Just back from Emergency Room a couple of hours ago

What a truly horrible day.

Had a rough night, as expected.  Got up, had to make a 60 mile round trip to swap a friend of mine's car that I had borrowed for a car show and pick my car back up, was having it modified.  Didn't feel well, but made it.

Got home, and all hell broke loose.  Got an urge to go to the bathroom, and it turned into a pressure nightmare with no release.  Tried to self-unimpact, didn't prove much.  Tried to give myself another enema, got no where, too blocked to get enough liquid in, plus that's really a hard thing to do alone.

Within the hour, I was sweating with raw pain, about to pass out.  My brother was tied up helping my mother, had his hands full, thought about ambulance, knew I couldn't safely drive.  So I called my ex-boss at his work, and what a champ, he came right over to my house, picked me up, took me to ER, 2 minute drive from my house, and stayed with me for the almost 4 hours.

They did x-rays of my bowels, painful x-rays I should add.  Nothing significant.  Dr. shoved his fist (seemed like it) with gell and tried to clear me, all that did was send me through the roof in pain, I was screaming at that point.

They had me drink a half bottle of magnesium citrate, said that would make most people blow right open, but it didn't work.  Had me drink the whole bottle, nothing.

Finally, had to endure a humiliating milk based enema.  Took 4 passes with the enema to break most of it loose, never felt such pain in such a sensitive area.  My back side couldn't be any rawer feeling than it is now.

Then I was allowed to rest for an hour in a bed, to make sure I was ok to go home.  Then released, my friend got me safely in my house and made sure I had everything I needed.  I laid down for 2 hours with heating pad.  Had to jump up a few times, as the mega laxative is still working inside me, I get about a 5 second warning at best.

May be a long night until I am completely cleared out, but thankful I went ahead and went.  Dr. said it was a bad impactation, and considering that I take stool softeners daily, he was surprised.  Thinks I have been too de-hydrated with the weight loss.  Gave me a list of things to do to help make this never happen again.

What a day.  Sure wish my lovely wife had been here instead of still being in CA.  I will admit:  I was scared to death, frightened, nervous, anxious, uncertain, etc.  Was already hurting so bad, and everything they did to help me only hurt me more.

Hopefully I am through the worse of this ordeal, knew it was going to take something dramatic to fix it.  Thanks to my ex-boss, he has been there for me since my original PC dx on August 25, 2008.  I think he would do anything for me.

David

My God, David, it's starting to look like the universe or something has singled you out to see just how much a human being can take.

I can only hope that this was a one-time event, and that you will have a plan in place to handle it if it arises again, which hopefully it won't.

Once again we will pray for you, especially that you will continue to have the strength to deal with the extraordinary challenges that life is handing you.

sorry you had to endure so much pain there and I hope the mag cit is all done with its magic now.

Have you tried miralax? Paul takes the generic daily and would be back in hospital with another perforation or his partial small bowel obstruction would become complete for sure (its worsening if the CT scans are any indication).

Its pretty safe to take daily and I have seen it prescribed twice a day when I used to work in a psych hospital and patients were taking all kinds of meds, not eating a diet with lots of roughage, etc....

So maybe talk to your doc? May be worth it.

Hope you're not too pooped out! ;)

Thank you, my friends. I take some comfort from each of you.

Kuku - that is the stuff the ER doctor wants me to take on a daily basis, said it would never hurt me, and because he knows I am opiates long term, that, plus the stool softeners, would be a good daily routine. And of course, take in more liquids.

I use to be such a water drinker, nearly a gal. a day at one point, but with my weight loss issue, its so hard to force drink, as I feel constantly full. But I know I have to keep trying.

I weighed tonight, 128 lbs. New record low, but sure today's events took its toll on me. Have lost over 105 lbs. now total, I believe.

Still mostly laying around resting, have no energy to do anything. Have the heat on in the house and its not cold out, but keep getting chilled feeling. Just wish I wasn't feeling so alone tonight.

David

Sorry you're going through this. Do you think mineral oil would help? It's a lubricant.

128 lbs???sounds awfully low....how tall are you?

Last time I was 128 was in 5th grade and Im only 5'8"

thanks again, my many hw friends.

just got up from a lay down rest, talked to my wife briefly on the phone. she will be home around 10 PM my time tomorrow evening. hoping I will be stronger feeling by then to pick her up, if not, ex boss has offered to get her and bring her home.

casper - I am 5' 8", and that was about what I weighed when I was 17. I joined the Navy on my 18th birthday, and the min. weight for that height was 135. My mother stuffed me with everything bananas for about 2 weeks prior to joining. I do believe at induction center, they put their finger on the scale to make me heavy enough. I got married April of 1974, and weighed either 160 or 165, and stayed that way for a few years. Then after about 4 years of marriage, I picked up lots of weight and stayed a "heavy" for the next 35 years. My peak was 269 back around 1992 (?), not long after moving to SC from NH. The last 20 years, my weight went up and down, from let's say 225 to 250, depending on my various cancer battles. How are you doing right now, yourself? Haven't seen a recent report.

on the fence - the ER surgeon said a little mineral oil wouldn't hurt. I had just bought a bottle 2 days ago, but hadn't started it yet. I want to do whatever it takes to never repeat this event. by nature, I run on the "loose" side and have most of my life. I am a stranger to normal constipation as a rule.

still feel incredibly weak and drained, but I am guessing between what was done, and the pain and trauma of it is playing into the picture. a good nights sleep would be welcomed by me.

david

David:

I'm so sorry that you were alone and had to go thru all of this. I'm sure you were very scared and wanted your wife with you at the time. Sounds like you've managed to get thru the whole experience though. ((((((hugs))))))

I know how you were feeling, I've been in that place a few times myself. I hope that you're getting some much needed sleep right now and will wake up in the morning and feel a whole lot better. I say go ahead and use the miralax daily. I use it when needed, some days I use it up to 3 times 17 grams of the stuff. You can pour it right into the cap.

There's no taste to the stuff you can even drink it in water. I usually mix mine in orange juice though. I've never had an impaction and hope to never have one. Please know that I'm praying for you and that things get better for you really soon. I know you're a very private guy and don't always like to ask for help for yourself. I'm so very proud that you called your ex boss to take you to the ER.

If you're still not feeling up to it please let him go and pick up your wife from the Airport. I'm sure he wouldn't have offered if he had minded. I know that your wife will totally understand that you just were not up going to pick her up at the airport. I'm sure she'll just be happy to get home and pamper you a bit.

You did a great job at handling your situation and now you just need to rest and get feeling better. I'll be home tomorrow if you need to call me and vent away, please feel free to give me a call. You did great and I truly hope you're resting and sleeping right now. I'm headed to my bed now, as I've got several appointments first thing in the am.

Hang in there David I'm right here pulling for you. I know you feel as if the whole world is out to get you but it's not. You just have bad luck just like I do, some day I'll list a few of my issues you'll laugh I'm sure. I'll check on you tomorrow. Take care my friend and know I'm pulling for you.

Hugs,
Barbara

David,
Sorry to hear about your latest nightmare. Don't know about you but I kind of have the luck you do. In your case, wife goes out of town, pretty much nobody else to call and all hell breaks loose. Hope you can have some good days for a change, you certainly deserve it.
By the way, my wife uses Miralax. It is about the only thing that has helped her. I have seen her go a week or more without a bowel movement. She can take several doses of Ex Lax and not so much as a squirt. She has even used two and three enemas in a night to try and get some relief with very little help. And Miralax is the only thing that seems to work. Her trouble is getting the dosage right. If she uses it every day, it keeps her running to the bathroom. And if she skips a day or two, she is constipated again. She hasn't been able to find a happy medium yet.
Jim

David,

A bad, bad day...

Hopin and prayin for a miracle for u hasn't helped much, so will start with baby steps and wish just one good night's rest for u for now...

Robert

Thank you, one and all. Made it through the night, but picked up a new, but lesser problem. I guess during the night, I must have tugged on the tube that the large catheter bag was attached to my Urostomy device, and it pulled the device loose. I woke up soaking wet - me, clothes, bedding. So I had to get up, clean me, strip the bed, get a big load of laundry going, and then putting a new device on myself (something I only can do in an emergency like this). Must have did it right ,because the new one is not leaking, so far. Just what I needed, another mess to clean up.

An - no one at this point, is actively doing anything about the weight loss, just a lot of talk and no action. Perhaps this week, or next, I will have to get on the horn with my PCP and my VA PCP and shout and yell for action.

mal, I assure you, not tough, very frustrated and stressed, like what else is going to happen? It's been endless.

Jim - feel bad for your wife, its been a lifetime issue for my wife too, though not as severe as your wife. Red wine tends to keep my wife regular, or eating a certain Kaski cereal, almond crunch?

Barb - assured that I will do every step the ER doctor suggested, but he said to hold off a day or two after all they put into me yesterday. So the Miralax will be part of my nightly routine, along with the stool softeners. Not going to hurt. Need to figure a way to introduce a small daily amount of mineral oil to the mix, but not sure how much to take.

Wife doesn't get in till 10 PM tonight, I was wrong about the time. Hoping still I will feel strong enough to make t he trip (about 30 miles there), if not, ex-boss will be glad to do the honors, but rather think it will be me going.

Getting caught up with laundry and house cleaning right now, just little things at the time. She has never been on a trip ever, where the house wasn't spotless and everything done. Poor girl has to go straight to work in the morning, after spending about 10 hours flying along with the expected jet lag.

David

David, I too have ben praying for you. I cant' give any advice about the constipation, KuKu kind of summed it up humorously, you can only go there at this point, you've been thru some serious sh** . Take comfort in the Word, and the hope that today will be a healing well day, Keep the Faith, Dan in Sunny So Cal

my ex boss came through for me still again. he made the trip to t he Gibbs Cancer Center for me, and picked up the 2 really needed prescriptions for me. That saved me a 60 mile round trip, still too sore to sit in my car seat comfortably, very sore, feel very violated down there, like I am sitting on a fence post, lol. Hope that heals up soon.

he's still on stand-by if I need him to pick my wife up from the airport tonight. I am going to try a cushion pad in my car, and go about 2 blocks for gas, to see how I feel. that will determine if I can make it on my own later this evening. she arrives 10 pm our time from CA. Know she will be beat