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Recovery from bowel operation

Posted , 4 users are following.

donna92634
donna92634

Hubby has just recovered from a bowel operation to remove a T4 tumour i believe not a 100 percent sure but i think it was the lower part of the large bowel . The parts were rejoined in surgery thankgod .

His bowel was very sleepy and day 4 post op he had slight smearing and then the bowels woke up. He is having regularly toilet trips and little motions but his stomach is so distended and is suffering from trapped gas which the nurses say is normal i was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem after bowel surgery and has some amazing tips for this .

Thankyou Donna

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • susan21751
    susan21751 donna92634

    Posted

    Hi Donna

    I am so glad he got through surgery-I had a tumour also and was re-plumbed!

    I would suggest peppermint oil/capsules from Holland & Barratt or peppermint tea for trapped wind.

    It is good that he is passing stools- I wasn't so lucky after surgery-severely constipated. Took a while before things were back to normal.

    Ask your doc for something to release the gas if the peppermint doesn't help.

    - hope he'll feel 100% very soon.

    Susan

    • donna92634
      donna92634 susan21751

      Posted

      Morning susan

      He didnt haveca great day yesterday we kind of did a uturn .he did pass running normal coloured stool .

      But his stomach was very distended he looked 9 months pregnant he was also very sick and unwell ,he went back on NT again to take out the bile from tummy hecdid ferl better . They think he is still half his gut is working the other isnt ,have you heard of this ? Or a obstruction (i pray not) i pushed for a CT but No doctor didnt come back to us .how did your op and recovery go ?sorry to be so personal im just desperate to hear people's journeys .

      Thankyou for the tip on the capsules xx

    • susan21751
      susan21751 donna92634

      Posted

      Morning Donna and hubby

      I was severely constipated as I lost 8 inches of my large intestine and had to be re-plumbed-was severely constipated for 2 weeks had to go back to hospital (which was over 20 miles away) we don't drive anymore so we took a taxi ( Sussex -£30) - back to Hastings-where I sat on a commode for over 7 hours to be unblocked-eventually I got home 9pm that night-I'll never forget that day till the day I die!

      But it took time to get back to normality-3/4 months-times when I couldn't leave the house because I was going too frequenyl and other times when I needed help to go(suppository) luckily my husband was an ex-first aider and was good at giving me injections and suppositories as I had to have injection to prevent blood clots for 5 weeks after surgery-I couldn't do them myself-(I am a lady of over 70) I tried them myself in hospital but wasn't good at them.

      I also found my appetite took long time to get back to normal.Felt traumatised most of the time (I am fairly anxious anyway).

      I am now being monitored am waiting to see consultant-will see him next week-hope results are good(CT/Bloods).

      I am an otherwise healthy person-just bit of arthritis etc.

      Regards

      Susan

  • Stretchmo
    Stretchmo donna92634

    Posted

    I had a stoma and after getting 're-plumbed' had trouble having a poo (didn't do anything for 4 days) as my bowel had went to sleep. I was very sick but after the old tube up the nose for a couple of days I felt better. Peppermint tea and lots of fluids later it woke up and I was fine. It just takes time.

    • donna92634
      donna92634 Stretchmo

      Posted

      Aww thank you for that hubbys op was last monday 23rd and he was bad day 1 had the tube into the stomach for a couple of days then removed it and by day 6 post op he had a distended stomach really bad and vomiting bile so tube went back in which made him feel more comfortable and tummu size reduced .he has stated passing wind and poo 3 days ago they suspect part bowel has woken up but not all has .it seems to be takings ages one step forward 2 steps back.
  • Piggy1234
    Piggy1234 donna92634

    Posted

    Hello Donna, I had colorectal cancer surgery 4  months ago. I lost 99%of my rectum and some of the large bowel also. I now have an illiostomy bag which can be a challenge. This means my large bowel is not being used.  My time in hospital was not nice. I had an illius ( the bowel spasms as it does not like being touched during surgery). I rocked with nausea for 12 hrs before having a huge vomit. This did not do much for my large incision full of staples. I had to ask for a nasogastric tube when it started again the next day. Sound like your husband may need one again also. I was told 5 -7 days in hospital, but ended up being 12. I had to eat extremely small meals once the bowel started working again as I had eaten so little while in hospital. Clear fluids are the only thing that kept me going and chewing gum. I was advised to eat gum by the stoma nurse. Smart woman. It helps signal the stomach and bowel to get to work. Might be something your hubby could try. 

    I am now awaiting a reversal of my stoma. I will then face a whole new set of challenges. Good luck.

    • donna92634
      donna92634 Piggy1234

      Posted

      Hi There Piggy

      Thankyou so much for sharing your experience with me .

      Hubby has been in 11 days 10 days post op and im sitting now in the hospital chapel (which has been a comfort to me even though im not religious ) as today the surgeon decided after cT that hubs had last night and it showed alot of wind and he suspects a little leak but also may need just a wash out. So he has now gone for op No 2 we are devastated as it took him so long to get to this stage to now start with recovery again iam in bits to be honest i have been with him at his beside from 9am until 8am everyday since his op . Its a awful thing to overcome and sometimes well all the times i doubt we will .

      Chewing gum yes we did that as we got told this works however another nurse said that it brings more air in

      Hope your reversal goes well xx

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