Re: Question about obstructions

[Guest guest]

> Hi all,

>

> I wrote a couple of days ago about my dad (Toby), who had a

resection to remove a

> large polyp and a small adenocarcinoma the Monday before last and

had to go back

> into the hospital this past Friday because he was having severe

abdominal pain and

> bloating, and started throwing up large quantities of yellow/green

liquid.

>

> First of all, thank you so much to all of you who responded to my

previous messages.

> I really appreciate it.

>

> Second, I have some questions regarding bowel obstructions. My

dad is still in the

> hospital. He's been on an IV to get him rehydrated and hadn't

been eating any solid

> food. He felt much better yesterday, and said that he was ready

to come home when

> I talked to him today. He said that he was told that all he had

to do was eat lunch

> and have a bowel movement and he could go home.

>

> However, they still don't know what caused his problems--even

after doing xrays, a

> CAT scan, and blood tests. I talked to him right before lunch and

he was in high

> spirits and feeling really good. I just talked to him a little

while ago and he was pretty

> down in the dumps because he wasn't feeling too well after

eating. He said he was

> feeling bloated, a little nauseated, and has been unable to have a

bowel movement.

> When I asked him where he felt bloated--above or below the belly

button--he told

> me above.

I'm no doctor but I've been through this.

I had a small bowel partial obstruction due to an adhesion that got

the full dose of radiation that I had. It hurt on the right side

and radiated up and then across toward my navel. It felt like bad

cramps. It was especially aggravated by nuts and high fiber stuff.

I lived with this for about 3-1/2 months until I finally had surgery

to fix it. I lost about 20 lbs. over that time. The cramping was

the intestine trying to push through the radiation damaged loop of

small bowel. It hurt higher up because that was the area upstream

doing all the pushing against the clog. I was worried my colon was

blocked since it hurt higher up.

Maybe the bloating is higher up because that's the portion directly

above the area with the twist or adhesion. Adhesions are fairly

common after surgery (or so I've been told) but they usually work

themselves out. That's probably why they're doing the wait and see

thing.

My obstruction was not easy to see and the doctor said that he

wouldn't be able to see it on a CAT scan. In fact, they did do a

CAT scan in the hospital and didn't see anything. He did see

evidence of the blockage due to bubbles visible on the x-ray that

were easy to see in one area but not behind another point. That

with the symptoms was how he DX'd the blockage. He could also see

evidence of feces in the colon so he figured it was only partially

obstructed.

Later on, when I was recovering from the surgery to remove the

obstruction, I had an upper GI series with small bowel follow

through. This involves drinking a lot of barium liquid and then a

bunch of x-rays (flouroscopy). It was wierd to watch myself swallow

in real time! I don't know if they will do this with your dad since

he's already feeling bloated, etc... It was quite a bit of barium

to drink (at least 3-4 cups, ick).

>

> In all the research I've been doing, and in reading a lot of the

previous posts in the

> archive that talked about obstructions, I really think that this

could be a partial

> obstruction. The thing that I'm confused about is why is the

bloating occurring so

> high up? And how can they tell if there is an obstruction? I

would think that a total

> obstruction would be easier to see in an xray or CAT scan, but

what about a partial

> obstruction? Also, since he never had this problem before

surgery, I'm inclined to

> think that it was caused by the surgery itself.

My mom had a pancratic cancer tumor that blocked the ducts from the

liver and gall bladder. She turned yellow and that's how we found

out she was sick. :-( She had surgery to bypass the tumor so she

could eat and digest; however, that didn't work and the bypass

twisted so that she had a blockage. She wound up in the hospital

and almost died until she threw up buckets of green ick (on the

doctor I might add). She started improving after that but she wound

up not being able to eat for quite a while.

The throwing up sounds a lot like your dad but there doesn't seem to

be an obvious reason why he would be blocked up in a higher portion

of the plumbing. If he's not cramping then it's hard to say what's

going on.

>

> The doctor hasn't seen him yet today, so I don't know what they're

going to do next.

> Does anyone have any ideas or experience in these sort of symptoms?

>

> Thanks for any advice/opinions,

>

> Karin

My guess would be that he is probably partially blocked. Like you

said, it's hard to know why he's bloated further up but that may be

due to everything backing up in his system. I would think he'd have

cramps if he was obstructed because mine hurt (more than surgery

ever did). I'm betting they're hoping it'll go away on it's own

(they said to me that they usually do). I know it's hard to wait

and see but that may be what is required. They can always to the

small bowel follow through flouroscopy but they may not see the need

or ability to do so.

Good luck and hang in there. It's not easy, but keep the faith.

Cliff H.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your detailed message, Cliff! That sure sounds like what

my dad is going through.

> My guess would be that he is probably partially blocked. Like you

> said, it's hard to know why he's bloated further up but that may be

> due to everything backing up in his system. I would think he'd have

> cramps if he was obstructed because mine hurt (more than surgery

> ever did).

This is exactly what my dad said about his pain (that it was much worse

than it was from the surgery). I haven't asked him what the pain felt like

(cramping or ??), but he said it was horrible.

> I'm betting they're hoping it'll go away on it's own

> (they said to me that they usually do). I know it's hard to wait

> and see but that may be what is required.

I sure hope so. It's sad to think that he'll probably be in the hospital

during Christmas, but at least they can keep an eye on him there and

hopefully get him fixed up.

> Good luck and hang in there. It's not easy, but keep the faith.

Thanks again, Cliff. My parents and I really appreciate it!

Karin

[Guest guest]

> It takes time. If the scans and xrays are not detecting any backed up fluids

or

> anything in the small bowel, I would think this may be your Dad's problem too.

> a

Hi a,

Thanks for your reply. I sure hope that is the case and that he'll be able to

go on his own again. He felt so much better after he'd thrown up everything

in his stomach and it was empty. He said he was even able to pass gas where

he wasn't before.

I hope your mother is doing better. She's lucky to have a daughter like you.

All the best,

Karin