IS THIS NORMAL

Its normal and I don't think you need to worry and do your grape juice thing. I don't think that's good for you. If you don't have pain and its coming out, even if its thick or slow, just let it be. I understand why you get worried but I think that you need to quit forcing things and let your body take care of it.

Well, bread and cheese are both things that can thicken output, in my experience, though tomato soup certainly wouldn't. Even now with the jpouch, I will eat bread if I want to slow things down a bit.

Shame Rosemary, sorry to hear you are still battling with these problems!! Will be thinking of you and praying that it's not another stenosis! Think you also need your new stoma to adjust and cope with different food types you are trying out.

All the best

Lolly

Lolly,

Thanks. I am doing some research on people who have small bowel adhesion obstruction. I am just curious were your cholecystectomy and total colectomy for colonic inertia done open or laproscopic?

Also just curious how would a sacral nerve stiumlator work to try and help prevent small bowel adhesion obstructions or is the nerve stimulator to try and make your pelvic floor work? (sound like your small is connected to your rectum so you have no bag right?)

Rosemary

Rosemary, sometimes it comes out thick and slow. It's just like that sometimes. Are you drinking enough water? Why don't you let it come out and ignore it and do something else? I cannot imagine eating, coutning the hours till it comes out and then watching it come out and worry ing about it'#s consistency. I know you've been through hell, but <ou do need to give the thing a chance instead of watching for the other shoe to drop because it probably will not. My advice to you is to do something else that is enjoyable and find other things to fill the day isntead of living on stoma-alert at all times.

B'D That is a good one living on stoma-alert. You are right. I do walk a mile everyday but do not yet have too much energy but you are right. I cannot wait to feel better and get traveling again. Living in Stoma-alert Land gets old fast.

I have made a ton of progress sorting and weeding out old stuff I don't need and huge trash put outs for collection days so am doing some productive work.

Yep Christine, I think it was the cheese. Today I had 2 pieces of bread and egg and lots of coffee and all sailed along smoothly.

Lolly, Thx for answers. Seems like the open surgeries tend to make the sbo's due to more scar tissue, then sometimes the sbo's cannot be cured with lap surgery. Sounds like we went down similar roads yet different in different ways.

PRIOR to your total colectomy, did they do any tests to see if your rectum or pelvic floor worked before hooking up your small bowel to your rectum? this is just another survey type question. Sometimes testing is not complete prior to the original surgery for constipation issues.

Hope you are doing OK. Is the SNS working?

I have been doing a LOT of research on this whole scar tissue issue. There is a cancer drug called Sutent that has been researched by a very smart doc here in my state. It is now at pfeizer pharmaceutials awaiting the OK for a human trial. It is supposed to slow some process whereby some of us make so many adhesions (like over the normal amount). If I ever got back into sbo mode and this were available I would be the first to sign up.

Rosemary

Mollie, Sorry to hear of the cancer diagnosis. Glad you are feeling well otherwise. Rosemary

No official research just curiosity on my part. To my knowledge and I am not medically trained, just through my own experience and that of others on this board, many of us were not fully worked up in terms of pre-op testing. It sounds like a defecogram was missing from your work up to see if your rectum/pelvic floor was in working order before they hooked your small intestine to your rectum. You had the pudental test and anal manometry which was missing from my work-up (mine way different than your case) but seems like complete work ups are not done on many of us. Just interesting.

So far so good. Seeing a consult tomorrow about my stragely shaped stoma. But it is still early in the healing game. So far what I eat is coming out, so am better off than with a stenosed stoma. Rosemary

Hi blue

Hmmm good point. I thought it was 3 hrs mouth to ileo stoma but makes sense denser foods would take longer. Today I avoided cheese but had an egg sandwich and ice cream and lots of liquid and doing some walking and some house work. Want to know what to tell my consult when I see him tomorrow. I still get a real pressure feeling to right of navel when I am up for long. That is supposed to go away in a few months from surgery which would put that to be the beginning of august not that far away but who knows?

How are you? Did you find out what your food blockages were from? Did the stoma nurse finger check your stoma for stenosis or did you just eat too much and dehydration kind of gunked up the works?

Rosemary

Oh yeah crunchy broccoli and dehydrated very likely the culprit. Good your ileo was done lapro so you are right adhesions less likely.

Did you know just for interest that with lapro with cold dry CO2 gas that they use for abdominal insufflation for lapro surgery that that dries out tissues and gives a risk of adhesions though much less risk than open surgery.

But there is this warmed humidified CO2 gas made by Lexicon Medical that causes even less chance of adhesion formation. All you do is email the Lexicon Company and check and see if your hospital uses it.

I HAVE to write a patient consumer book, not just about my case, or general hints on how to avoid going down the road I did needlessly but all this stuff that I have learned that no general consumer could possibly know. How many docs know of or tell their patients of this warmed humidified CO2 gas for lapro.

There is also a bunch of stuff I have found through research on adhesion prevetion or take down that is just fascinating.

Anyway glad your issue is likely the broccoli. Will let you know how the consukt goes. They said bring ALL your records, I am like oh lord get the truck! Rosemary

Hope you are not in pain rosemary and feel better today?

:-( I am so sorry to be reading this...you need a break...BIGTIME!