Tips for managing chronic Small Bowel Obstructions

Hi! New here but hoping to get some support or answers. I am a 52 yo female. Recurrent SBO with decompression therapy resolving each time. I've had many abdominal surgeries which I'm sure have led to a belly full Of adhesions. I've had two bladder augmentations using my small
Bowel. Two vesico vaginal fistula repairs, two C-sections, appendectomy, ureters reimplanted several other surgeries. My cat scan shows closed loop obstructions in small bowel each time along with duodenal diverticulum, wall thickening throughout and my descending colon is almost prolapsing (in drs terms). My daughter has a master in dietetics and is very strict with what I eat so I'm following appropriate diet. I have an apt with colorectal surgeon next week. I'm scared to death as I feel like I have so many signs of colon cancer. Has anyone ever had surgery to remove adhesions? The hospital surgeons when I'm admitted say my bowel is being strangled by adhesions and I know more surgery causes this but I feel like that is the obvious? Any input support would be appreciated. I'm tired of going to the hospital and having an ng shoved down my nose and being miserable. Thank you in advance!

Like you, I have had many abdominal surgeries. I finally did have a seven hour surgery for adhesions. The surgeon did a great job, and it bought me about 20 years of relief. Unfortunately now I have developed exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, which sometimes happens in people who have had extensive abdominal surgeries, I also deal with chronic constipation. Still, I am happy I had those pain-free years. My surgery was done at OSU Wexner by M. Scott Melvin, MD.

Hi! New here but hoping to get some support or answers. I am a 52 yo female. Recurrent SBO with decompression therapy resolving each time. I've had many abdominal surgeries which I'm sure have led to a belly full Of adhesions. I've had two bladder augmentations using my small
Bowel. Two vesico vaginal fistula repairs, two C-sections, appendectomy, ureters reimplanted several other surgeries. My cat scan shows closed loop obstructions in small bowel each time along with duodenal diverticulum, wall thickening throughout and my descending colon is almost prolapsing (in drs terms). My daughter has a master in dietetics and is very strict with what I eat so I'm following appropriate diet. I have an apt with colorectal surgeon next week. I'm scared to death as I feel like I have so many signs of colon cancer. Has anyone ever had surgery to remove adhesions? The hospital surgeons when I'm admitted say my bowel is being strangled by adhesions and I know more surgery causes this but I feel like that is the obvious? Any input support would be appreciated. I'm tired of going to the hospital and having an ng shoved down my nose and being miserable. Thank you in advance!

Hello. I have also had a lot of abdominal surgeries (several hernia repairs, an eptopic pregnancy, and then numerous bowel resections due to colon cancer, a leak, an SBO and a perforation). I developed the SBO exactly two months after my first bowel resection. I was hospitalized for a week to see if it would resolve and it never did, so I had laporoscopic surgery to repair it. (Thankfully not open). It was caused by adhesions and wouldn’t have resolved without surgery. The surgery was successful, however they knicked my bowel during surgery and a fistula developed a month later. I dealt with that for awhile and ultimately that area broke lose and caused a perforation so it was repaired again and he removed more adhesions. The last bowel surgery was in 11/2019 and I had an abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia repairs in 6/2021 and that surgeon also removed some
Adhesions. Like you, I was worried that it would cause more adhesions. I’m sure I’m filled with them but haven’t had any further SBO. I’ve felt symptoms of one, but immediately stop eating and start massaging

Hi! New here but hoping to get some support or answers. I am a 52 yo female. Recurrent SBO with decompression therapy resolving each time. I've had many abdominal surgeries which I'm sure have led to a belly full Of adhesions. I've had two bladder augmentations using my small
Bowel. Two vesico vaginal fistula repairs, two C-sections, appendectomy, ureters reimplanted several other surgeries. My cat scan shows closed loop obstructions in small bowel each time along with duodenal diverticulum, wall thickening throughout and my descending colon is almost prolapsing (in drs terms). My daughter has a master in dietetics and is very strict with what I eat so I'm following appropriate diet. I have an apt with colorectal surgeon next week. I'm scared to death as I feel like I have so many signs of colon cancer. Has anyone ever had surgery to remove adhesions? The hospital surgeons when I'm admitted say my bowel is being strangled by adhesions and I know more surgery causes this but I feel like that is the obvious? Any input support would be appreciated. I'm tired of going to the hospital and having an ng shoved down my nose and being miserable. Thank you in advance!

I have had 3 C-sections, 2 incisional hernia repair, complete hysterectomy and gallbladder recovered. Now that I’m 61 I can’t have a bowl movement without taking laxatives, was on Linzess the highest dose for 3 months with no relief. I have pain every months below my ribs that feels like a rope is tied around me and someone is pulling it right, it last for about 5 minutes. I go to Ohio State in April to see a morbidly doctor

What is SBO?

My husband has had a partial bowel obstruction. It has opened on it's own. Would like to know what foods he should and should not eat.
He is being set up to swallow small camera, to see if they can find out why this keeps happening.

I have periodic small bowel blockages due to a mesentery mass that cannot be removed or biopsied. In the CT study they can see "tethers" reaching from the mass to the small intestine. I imagine the result of this is similar to people who have adhesions. I eat throughout the day - always half portions or less. for breakfast I eat Dannon Light + Fit yogurt (with 12 grams of protein) followed by orange juice with Miralax. A little while later I may have a scrambled egg cooked in the microwave for 35 seconds along with 1 piece of toast. After that I might have some rice krispies and milk. I can have small amounts of fresh fruit such as strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, and melons. (Nothing that needs peeling like an apple and no fruit with skins like cherries. Also fruit like prunes or dates have too much fiber for me.) I can always eat canned peaches or pears. For juice I like apple or V8 fusion (which has both vegetables and fruit). Sometimes I drink V-8 juice which is all vegetables. For lunch I can have quiche, tomato soup, 1/2 grilled cheese or ham and cheese, 1/2 chicken salad sandwich, or sometimes leftovers from previous day's supper. For dessert: pudding made with milk or frozen fruit bar. For supper main course I am able to eat small amounts of salmon or small amounts of any dish that has ground up beef such as meatloaf, lasagna, shepherd's pie (from Costco) or even 1/2 of a stuffed bell pepper. Chicken Alfredo (also from Costco) works as well (and I take care to thoroughly chew the chicken), I make several soups with soup mixes with fresh meat that is cut up small and cooked until it is very tender. Beef barley soup and chicken soup are my favorites. I can even have pizza so long as I only eat one slice. For dessert my husband loves vanilla ice cream, so we have that a lot. For snacks throughout the day I could have a banana or applesauce, a boiled egg, or multi-grain crackers with peanut butter, cheese or premade guacamole spread (from Costco). Every day at some point I drink an Ensure Max --because it has 30 grams of protein! I got a food processor last Christmas after my first bowel blockage in November. I don't use it much, but it may come in very handy in the future. I am lazy as far as cooking goes.! I like things that are simple and easy to prepare. I had to give up a few things that I used to enjoy such as popcorn (too much fiber) and all kinds of nuts (too much fiber). Also I stopped eating power bagels for breakfast because they contain things that are hard to digest. I still eat small amounts of salad occasionally, as that has not yet caused a bowel blockage for me, but would recommend that with caution because of the fiber content.
I am really fortunate not to have a problem either dairy or gluten. I realize that some of the above suggestions would not be suitable for people with dairy or gluten allergies. I am open to other people's suggestion for what to eat to avoid future bowel blockages. Feel free to share your ideas. Dottie K

Hi! I’m new to this site & came across your post. I am dealing with a stricture from scar tissue from past surgeries for Crohns. I want to thank you for the detailed list of what you eat as I am now finding that I have to eat differently. You suggested some things I hadn’t thought of!