Rosemary in the hospital

Dear Rosemary, also thinking of you and pray they this nice GI doc can sort you out somehow. xx

Oh jeez Louise Rosemary - you are REALLY going through the ringer. I will continue to keep you in my thoughts and thank you for updating, you are on my mind each day.

Rosemary, so sorry that you're going through so much now. I hope this gi doctor can help you, at the very least it's great that you feel like you have a doctor in your corner. I know you're scared, but at least try to keep it in your awareness that things could get better -- you're still here, it's not over yet (as I've heard said -- as long as you're still breathing, there's more that's right w/you than wrong w/you).

Ask for a picc line if you can't handle an IV.

Hope the test goes well today .... at least post on facebook or something that you're having atomic eggs for breakfast.... gotta laugh a little....

Hang in.

Someone else had a thread on this a bit ago -- maybe make a new post? I never had one, so don't want to give wrong info, but people said it was easy. After it's in, you don't have to get stuck anymore.

Thank Goodness for your new GI. I'm so glad that you've found him and he's taking you seriously, considering you just met him. I'm glad your out of the hospital, try not to worry. Take it easy tonight for the exam. Yes, ask for the PICC line, wasn't painful, had it when I was in ICU. It gets put in your forearm via ultrasound, had 3 lines, for me this was mainly used for TPN. Mine WASN'T sutured. I also had an IV through my artery in my wrist that WAS sutured to my wrist, where lots of meds can be pumped in at once and blood drawn by squeezing this attached chamber. Would recommend PICC if you were admitted again.

Wishing you well and been praying for you.....

I'm so sorry you are having so much trouble! Hopefully this will get you straightened out!
As for the picc line, it doesn't hurt, they numb the skin where it goes in. And its way better than getting stuck every little bit. I always end up with them cause my veins are useless after so many rounds of phenogren and potassium.
The only thing I don't like about the picc line is I think its kind of creepy. To me it seems liike I have a piece of spaghetti in my chest,lol.
I hope you get answers!

Hi All,

Thanks for continued prayers and support it means so much to me.

Well, here are the results. Offered reward to anyone who can figure out why I had a "non-fixed small bowel obstruction." This means no mechanical cause found.

1. Stoma finger check by surgical resident with small pinky finger. Found stoma to be very tight. Hurt like the dickens. BUT he could get his finger in there.

2. Retrograde gastrograffin enema xray showed no narrowing at the stomal level and no narrowings of small bowel further up stream. That sure is a painful test, but the doc was great and used a very small catheter. BUT WHEW! Anyway, nothing found on that.

3. Gastric emtpying test with the "atomic" eggs and the geiger counter scans ALL NORMAL! NO GASTROPARESIS! THANK GOD! So reason for lack of hunger and early satiety anyone's guess!

4. Xrays and CT scan showed no signs of small bowel obstruction with severe dehydration. BUT my white count was 10 and it's norm is about 4 or so. Plus I was obviously having a small bowel obstruction with the upper cramping, nausea, vomiting, pain, unable to even drink water. Cured by 3 days on IV, Toridol for pain, and zofran for nausea. I was really surprised they gave me clear liquid meals but those seemed to go OK taken slowly. Ice cups, tea, the best broth I have ever had, and jello. CT did show inflammation big time in my cecum of my retained but unused colon. Surgeon said it was loaded with mucous. My idea was if safe to do in an unused colon, should we get the mucous out of there if that is cause of inflammation?

The atomic eggs went OK. Then I could not eat for 4 hours due to them doing the scans. Then I was just thirsty. Last night I was really hungry and had a jam sandwich on white bread. Never saw that as all I put out all night long was some weird brown-yellow clear diarrhea. Then after I had rice cereal and yogurt this a.m. some kind of flakes started appearing in the output. Then the diarrhea went away. I had called the office and asked if the diarrhea kept up would it be safe to take an immodium and the GI said NO. Which did match what I had thought. But it stopped on its own. slurping broth now and I guess breakfast or whatever is passing. I lose track at this point.

Wanted to go walking but too weak so am going to head off for a nap now. Still if I lay on my right side poop comes out of the stoma and it does not so much if I lie in any other position. This is all new. Anyway, the GI doc rescued me as the new ileo surgeon would not. So at least for now and hopefully forever I will have this "go to doc."

My new GI is also the head of parental nutrition. So God forbid, if this unexplained small bowel obstruction issue kept on (PRAYING IT WON'T) but this would be the doc who does the PICC lines.

So any guesses as to what the heck happened? I am way behind in reading of others' issues but know that you all have my support. I did one response to B'D but have been so out of it, I have lagged behind. Rosemary

Post Edited (esoR) : 4/11/2012 2:13:16 PM (GMT-6)

I know what you mean summer. I think. So how to start retraining the muscular strength of the small bowel? Who knows? Rosemary

What the heck? Today my stoma is really swollen. It was swollen PRIOR to all the invasive testing etc during the stay for the sbo over Easter weekend.

THEN it dawned on me. Has anyone ever had a local reaction to stomahesive paste and it irritating the stoma? Normally my stoma had nice little folds and it went in and out a pushed out poop. Now it is a darker shade of red, I have to lie on my right side to get poop to move out, and it is very swollen (you can no longer see the natural folds in it.)

I switched back to the eakin seal that I had replaced with the stomahesive and am PRAYING that this was all just a local reaction. GOing to take some Benadryl tonight to see if it is an allergy then the stoma could go back into normal form. It looks grusome. Rosemary

Thanks Cathy. If prayers and good thoughts could heal I would be rid of all of this. Just so scared. I KNEW I was heading into trouble and that is why I was battling the current ileo surgeon for the CT scan so I could get into see the GI doc who needed me to get the CT scan first before he saw me. Was lucky The GI got into my corner. HOw I did this was I said I need a medical person in my corner as I can take nothing in by mouth. Would you be able to be that person for me. And thank God it worked. He could see I was severely dehydrated. no pee for 8 hours, weak, dizzy. I cannot believe that I am still having to fight politics on top of all this other stuff. Just soooooo much more than the human spirit can tolerate. Rosemary

Hi Jimmy,

Thanks for tips. I am cutting the wafer hole really big to allow lots of wiggle room for stoma. Yesterday I used the Eakin Seal as I had been for 4 years and did not put on the Stomahesive Paste just in case that is the cause of stomal swelling. Tomorrow when I change my wafer I am going to soak some tissue in some luke warm sugar water and apply it to the stoma as that is a tip from the UOAA to reduce stomal swelling. I will go easy as I don't wish to create more issues, but thought it worth a try. I will also order some Karaya paste just in case the peristomal skin burn returns from the use of the Eakin Seal.

The GI doc was really surprised the new ileo surgeon had never looked at my stoma. Because he did not look I did not really take a close look until my sbo and wow what a difference. My GI doc was shocked at the narrowness of the opening. Back before I fell into what was the beginning of this trouble prior to March 11 there were little ribs in my stoma that allowed it to go in and out to push out poop. Now those are gone due to the swelling. I am going to send my GI doc some of my "before" and "after" pics as he never saw my stoma when it was good and working. For now I am trying to basically live on liquids as solid food gives me the hint of periumbilical pain that can then spin into an sbo. I am also going to try and get out today and do some walking as it is beautiful today.

This is sooooooo scary. Thanks. If there is an issue with the stoma, I have no idea what I will do but maybe the GI doc can find me a good surgeon. GOD FORBID, if I need more surgery I will be done for as I am an adhesion former, but at least the GI doc is in my corner and hoping he stays there. Rosemary

Friends are checking in but nobody feels comfortable getting too close to this issue. Docs included. Hope the GI stays with me. Rosemary

Rosemary, I know you are frightened and bewildered. Let's try to put the word 'temporarily' after what you last wrote here. I am betting that because they found nothing, your stoma swelling will reduce back to normal in a matter of not too much time. I can't guess and don't want too.
What did he say about the narrowness? Does he know what caused that?