Colon inertia

i'm so sorry for the long reply... oh honey, i know how freaked out you must feel. don't get too upset yet!!! what you're going through right now is very common after a surgery like this one. no gas, no bms, vomiting - it is SO OBVIOUIS you have an ileus!!!!! if you're still vomiting, you MUST NOT have ANYTHING by mouth!! also, i can't believe they havn't put the ng tube in.... ask them to put the ng in! and nothing, not even a drip of water by mouth! i had an ileus too and was 8 days on only iv's and ng for 5 days till my bowels woke up and was able to gradually start liquids only, then soft diet. pls calm down, Nancy. an ileus is very common and once your gutts wake up, things should be perfectly ok.

as for your question about me needing an ileostomy, as i mentioned, i had an ileus for 8 days, then my bowels woke up, i stopped vomiting and started drinking and eating. everything was perfect for the first 2 mons or so, but that's how it's like with this kind of surgery. the bowels are always very active at the first few mons then it goes down and you can see the real result of this surgery only after about 6 mons - year. for me, after 2 mons the constipation was back and i needed laxatives again. it was only getting worse and laxatives stopped helping (even after a colectomy), so i opted for the ileostomy. i have severe anismus and there's no cure for that, so i knew an ileostomy is the only way to get me out of the b/r and not spending my life in there.

after the ileostomy op on July 2010, we learned that my small intestine is also VERY slow. actually, i have inertia of my small intestine too. so i still need to drink laxatives + i have to keep a soft-liquid diet, othewise even laxatives won't work. but i'm doing ok this way. this is the best i can get and i just hope it stays the way it is and doesn't get worse.

now, for you, you're having an ileus right now, but it's only a temp situation and when you're out of it, we will be able to see how things are functioning for you and hopefully, and i believe you have a good chance, things will be great for you sweetie!!

oh and all the swelling will go down. i also had all of my perineum area SO swollen and gained maybe 20 lbs from the fluids too. for me it went down after exactly 3 weeks. i had it the same way and i remember too well how HORRIBLE i felt... PATIENCE honey, it does take time, but everything will be over soon! please keep us updated. 

Was able to enjoy myself a little last night!  I was getting worried at first b/c I was struggling all day to try and get my stool out.  It just felt like it was impacted in there, but I got most of it out, and able to see my friend in her wedding last night.  She looked beautiful!

Answers, yes, I have tried magnesium pills before.  They don't work!  All before this past year, believe me, I tried everything, alternative methods, fish oil pills, magnesium, different vitamin supplements, read something about b-complex vitamins with magnesium helping, all the prescription stuff, miralax, colace, mom, amitiza, etc.  So for the past year I have resorted to taking 6-7 dulcolax or taking colace, miralax with it to help and endure the cramps for a day getting my stool out.  It is awful!  Some days it still doesn't work, and I try again the next night, or the laxs take forever to work, or like I said work!!!!  And as I mentioned before, it is like my colon does not want to propel that final push of gas and stool out of me sometimes b/c my left side distends a lot, all the air, even does that when I take laxatives, like it sits there before a moment, before a push comes.  I remember you saying before you had problems getting your gas out. 

But hopefully, my body will come out okay with my surgery.  My surgeon said he doesn't even leave a little left of the sigmoid colon.  He told me that he has ran into people that even that little bit can still cause some people constipation.  I guess it really depends on the surgeon, since you said you still have a little of yours left Nancy.

Well, Nancy, keep in touch, thinking about you a lot!     Wish I could offer you more advice, but since I don't know what to expect yet either, I can't!  Hang in there!

Post Edited (hurtboy) : 5/22/2011 6:00:16 AM (GMT-6)