Bowel obstructions caused by adhesions following abdominal surgery

Thank you so much for your explanations and well wishes,, This really is a lousy situation to be in but I have been dealing with Colon issues since 2014 , so almost 10 years of every day since I had the cancer surgery in my colon which that followed with 18 months of chemo... I am waking up not knowing how I would feel, Will it be a miserable gut day or will it pass and be ok.. Every year it has gotten worse,. I keep telling, begging, asking Drs to help , what do I do , what can I do, I get more tests , more scans, more ":you have a large malignant tumor and PObstruction in 21 The ER staff all specialists called in to do Emergency surgery, I refused, I didn;t believe them and knew the drill , I wanted my gi dr AND a biopsy ,, that head Dr was mad,, turns out his wife was appointed my new oncologist, I had already dumped the last one and she is dumped now too,, Not there are many choices here but when I have to tell a DR. what to do with me,, I dont need them. This time was in the works for months, maybe longer that it would happen,, But it never showed on a CT or a scope that I had a stricture and the colon had become so narrow,, I still don't fully understand me,,, I see GI DR tomorrow for follow up,, plus new Surgeon is the end of the month,.. Went for tests for small bowel study yesterday 8am.. way too early for me. and after 2 hours girl says I would do better with CTs with contrast, thank you .. Anyhoo I hope you don't mind if I ask you , when you get time to respond,.. what foods do you allow yourself to eat?? I am doing the same with low to no fiber foods.,.. and what do you take for a BM.. still the Miralax. I am finding I can;t seem to get a balance on anything.. I have an addiction to home made sourdough bread and one of my customers keeps baking it, it is his hobby so he brings me a loaf a week...sometimes that is breakfast , lunch and night time snack. i think I gained back most of what I lost prior to and in hospital but I donlt want to gain anymore, I am thin but fine where I am at now,, for me,. I have been taking the creon pills per GI dr, for the pancreas but half the time I forget, whether it works or not I donlt know.. I eat cottage cheese with a banana , Usually chicken breast with steamed baby carrots for dinner, NO carbonated water anymore, I know I should have stopped that a long time ago, Oh well back to regular water which I do drink a lot and tea with real lemon juice and honey,, I donlt want to over load on the carbs so I have kept pasta on the low.. I do love to eat and do however I am afraid to try other things,, I did have some whole peeled steamed tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic and salt last night, I wanted a salad so bad,,.. Do you ever eat a salad, Butter lettuce is so soft I wonder if that would be ok?? Thanks for the reminder on the abdominal massage.. I will you tube it.. I have had a couple drs tell me to do that, I do it but not the right way , I just push mine in and move it around which is bad. but when the gas gets stucks in the same spot nothing breaks it up,,. I drink that mylanta like crazy with simethicone and yet I donlt eat anything gassy. Ive taken enough of your time .. I wish you well days and every day.. Happy valentines!!!

My brother, who is 88, recently had bowel obstruction surgery. What should his recovery look like? What can he do to prevent this from happening again? Special diet? Physical therapy? I want to share your insights with him. Thank you, Diane

What is his diagnosis? Difficult to respond without more detail.

Bowel obstruction ?

Hi @crn , Does your brother have an ostomy while his bowel is healing? It takes some getting used to. and is rather awkward at first. You all should initially be prepared for "accidents" and mood changes. He most likely will have received some nutrition guidance which is important to adhere to. I may be going down the wrong path, but I wish him - and you - well!

I had a bowel obstruction in 2005. My surgeon found that I had a genetic defect called Malrotation of the Intestines. This is when the bowels and other organs of the fetus do not turn the correct way to turn into the fetus. Simply put, they went in backwards. This required quite extensive surgery. Since then I have been hospitalized three times with a blocked bowel that did not require surgery. I have learned to eat mostly soft foods and never, ever eat meat unless it is ground meat, like hamburgers or sausages. Fruits and vegetables are fine, it's hunks of meat that will block me up. I have adjusted just fine to my new diet. The doctors told me I could eat anything, but I soon found out that was not true. Hence the three visits to the hospital.

Thank you so much for your comments. Sorry you had to go through this obstruction so often. I have been through it once, myself, without surgery. It resolved itself. In my case and my brother’s case, it was determined the obstruction was caused by an adhesion of scar tissue to the stomach lining causing a small intestine blockage. Mine resolved on its own, but he had to have surgery. Good to know your dietary restrictions. Thank you.

He does not have an ostomy but I do appreciate your comments.

I'm so happy you didn't have to have any surgery! I hope your brothers' operation fixed the problem!

I had a full colectomy 4 years ago after a perforated bowel emergency surgery from years on struggling with UC. I know have a J pouch and have had 8 bowel obstructions since then. I have a minor surgery 4 months ago to clear a kink in my bowel. Since then I have been hopsitalized once with a bowel obstruction and recently in the last week have had 2 that have passed while at home. The last time I was in the hospital they talked about surgery to clean up scar tissue. I am 35 and a very active person and am very tired of this happening every 3-4 months. Would you suggest the surgery to clean up the scar tissue?