Bowel obstructions caused by adhesions following abdominal surgery

I have heard of Smooth Move tea. I will have to try it. The only thing the dr said after the colonoscopy was I can start introducing some more fiber into my diet, and they would go over it at my follow up appt. problem is, when they sent me the info on the appointment, it is not until Feb 11th, which does me no good now. The dietician had put me on iron because I was anemic and said I might need to take stool softener , but that is almost as harsh as the laxitive. The tea might be a good alternative. Thanks for suggesting it. I am sure now that this is going on they might move up the Feb appt. Hope you have a great rest of the week!

Hi @thull

If the stool softener is harsh for you, you might try making the tea very weak at first and see how your GI tract reacts to it. Also, barley is a great source of fiber that works gently through the GI tract. There are a lot of good soups with barley. You might try that as well.
Will you keep me posted?

I had my colonoscopy on 11/16, Dr wanted to see the intestinal reconnection site from inside and generally check things out. Surgery site looked good, but found diverticulosis throughout the colon and also removed a polyp. Started having issues the next week with lower abdominal pain, so went on liquid diet. Was really careful at Thanksgiving but started having worse pain, so back to liquids. Took a laxitive yesterday and called GI Dr at Mayo. They called back this morning and said I needed to go to ER. Just got home, they did a CT scan and found diverticulitis down near the surgery site. Gave me pain meds in my IV and started me on antibiotics. Glad I got to come home and eat some delicious chicken broth! Haha.
Now wondering what kind of fiber they will let me eat, since it helps with diverticulosis, as they have had me on this low residue/ low fiber diet due to the obstruction. It sure can be a struggle when you are afraid to eat!

No apologies needed for the long post, @nancybev. Good to hear from you! I'm glad to hear that you are keeping out of the hospital. The diet seems to be working for you, although it seems somewhat restrictive.

Do you feel you are getting enough protein and nutrition from your diet? If so, how are you accomplishing this?

@hopeful33250 , I've actually been working hard to find nutritionally sound ways to do this. For example, my breakfast this morning is a glass of lassi--soy or coconut milk whipped up with fat-free Greek yogurt with active cultures and some spices (good amount of protein, calcium, etc.), a glass of organic no-pulp carrot/orange juice, and coffee (because I need caffeine!! 🙂 ). Other mornings I might have prune juice for iron and laxative properties.
The smoothies I often have at night contain everything a nutrtionist could wish for--banana, milk, protein powder and/or tofu, avocado, spinach, oats, yogurt. I take multi-vitamins, too. I try to make everything I put in my mouth nutritionally rich. If I do eat any solid food at night, I keep it low-fiber (pizza!!), and I chew everything (even juice) like crazy before swallowing, to get digestion started.
I think I'm probably "eating" healthier than I ever have!

@thull , you haven't had much time to rest! So sorry you've been through all that, but I'm sure the broth tasted good 🙂 I am SO with you on the "being afraid to eat" thing! The holidays make it worse (I'm already worrying about if I'll have anything other than egg nog on Christmas). It seems that I tend to get my sbo's around the holidays, which has made me wonder if holiday food stress is a contributing factor (which, of course, makes it more stressful!).

You really are doing all of the right things, @nancybev. Thanks for all of the good ideas.
Do you have your vitamin levels checked periodically? I'm thinking about Vit D and Iron, etc.

This is my 5th SBO with hospitalizan in 18 months, due to adhesions. No surgery yet, but am considering Small Passage treatment. Last 3 times happened in the last 4 months. This is getting old. Any idess?

It is stressful and it wouldn't surprise me if the stress made it worse! Luckily, my family and friends are hyper sensitive to the fact that I have major dietary restrictions and plan accordingly. My family also has some food allergies, tree nuts for my husband & son, cranberries for my daughter, and cucumbers for my son in laws mom. So we are all very mindful when planning food for meals and parties. Harder when going out, I always have to look at a menu ahead of time to make sure there is something for me to eat. I love eggnog, but always have to remember my lactaid🙂. If I am going to have anything with alcohol, I generally stick to a glass of wine.

I admire you, @nancybev. You really have it together~