Admitted in the hospital due to obstruction

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cheeky

Joined
Jan 8, 2009
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Hey everyone,

Day 2 in the hospital.
Had MRI Monday, unfortunately it involved me having to drink 4 huge cups of metamucil which caused an obstruction. I have a bad stricture guess they didn't care to adjust their normal procedure. I didn't know it was metimucal til after I finished it.

Resection surgery is necessary. I can't even drink water without vomiting... So no food or liquids.. On iv and finally steroid iv which helped alleviate the pain.

Guess I'm gonna have to cancel my trip to europe and just get this surgery over with.

For those of you who had resection surgery, how long did it take you to recover? How bad was the pain? Any tips?
Also is your scarring really bad?
 
Hi Cheeky - sorry, no surgeries here - I'm sure someone will chime in.

So they actually caused the obstruction by giving you something you couldn't handle? Geesh.....best of luck with everything!!!!!
 
Yup! They said they needed to 'bulk' the intestines, also they gave me a couple pills and an injection to prevent movement in the intestines... Wow that metamucil really messed me up!! I've thrown up 16 times and only stopped because I've had nothing in me for a couple days (actually after asking my doctor if I could please have a bit of water he let me but I ended up vomiting that up too yesterday)

I guess everything happens for a reason and this surgery is overdue
 
Did they actually tell you that is what caused the obstruction? It worked like a laxative for me.

I wish you well.
 
They didn't have to tell me, it was very obvious that was what triggered it... They tell people with strictures to stay away from too much fibre or stringy foods (at least that's what I was warned about)
Then right after I had the metamucil I felt light cramping and eventually had severe flare up cramping and vomiting repeatedly... All orange stuff.

I hadn't eaten anything for over 24 hrs before the MRI, and I felt completely fine right before the metamucil... When I explained what happened, none of the doctors argued it, so I think it's pretty clear that was the trigger.

I've had partial obstructions in the past but never completely plugged up like this... Think of how thick and fibrous metamucil is and now imagine 4 huge cups of it going down an intestine that has a 'pinhole' stricture.... Not a good look. I haven't had a bowel movement at all, at first I thought that's what it might do but nope... Clogged me up!
 
That's right Cheeky, unless you drink a fair amount of water with Metamucil it can set like cement for some vulnerable people and has no laxative effect at all. It's something they tend to neglect to tell people about.

Both of my children have had small bowel resections. My son had one 4 weeks ago today. I have noticed a significant change in his ability to do things this week and he is moving much more freely, so from about 3 weeks post op. He has not had many issues with pain since being discharged and very little after being home for about a week. Matt has a vertical midline scar that was closed with a continuous dissolvable suture. At this point it looks like a thin red line. Sarah also had the same closure method and it is very difficult to see her scar now.

I'm so sorry to read that you have had to cancel your trip. :(

Good luck with your surgery and keep us posted!

Take care, :hug:
Dusty. xxx
 
Thanks for the reply Dusty, that was very helpful... Glad your children are doing well :)

Other than the trip thing (which really isn't that big of a deal since I'm pretty sure my cancellation insurance can cover it) there are a lot of bright sides to this situation and the timing is quite good since I get summers off from work... That should be good for the recovery... So in many ways I'm thankful.

I'll keep you guys posted!
 
Hi cheeky,

Sorry to hear about what happened. I'd be SO annoyed if I was you. Kind of a no brainer as to what giving you metamucil would do. Has anyone told you how they managed to overlook it?

I hope the surgery goes ok!
 
Well noone seems to want to acknowledge it and at this point, I can't be bothered making it into a big deal... But yeah it's annoying.

I just keep thinking things happen for a reason so I guess I'll just hang in there
Thanks I hope surgery goes well too.
Right now I'm just sitting in bed, not sure when they'll be doing the next thing.
 
I'm glad you're staying positive!

That's what I always hate. Laying there and having no clue when anything would happen. I was put on the emergency list the last time I was admitted. I wasn't allowed to eat anything for 2/3 days incase they took me down which could of happened at any time. I was starving!

Hope you have people to take stuff in to keep you entertained. Thank goodness for smart phones and the internet, I say!
 
Good luck with that cheeky,

Surgery . . . . takes as long as it takes my friend.

Europe will be here for a good while yet !! . . . . i hope !!

Take care
 
I had to have an open resection. I was out of the hospital in 5 days. Unfortunatly, I went back in the next day due to a very bad infection I developed. I was in an additional more days to clear up that infection.

When I finally made it home, I believe I stayed their for two weeks till I returned to work. So it was about a month total. Would have been sooner if I hadn't got the infection.
 
Hey everyone, I appreciate the support, thanks for replying.
Well I'm hangin in there... Iv steroids really helped..they were very impressed with how well I responded. Well also antinausea iv helped.

So apparently the MRI results (from the Monday that led to flare up) actually show that the stricture had some improvement but the other active 'diseased' area is the ileum, they say seems to show no improvement and that may actually be the main culprit for the symptoms getting to this point.
After 2 days of steroids - finally passed gas! Lol yay! And had a small BM so that's awesome, means the roids are getting busy in there bringing down the inflammation.
They even let me have clear fluids as of yesterday, so it was nice to have water.
Still no idea what they plan to do surgery wise, they said it's just about them deciding whether to do 'emergency' surgery or if the symptoms get under control the surgery could be scheduled... I guess now that I've passed gas and had a small BM, they may wait? Not sure

Funny, when I'm in the hospital its the perfect time to sleep (well sorta we all know hospital staff constantly wake you up to check on this n that and up your meds) but I can't sleep more than 4 hours... Was Up @ 3:45 again and can't fall back asleep.
The day I came in here I was barely functioning, to back a few clothes in my bag was exhausting, I fell asleep and the shower was a major struggle fell asleep after that too... First few days pain wouldn't let me sleep but soon my body would steal anytime it could to sleep.even if it wasn't steady rest I was just beat... So theres major shift in my energy. Thanks pred lol
 
Thanks for the update cheeky!

I'm so happy to read that things are starting to slowly work again, YAY!

Matt was in a similar situation in January, although he did not have an obstruction, he had extensive inflammation. If possible they will wait until the acute inflammation becomes chronic and then operate. All the colorectal surgeons Matt saw at the beginning were of the same opinion, from acute inflammation to chronic and surgery was about 12 weeks, and that's what it turned out to be for him.

Dusty. :)
 
Hey dusty! You sure know your stuff! :)
I just found out the following info from the doctor:
- even though I have the stricture in the terminal ilieum the active disease was coming from another area of the ileum (just above the terminal part, if I understand correctly)
- yes I was definitely obstructed, but at the same time, that can be commonly expected in someone who has the inflammation and stricture in the areas I have it.. So unfortunately, that's just something that will come along with the crohns symptoms I have
- since the steroids are working for me and the obstruction seems to be clearing, at this time, they don't feel it's necessary to do surgery but instead would like to continue me on prednisone (oh joy lol just when my working out was starting to help me lose weight, good ol' pred will be back to cancel that success lol)

- I'm under the impression they generally feel it's best to control the symptoms and not just jump to surgery, since obviously surgery can come with risks but I guess if you can't manage the symptoms, surgery will only be a bandaid for a while or it would be the thing to do if this is an ongoing issue and te obstruction creates complications

-yes I'm glad I don't need surgery (also kinda nervous about going through this again but it comes with the territory, I'll just be extra careful) but also I'm so happy I have an amazing team at work who is supportive (so I'm not stressed about work at all).... aaaand I'll definitely go on that euro trip!! I'm sure thatll be the bestest medicine lol

- so I'm waiting for them to finalize the plan and let me know when I'm free to go!!
 
Excellent news cheeky!

I hope all continues to go according to plan. Europe here we come! YAY!

Take care and keep us posted, :hug:
Dusty. xxx
 
That is interesting. After my very first MRI, I had constipation for 17 days. I had D up until that point. They found strictures in that MRI and they never told me to drink lots of water either... AND..it was all orange too :)
I am so glad you dont have to have surgery but I am sorry you are back on prednisone.
I hope you are feeling better... puking 16 times is A LOT.

Wendy
 
Thanks ladies! :)
Well they just told me a lil while ago that I'll be discharged as of tomorrow!
And I'm so glad I got a break from the iv now because it needed to be changed but they have to wait for the night nurse, so I'm just outside walking around and happy...

Though I admit, the pred thing is really bothering me guys.. I so don't wanna gain more weight after working so hard to lose the few pounds I have :( also I worry about other side effects or how I'll respond to tapering..
I'm gonna try hard tO convince them to try something else or see how I do for a few days before making me get on it...
I've already weighed myself and noticed my weight is up even though I haven't been eating! I've been trying to walk a bit too..
I feel like I'm retaining some water and I'm sure I'm still backed ip but I went this long without food and now weigh more than I did BEFORE I even had this flare up!!! Is it the pred? Aww man I'm freaking out lol, cang afford a new wardrobe to accommodate even more weight lol
Oh in the past on pred I had noticed my anxiety increased when I was on pred and my sleep gets messed up.. No bizarre psychiatric episodes but I'd abruptly wake up heart racing and scared and thought I didn't take my dose and was scared I was gonna die or something it was weird.. So that kinda stuff is strange (as I'm sure you all know about the evil pred)
 
Ok I had my little prednisone meltdown but I'm just gonna relax and be more positive.. Really when I was on it before, I didn't have the worst side effects and when I exercised at first my weight was maintaining and in the end it's all worth not having surgery.

Haha you can tell I have lots of time on my hands now huh? too much thinking.
(ps - got the hospital rOom all to myself since morning so at least the last night is extra laid back lol)

K take care and everyone have a great wknd and happy's mothers day! :)
 
Hi Cheeky,
Sorry to hear about all your hospital woes. I was in hospital in November last year and had a bowel resection (of the terminal ileum) around december. The steroids didn't work on me while in the hospital so it was sort of a final option.
The pain of the surgery I admit is not pleasant, but you are feeling better after about a day or two. The hardest thing I found was moving about after the surgery, because for mine they cut through some of my stomach muscle which made sitting up hard. But this improved after about two or so weeks. I was home from the surgery a week after I got it done and was moving about quite well in the next two to three weeks. I now have a vertical scar that runs down through my belly button. It is about seven cms long so its not too bad. It was really pink in the beginning and I didn't like it, but its gone down a lot since then and now I barely notice it.
Anyways, if you can avoid surgery I'd advise it, but as many of your fellow crohnies will tell you, its really not too bad in the end.... and you'll have a sexy scar.

ps. I found sleeping hard in the hospital too, especially over night (I was in a room full of dementia patients who would cry out all night long :( ), I found the best thing to do was just nap all the time. Sleep when you can.
 
Hi f_else,

Thanks for explaining what your resection experience was like (especially because my stricture is in the terminal ileum and so mine would probably be a similar surgery to yours)

Yeah the surgeons are going to delay surgery for as long as they can, it's a last resort... As long as the steroids help prevent the obstruction, they will continue to do that.

So a doctor just told me he had intended to keep me here til Monday and I said 'oh I was told by a few staff today I'd be discharged as long as my X-ray is clear' he explained he wanted to be cautious because I still haven't eaten any solid food so he wanted to see how I'd respond to food... But he was nice enough to agree that if my X-ray is fine I can go but I'd need to be very careful when beginning solid food... Also he said they'll make my prednisone a faster taper and just start me at 30 (before I started on 40)... So that's fair.

Thanks again for your reply! :)
 
I'm glad to hear they are not jumping the gun on the surgery cheeky. I was in hospital on various diets (mostly fluid) for about two weeks before they eventually told me I should have the surgery. As long as you are responding to the steroids and you can hold down some food (without continual D) they should let you out.
Surgery really should be a last resort for as I'm sure you've heard, inflammation often returns at the site of the op, so its not a brilliant treatment. But anyways, glad to hear that hopefully off the table for you.
Good luck with everything :)
 
Hi f_else! Thanks
Well they are keeping me in the hospital since my follow up xray shows signs of obstruction still...
Guess like you I'll be on the liquid diet til they see improvement.

Oh and I might be wrong about where the stricture is thought one doc told me terminal ileum but I read my patient binder I have a stricture in the ascending colon (as I recall near the cecum wherever the right side pain tends to be or is that the same as the terminal ileum?) I have a stricture in my transverse colon and now active ileitis
I think that's it... They say the ileitis is causing the problem.
At least I feel better.
Started pred tablets today too.. So hope this clears without surgery! Maybe they spoke too soon.
 
Hiya cheeky

This is exactly what happened to me last year, a week in hospital, IV hydrocortisone and metronidazole, then 50mg of Pred when I got home.
These meds saved my life. I was minutes off rupturing with the obstruction.
Docs words were. 'we nearly lost you last night!'
Here I am, 16 months later and in remission, no symptoms, no pain, no nothing.
I avoided surgery too, that's not to say it won't happen in the future.
For all it's evils, Prednisolone was my life saver, I can't fault it.
Good luck, ride the storm with the good ol' Pred, you never know, it might put you in remission too.
xxxx
 
Hi Cheeky, glad you are doing better!!

It's amazing how much we crohnies complain about farting all the time and then times like these we realise how much we take it for granted!!
 
@astra - wow that's awesome! Glad you were able to recover and are still doing well.
@misty - haha yeah I was really enjoying farting. Lmao!


Well folks, I'm happy to report that they set me free! Lol I got discharged this morning and I'm already home relaxing... no place like home, feels great!
Still haven't eaten solid foods but I've been gradually having thicker fluids...
They let me come home because they feel that the xray showed the area has began to dilate a bit and they figure the pred will continue to help and I can just monitor my symptoms and follow up with my GI

Such a lovely sunny day too! I'm sooooo happy right now! :)

Thanks again for the support peeps! Take care
 
Thats great news, oh and by the way . . . . europe, (well, Ireland anyway !) is still here and thats the latest
 
Misty-Eyed said:
Aww that's such good news!

Hopefully you'll be back to normal soon and can still go on your trip!
Click to expand...

Thank you! :) oh and I sure plan on going on that trip! lol, i even mentioned it to the doctors, they all just suggested i make sure to have medical insurance...

yesterday, i was able to eat a little bit, so far so good...

it's all the positive vibes!

lol @ bruscar yes, at least europe will be there whether i go now or later... i plan to go to netherlands, france, monaco, switzerland and spain...
woohoo!! :)
 

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