Illeostomy Reversal - not able to eat - help!

[4mom]

illeostomy Reversal - not able to eat - help!

Hi,
My mom had 2/3 of her large intestine taken out in July 2011 and had an illeostomy. She had been in and out of the hospital over 8 weeks and got down to about 90 lbs. After the surgery she got healthy again (thank god!) and had a reversal about 3 weeks ago. She seems to be getting sicker and weaker everyday. She is having a very hard time eating. She feels very nauseas. She is having probably 8 -10 bowel movements (bloody diarrhea) a day. Her symptoms seem to be identical to why she had to have the surgery in the first place. The Doctors are just saying it takes a while for the remaining large intestine to adjust. I'm not sure how much longer she can afford to wait for it to adjust. Anyone have any expierence with illeostomy reversal and the recovery process. I am thinking this is NOT normal! Thanks for any help.

 

[mickey]

Try some ginger tea to help with the nausea? That can help calm her belly (naturally). Or, doc will probably have some meds that can help with that. Hope she feels better.

 

[handle]

Hi 4mom,
I agree with you that this does not sound normal. The large amount of bloody diarrhea is a concern. Is she using a nutritional drink (like Ensure Plus?) as it sounds like she needs some bowel rest for a while, and a scan done at the very least. Feel free to press the G.I a little harder.
Good on you for trying o help.

 

[4mom]

Thanks for the advise. We see the GI tomorrow. I know she doesn't want any more tests, but I agree, she at least needs a CT scan. She has only been drinking maybe one ensure a day because she has been told they can make diarrhea worse. I am going to pick up some more and suggest she try 2-3 a day. I'll pick up the ginger tea as well. Gee, she was hoping to return to work in a week and I can see that is not going to happen.