Re: Update on my dad

[Guest guest]

Karin,

Sorry I couldn't reply to some of your other posts...I read thru what

some of the other responders were saying about partial obstruction

and tend to be in agreement with them. When you have had abdominal

surgery, there are a lot of things which can go wrong in the time

following. It is difficult to pinpoint the EXACT reason for a

blockage...intestinal " kink " , adhesion, more cancer, etc., but the

symptoms you have described REALLY sound like some sort of block. I

know you're nervous about more surgery, but I view this as a positive

thing. If he DOESN'T do the surgery, and the blockage continues, it

will only weaken him further. As you may have noticed from other's

experiences (e.g. a's Mom is a good example), the surgeons don't

like to operate unless they feel all other options are exhausted

(that is why they delay surgery - hope that blockages will clear on

their own without intervention. And sometimes for some very lucky

patients, that will happen!).

I will be thinking of you and your Dad during this difficult period,

and hoping his upcoming procedure will get to the bottom of ( & stop!)

his ongoing problems.

Best Wishes,

> Hi,

>

> I wrote earlier about my dad (Toby) who was having bloating, pain,

and

> vomiting after his colon resection. Well, they did a lot of tests

and finally

> came to the conclusion that it was either a kink or an obstruction

in his

> small intestine (which is what quite a few people on this list also

suggested

> it might be). I'm hoping it's a kink because I can't imagine how

he would

> get an adhesion in an area pretty far above his resection. And I'm

hoping

> that it's not another cancerous growth that is blocking the area.

>

> My mom called about an hour ago and and told me that they were going

> to take him into surgery within the hour. I'm glad that they

finally figured

> out the problem and are doing something about it, but I'm also

worried

> about him going through another surgery so soon after the first

(two weeks

> today), his age (74), and the fact that he's hardly had anything to

eat since

> the first surgery. He must be much weaker than he was before his

first

> surgery. I wonder if they will go into the same way that they did

> the first time or if they will do another incision.

>

> Thanks again for taking the time to respond to my messages--even

though

> many of you are fighting your own serious battles. This is a

wonderful and

> caring group of people.

>

> Karin

[Guest guest]

> Hi,

>

> I wrote earlier about my dad (Toby) who was having bloating, pain,

and

> vomiting after his colon resection. Well, they did a lot of tests

and finally

> came to the conclusion that it was either a kink or an obstruction

in his

> small intestine (which is what quite a few people on this list also

suggested

> it might be). I'm hoping it's a kink because I can't imagine how

he would

> get an adhesion in an area pretty far above his resection. And I'm

hoping

> that it's not another cancerous growth that is blocking the area.

>

> My mom called about an hour ago and and told me that they were going

> to take him into surgery within the hour. I'm glad that they

finally figured

> out the problem and are doing something about it, but I'm also

worried

> about him going through another surgery so soon after the first

(two weeks

> today), his age (74), and the fact that he's hardly had anything to

eat since

> the first surgery. He must be much weaker than he was before his

first

> surgery. I wonder if they will go into the same way that they did

> the first time or if they will do another incision.

>

> Thanks again for taking the time to respond to my messages--even

though

> many of you are fighting your own serious battles. This is a

wonderful and

> caring group of people.

>

> Karin

Hi karin,

Just hang in there.Everyone here is pulling for your Dad and praying

for you. I don,t think his Dr. would do the surgery if he did not

think he was strong enough. look at it this way the sooner he get,s

this surgery over with, the sooner he can get on the road to recovery

and feeling better. Be glad his Dr. is on top of thing,s. I hope your

family has a Merry christmas and I will keep you in my thought,s and

prayer,s.

Hugs Jana

[Guest guest]

All I can tell you is that I felt sooooo much better after the

blockage was gone. I had lost 20 lbs since I was unable to eat half

the time. Unfortunately (for me anyway) I have since gained a bunch

of that weight back.

I know going into surgery is a bad thing in the short term but it

will probably be for the best. I don't think he has a blockage from

any other tumors because they would have seen them on the scans.

From watching operations on TLC and Discovery channel, it doesn't

surprise me a bit that adhesions occur well away from the main

surgery area. It sounds like a loop could have gotten an adhesion in

such a way that it twisted itself half shut. Hang in there and

remember to keep asking questions. The answers you get will tell you

a lot about what they are thinking.

Cliff H.

> > Hi,

> >

> > I wrote earlier about my dad (Toby) who was having bloating,

pain,

> and

> > vomiting after his colon resection. Well, they did a lot of

tests

> and finally

> > came to the conclusion that it was either a kink or an

obstruction

> in his

> > small intestine (which is what quite a few people on this list

also

> suggested

> > it might be). I'm hoping it's a kink because I can't imagine how

> he would

> > get an adhesion in an area pretty far above his resection. And

I'm

> hoping

> > that it's not another cancerous growth that is blocking the area.

> >

> > My mom called about an hour ago and and told me that they were

going

> > to take him into surgery within the hour. I'm glad that they

> finally figured

> > out the problem and are doing something about it, but I'm also

> worried

> > about him going through another surgery so soon after the first

> (two weeks

> > today), his age (74), and the fact that he's hardly had anything

to

> eat since

> > the first surgery. He must be much weaker than he was before his

> first

> > surgery. I wonder if they will go into the same way that they

did

> > the first time or if they will do another incision.

> >

> > Thanks again for taking the time to respond to my messages--even

> though

> > many of you are fighting your own serious battles. This is a

> wonderful and

> > caring group of people.

> >

> > Karin

>

>

> Hi karin,

> Just hang in there.Everyone here is pulling for your Dad and

praying

> for you. I don,t think his Dr. would do the surgery if he did not

> think he was strong enough. look at it this way the sooner he get,s

> this surgery over with, the sooner he can get on the road to

recovery

> and feeling better. Be glad his Dr. is on top of thing,s. I hope

your

> family has a Merry christmas and I will keep you in my thought,s

and

> prayer,s.

> Hugs Jana

[Guest guest]

Thank you and everyone else, for your replies. I really,

really appreciate it.

They ended up finding two areas in the small intestine that were

severely twisted and had a lot of adhesions (just like you suggested,

Cliff, and thanks for your explanation of how that could happen).

One was at the beginning of the small intestine and the other was at

the end. So they had to do two more resections.

We saw him yesterday and he was very weak and in pain (which I know

is to be expected after such a surgery). They also had all of these

tubes in him, including one that went from his nose to his stomach

and all of this green stuff was coming out (sorry to be gross!) It

was pretty yucky, but I guess it's better to get that stuff out of

him.

I talked to my dad on the phone this morning and he was very

discouraged as he still wasn't able to pass gas and was generally

feeling pretty lousy. I talked to his doctor, who had told me that

his intestines would probably be " asleep " for a while after so much

handling and am trying to reassure him that the lack of gas does not

mean that the second operation didn't work as he is fearing.

So, we have a lot to be thankful for at this point. Hopefully, his

bowels will start working again and he will be able to come home

again in a week to 10 days like the doctor said.

Thanks again to the wonderful people on this list for taking the time

to help me help my dad by getting more information and knowing what

questions to ask the doctor (and the oncologist when we meet with him

in the near future).

I hope you all have a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year's.

Karin (Toby's daughter)

[Guest guest]

> Thank you and everyone else, for your replies. I really,

> really appreciate it.

>

> They ended up finding two areas in the small intestine that were

> severely twisted and had a lot of adhesions (just like you

suggested,

> Cliff, and thanks for your explanation of how that could happen).

> One was at the beginning of the small intestine and the other was

at

> the end. So they had to do two more resections.

>

> We saw him yesterday and he was very weak and in pain (which I know

> is to be expected after such a surgery). They also had all of

these

> tubes in him, including one that went from his nose to his stomach

> and all of this green stuff was coming out (sorry to be gross!) It

> was pretty yucky, but I guess it's better to get that stuff out of

> him.

>

> I talked to my dad on the phone this morning and he was very

> discouraged as he still wasn't able to pass gas and was generally

> feeling pretty lousy. I talked to his doctor, who had told me that

> his intestines would probably be " asleep " for a while after so much

> handling and am trying to reassure him that the lack of gas does

not

> mean that the second operation didn't work as he is fearing.

>

> So, we have a lot to be thankful for at this point. Hopefully, his

> bowels will start working again and he will be able to come home

> again in a week to 10 days like the doctor said.

>

> Thanks again to the wonderful people on this list for taking the

time

> to help me help my dad by getting more information and knowing what

> questions to ask the doctor (and the oncologist when we meet with

him

> in the near future).

>

> I hope you all have a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year's.

>

> Karin (Toby's daughter)

Karin,

I am so glad your Dad has this surgery behind him and hope he is

felling better very soon. We are all praying for you.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Hugs Jana

[Guest guest]

I'm sorry your dad had to go through the extra resections. It's a

real bummer having to have another surgery just to fix what happened

from the initial operation. The way I handled it was to concentrate

on getting out of the damn hospital as fast as I could (4 days!). I

did everything they asked me to do and more. They kept telling me if

I walked then my innards would wake up faster so I walked as much as

I felt I could without hurting myself. I walked so much that they

got embarrassed that I was still there! ;-) They'll tell him what

to do so just encourage him to do it so he can go home.

The tube through the nose is gross and the smell is awful. Keep an

eye on that thing and make sure it's working. My mom had one and it

kept getting blocked. When it got blocked, we had to keep griping to

the nurses to get it working again. It was important because when it

didn't do the job, she started feeling so much worse. Hopefully your

dad won't need that thing but a day or two.

Merry Christmas and take care,

Cliff H.

> Thank you and everyone else, for your replies. I really,

> really appreciate it.

>

> They ended up finding two areas in the small intestine that were

> severely twisted and had a lot of adhesions (just like you

suggested,

> Cliff, and thanks for your explanation of how that could happen).

> One was at the beginning of the small intestine and the other was

at

> the end. So they had to do two more resections.

>

> We saw him yesterday and he was very weak and in pain (which I know

> is to be expected after such a surgery). They also had all of

these

> tubes in him, including one that went from his nose to his stomach

> and all of this green stuff was coming out (sorry to be gross!) It

> was pretty yucky, but I guess it's better to get that stuff out of

> him.

>

> I talked to my dad on the phone this morning and he was very

> discouraged as he still wasn't able to pass gas and was generally

> feeling pretty lousy. I talked to his doctor, who had told me that

> his intestines would probably be " asleep " for a while after so much

> handling and am trying to reassure him that the lack of gas does

not

> mean that the second operation didn't work as he is fearing.

>

> So, we have a lot to be thankful for at this point. Hopefully, his

> bowels will start working again and he will be able to come home

> again in a week to 10 days like the doctor said.

>

> Thanks again to the wonderful people on this list for taking the

time

> to help me help my dad by getting more information and knowing what

> questions to ask the doctor (and the oncologist when we meet with

him

> in the near future).

>

> I hope you all have a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year's.

>

> Karin (Toby's daughter)