Chronic constipation

[upsetmom]

I'm trying to figure out what the DR's have said about my 68 year old dad, who as far we know doesn't have IBD. He's in hospital trying to recover from a very complicated gallbladder surgery. For the last few weeks he has also been very constipated so they've been giving him laxatives and enemas. He hasn't eaten for about 2 weeks yet hes still backed up. The DR said this has probably been an issue for years. Now as he has dementia this is hard to know, but my mum tells me that he was going normally...and she'd know as she was helping him. Could it be possible that hes been having normal bowel movements but been constipated for years?

 

[autumn_rose]

I saw that no one had responded to your post, so I thought I'd pop in. Unfortunately, I've never heard of this complication, despite my history in the health field. Have they done a colonoscopy or other test to see what's going on in there? When I had my gall bladder removed, which was also complicated (pancreatitis, other issues), the doctors where very concerned about my bowel function afterwards. This was before I had Crohn's. The impression I got was that they sometimes mistakenly damage the bowel during a complicated gallbladder removal.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you. But my thoughts are with you.

 

[upsetmom]

Thanks for your reply.
They're done a CT that showed he was very backed up, but there was no reason for it .. He was constipated before his surgery, so l don't think they've done anything to the bowel. As far as we know he doesn't have crohn's, but l have my suspicions. I think he'll need to have a colonoscopy when he recovers.

 

[Axelfl3333]

My sister and I looked after my mum for a few years,she had dementia and my mum did the constipation/trots thing and it seemed to be fairly common.when my mum went into care all of the residents seemed to do the same thing,possible side effect of dementia affecting autonomic body functions?
I can,t offer much in the way of advice other than saying my heart goes out to you and your family it's a truly difficult thing to deal with.all the best good luck