023
In reply to @marciakeren "I am catching up with these posts; I think there have been multiple threads discussing SBOs,..." + (show)
@marciakeren

I am catching up with these posts; I think there have been multiple threads discussing SBOs, and what to do about them. I have gone to a pelvic floor specialist, who has suggested other PTs, since she did not feel that she could be helpful. I will look into her recommendations... Through a chain of recommendations, it has been suggested that I consider consulting a surgeon for lysis of adhesions, which, as you can imagine, scares me. Meanwhile, I watch what I eat all the time... I have occasional "pre obstruction warning pains" when I know I may be headed for trouble and immediately stop eating solids. This is not fun, but I am not sure what else to do. ... I wish all my fellow sufferers good luck and I will let you know if I find abdominal massage successful... if I can find the right person to do it.

Jump to this post

I had abdominal lysis seven weeks ago and as far as I can tell I have gotten worse. There are fewer things that I can eat and I have more pain. The surgeon did tell me to wait six months before deciding if we were successful or not so I guess I would just be cautious about have lysis of your adhesions. I wish you all the best of luck in this weird journey.

REPLY
1 reply
docm | @docmeehan | Feb 25, 2023
In reply to @docmeehan "I had abdominal lysis seven weeks ago and as far as I can tell I have..." + (show)
@docmeehan

I had abdominal lysis seven weeks ago and as far as I can tell I have gotten worse. There are fewer things that I can eat and I have more pain. The surgeon did tell me to wait six months before deciding if we were successful or not so I guess I would just be cautious about have lysis of your adhesions. I wish you all the best of luck in this weird journey.

Jump to this post

I would appreciate it if anyone can tell me if they have had success with abdominal self-massage in relieving pain and loosening up adhesions. Thank you.

REPLY
susanh824 | @susanh824 | Mar 30, 2023
In reply to @elewis23 "Thank you for your response, I agree I thank God every day for my time here..." + (show)
@elewis23

Thank you for your response, I agree I thank God every day for my time here on earth. I remind myself over and over I have two beautiful daughters and five beautiful grandkids ( including two sets of twins) that I adore. I had never heard of adhesions until I started having problems myself. I didn’t have a choice when I had my initial surgery I had a 15lb benign tumor in my uterus, that’s what started it all.
One more question do your adhesions cause pain on a daily basis? Mine do but I’ve learned to deal with them.

Jump to this post

My gastroenterologist offered to refer me to a massage therapist who specializes in adhesion care. He is with a university medical center (OSU Wexner.) Maybe you could check into something like that. I’ve had bowel obstructions and extensive adhesion repair surgery, and know it’s not fun.

REPLY
1 reply
elewis23 | @elewis23 | Mar 30, 2023
In reply to @susanh824 "My gastroenterologist offered to refer me to a massage therapist who specializes in adhesion care. He..." + (show)
@susanh824

My gastroenterologist offered to refer me to a massage therapist who specializes in adhesion care. He is with a university medical center (OSU Wexner.) Maybe you could check into something like that. I’ve had bowel obstructions and extensive adhesion repair surgery, and know it’s not fun.

Jump to this post

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for responding. I’ve never talked to anyone who has the same problem we have. I live in Alaska, it is a very unique state but medically we have few specialists. I am being referred to Seattle and will look for options there. Thank you so much for responding I don’t feel quite so alone.
Edith

REPLY
1 reply
Digbyluv | @judychurch | Apr 9, 2023

Hello everyone. I had a bowel obstruction nine years ago because of malrotation of the intestines, which required Ladd's band surgery. It is, esentially, a birth defect (undetected until my late 50's). I have been hospitalized four times since then, not requiring surgery. But oh, the pain! And the ng tube! I just got out of the hospital five days ago and am now afraid to eat anything other than jello, hard boiled eggs, cream of wheat and Ensure - in very small amounts at a time. Has anyone else experienced malrotation, and if so, how are you doing? I am afraid this is going to be a lifelong struggle.

REPLY
1 reply
susanh824 | @susanh824 | Apr 10, 2023
In reply to @judychurch "Hello everyone. I had a bowel obstruction nine years ago because of malrotation of the intestines,..." + (show)
@judychurch

Hello everyone. I had a bowel obstruction nine years ago because of malrotation of the intestines, which required Ladd's band surgery. It is, esentially, a birth defect (undetected until my late 50's). I have been hospitalized four times since then, not requiring surgery. But oh, the pain! And the ng tube! I just got out of the hospital five days ago and am now afraid to eat anything other than jello, hard boiled eggs, cream of wheat and Ensure - in very small amounts at a time. Has anyone else experienced malrotation, and if so, how are you doing? I am afraid this is going to be a lifelong struggle.

Jump to this post

I had a bowel obstruction following a botched internal hernia repair. I have also had several partial obstructions. I feel your pain over the NG tube. I hate them! I’m now seeing a gastroenterologist for a pancreatic condition called EPI. He suggested that I see a massage therapist who specializes in massage of adhesions. I haven’t done it yet.

REPLY
1 reply
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.