Bowels waking up and other things

thanks dixie. I'll pass them on to my pal in the hospital. Im lucky and my innards seemto work ok after the surgery. there's only a few things I have problems with (grapes!)

Hi Tim,
I am 14 months post-op from a neobladder. One of my biggest problems was my bowels waking up. When I was in the hospital they didn't want to send me home without having a bowel movement so they gave me a suppository and thought I went but I really didn't. It was just a small amount but, they counted it as one so home I went after six days. I didn't move my bowels for, I think three or four days and had terrible gas pains. They told me not to strain but I was so constipated it was terrible. I also woke up in the middle of the night and vomitted so I called my Dr. that morning. Of course he was not in so I spoke to the Dr. on call. I ask if it was ok to take a suppository and he said to take a enema. That finally got me straighten out but I had to take MOM for about the next week then I started taking a stool softner along with Benifiber(it is a natural powder that has fiber in it)every day for awhile until I started getting regulated. I also started eating prunes every day or drank prune juice. I still have to watch my self. If I don't have a bowel movement within two days I take a stool softner and I still take my Benifiber(it's like Metamucil)every day. But, I had problems with my bowels before the surgery. I would usely only go every two or three days anyway, so I sort of had a feeling I probably would have problems with that. Oh, yes I remember I kept walking and walking and walking for the gas pain which did help. So I hope I helped some. Please E-mail me with any questions.

lol. thats a great story. I think I'd be prepared to accept pretty much anything under those circumstances! And, yes, I think I would have liked someone (looking quite chipper if I may say) at the end of my bed who'd been through it. But I think it was very good for me too. It made me see how far I'd come and also how ill I was! And he reminded me of a lot of the detail I'd forgotten. Silly things like putting the stent pee into a different bottle to the catheter pee! And all the contradictory information you get from different hospital staff. The ward looked a lot smaller than I remembered. But I was quite off my head last time I was in! None of the nursing staff recognised me. I guess that demonstrates how many people go through there or, more likely, the fact that our health system finds it hard to connect with patients as people. For lots of reasons; busyness, professional detachment etc. There's definitely a place for more "mentoring" type services in our health system. Good for the mentor. Good for the mentee.

Tim

Hi Tim.......yes the bowels were the last to awaken and they were most concerned after the 5th day ...then i had an urge to go finally but all that came out was old blood..looked like coffee grounds. They decided to feed me anyway and see how i reacted and i was fine and dismissed the next day. But you're right the intestines are the last to heal and i'm sure its very different for everyone. They said at the time if something didn't move by the l0th day another CT would be taken to see if there was any blockage..a sometimes complication.
It was great that you went to see him...i'm sure it was comforting to him. It always helps to see a healthy person standing in front of you thats been through it. It sure beats the well intentioned security officer that came up to my bed at 3 a.m. to do a healing to purge my body of all impurities!! Seriously...she had taken my husband back to his hotel and he was wishing he could comfort me more and she asked him if it was alright for her to pray for me...he said of course. He didn't realize she was going to come up to my room and do a healing! Nothing like having a person with a gun in your room at 3 a.m. asking you if you accept Jesus Christ as your saviour....like i was going to say no?.....True story!! And they had cleverly hidden the nurses button to a place where it was impossible to reach..... Pat

Last night I went to visit a gentleman who has just undergone a cystectomy a week ago. It was a strange experience for me as he was in the same hospital ward that I was in for my op 8 months ago. In fact in the bed diagonally opposite to mine. I started to feel very nervous and uncomfortable in the elevator up there. I also began to question why I was there and who I was going for. But essentially I wanted to show him that you can come through the op and be ok. Additionally, he has travelled some way and doesn't have that much support in the area. He's doing well, feeling pretty rough. It bought a lot of stuff back to me. One of his biggest problems right now for him is that he hasn't had a bowel movement since his op over a week ago. I remember the bowels waking up being one of the most challenging aspects of my surgery. It's different for everyone, but in my case they took four or five days to get going again, began like concrete and then developed into a two week diarrhoea (www.dictionary.com!) bout which really sapped me and didn't settle fully for quite a while. His situation, and mine too at the beginning, is compunded by the fact that, as desperate as he is to have a poo, after bowel surgery your fear of splitting asunder is greater than your fear of impaction. i.e. you don't want to push. He's quite bloated and uncomfortable. Does anyone have any ideas about this or experience to relate? In my case I just muddled through as everyone probably does.