Partial Obstruction

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Grant

Grant

Joined
May 10, 2011
Messages
748
I'm going to see the surgeons for a consultation on 20/3 but sadly my stricture doesn't seem to want to wait that long. I've had lots of twinges & some moderate pain with this one but yesterday it was just a tad worse & its very sore today, sleepless night last night because I couldn't get comfortable & up @ 4 for paracetamol. I'm thinking of packing an overnight bag just in case. I feel its more a case of when it obstructs totally as opposed to if & that will be my 4th time over 2 & a bit years, but I still feel confused & peed off. Its tiny, only a centimeter long, how can something so small cause me such grief.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Rgds
Grant
 
Oh Grant, I'm sorry to hear this. I remember before my very last stricture dilation I was living on lactulose. Then the dilation lasted me until I had my op luckily!

I hope you make it!
 
Thanks Misty-Eyed, not had a good day really. Just hoping things will settle.
Rgds
Grant
 
Hi Grant, I would say it is perhaps best to give your GI/IBD nurse a call tomorrow just to see what they have to say about this. Your are still nearly a month away from having a chat with the surgeon let alone getting any op date set and this really seems quite a while to leave things. I agree that it is very annoying that such a small thing can cause soo many issues (think my stricture was only about 4cm). Wishing you well hun and let us know how you get on.
 
Hi Grant,
Sorry to hear you are in such dire straits right now and hope you will soon be getting some help.
It doesn't look as if you should wait till March 20th though---- that is a long time when you are suffering.
Give th GI a call and see what can be done sooner.
The body is provided with a good detection system and if we have so much as a pimple
let alone a stricture of any size it will kick up a fuss till we do something about it.
Sometimes things are bigger than we can see.
Feel better soon
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha
 
Misty Eyed, they are talking about Laproscopic Strictureplasty.
Angrybird & Trysha, yes your right of course, atm I'm having BM's but the stricture remains sore. Now if things stop moving then because of the previous three obstructions I've had I'll take myself into A & E straightaway. The beauty of where I live is that I'm 15-20mins max by car from Hospital. I know the score & if anything gets remotely worse than it is now I'll go over. I will however ring my specialist nurse, the thing is that I only saw my Gastro specialist 1 1/2 weeks ago & he rang the surgeon there & then. So I'm not sure than anything can be done regards timescale unless something bad happens heaven forbid.
I'm deeply touched by all the kind replies
Best Wishes
Grant
 
Hope you make it Grant!
But phone your gastro dept first thing in the morning, only cos if you go to A&E, wait for hours, whilst they're searching for your gastro, in agony, etc etc (been there, done that)
Only for you to have emergency surgery by a General Surgeon, one that's not familiar with IBD, yeah?
Phone ahead and give your gastro the heads up, maybe he'll clear a window for you.
Besta luck
xxx
 
Joan, thanks very much. I took your advice & I've been on the phone. Firstly I've managed to get my consultation with the surgeons brought forward by 2 weeks to 6 March. Also had a long chat with my specialist Nurse who is wonderful, gave me advice on diet-some of which I knew some I didn't (I've probably been eating too much white bread & toast-its stodgy & can cause a blockage) I've given her the heads up & she said dont hesitate to go to A & E if it gets too bad. The one thing she did say to me was if its an emergency & the bowel is rupturing they need to get in quickly come what may, understandable I reckon.
Very Many Thanks & Best Wishes
Grant
 
Hope things have settled down this week Grant. I had a similar episode earlier in the week with a sleepless and fairly painful episode- I had a balloon dilation in December which maybe isn't working as well as I hoped. Your bread/toast tip makes me think that an excess of Yorkshire pudding (pretty stodgy!) was to blame! Good luck with it all, Emma
 
Hi EmmaCH, your absolutely right it has settled down a bit. Weird that one day I'm verging on going over to A&E & just a few days later all quiet.
Ref the toast, I was surprised when my specialist nurse suggested cutting down on bread even though its always white. So now in the mornings every other day I'm having Rice Crispies. So far so good.
I love Yorkshire Pudding, even cold with Golden or Maple Syrup on-luvvly jubbly.
:thumright:
Take Care & Tks for your comments
Grant
 
Thanks for the info Grant, I didn't think about bread or toast doing that beacause I have always been told to do the brat diet when in a flare. I love this forum you learn something new everyday!
 
I saw the Surgeon yesterday, I'm on the priority list. And on the standby list if anyone else pulls out (48hrs notice).
He gave me the worst case scenario & told me last time, two years ago, it took 2 hrs just to "unstick" my guts. Things have been slightly better lately & I'm now asking myself if this is the right course of action, I can feel it all the time, very tight but thankfully the pain appears to have subsided a tad. I know its the right course of action really because I dont want emergency surgery which it might come to if its left indefinitely. But its the worry of being out for 5-6 hrs thats bothering me. 5 1/2 last time & he said because of adhesions its likely to be that bit worse each time. It does concentrate the mind somewhat!!
Best Wishes
Grant
 
Grant, I'm sorry you are going to need surgery :( Are they going to do the stricturplasty like you had mentioned before, or a resection?

Do not second guess yourself!! I had strictures through the distal ileum and as soon as I made the appointment for surgery, I immediately thought that I was feeling better. I was completely wrong! For me, I think the feeling of relief had made me feel a little bit better, just knowing that I was going to have it taken out. If I hadn't made my appointment for surgery (I got in the next week after seeing the surgeon) I would have ended up with emergency surgery because I had a bowel obstruction when I went in there.

I hope that you get in soon and that it goes very smoothly for you!!!! Keep us posted on how you are doing.
 
Grant, I'm sorry you are going to need surgery :( Are they going to do the stricturplasty like you had mentioned before, or a resection?

Do not second guess yourself!! I had strictures through the distal ileum and as soon as I made the appointment for surgery, I immediately thought that I was feeling better. I was completely wrong! For me, I think the feeling of relief had made me feel a little bit better, just knowing that I was going to have it taken out. If I hadn't made my appointment for surgery (I got in the next week after seeing the surgeon) I would have ended up with emergency surgery because I had a bowel obstruction when I went in there.

I hope that you get in soon and that it goes very smoothly for you!!!! Keep us posted on how you are doing.
 
Hi ManzyB, Laproscopic Strictureplasty or Laproscopic IleoColiac Resection. Depends on what he finds once he gets in there.
Your absolutely right of course, I know it needs doing. Its just that feeling of "hell I hope this goes right".
Tks & Rgds
Grant
 
Thanks Angrybird, my wife is taking me away to Dorset on Monday for 5 days. Could do with a break away tbh. Might make forget about it for a few days(some hope).
Take Care One & All
Grant
 
I hear you!! Right before surgery I had major anxiety about the whole thing. i was not happy
about having surgery and certainly not happy about the possibility of all the complications that could have happened.

I really hope you have a great time when you are away!! My mother in law took me on a curise after my surgery (like 6 weeks after surgery) and it made me feel great to get away!
 
Good luck and very best wishes for your surgery Grant. Here's hoping that it all goes better than you dare hope. In the meantime I hope that you enjoy Dorset and the sun shines for you.

Emma
 
Tks EmmaCh & Manzyb.
I'm still chasing the hospital, I'm on the urgent list but they have no date for me as yet. Meanwhile I'm treading a fine line, its lasted this long though which is surprising.
Keep well everyone
Grant
 
Hi Grant, not good you are still waiting, their definition of urgent clearly differs from mine. I do hope they get you in whilst things are still 'holding' for you.
 
Here's a thought Grant - a little radical, but what I had to do to get my surgery here in Ontario.
Six years ago I had a really bad flare going, my GI said I needed surgery, and he kept me on meds until I got through a wedding/house move, and then was supposed to be getting me in for surgery. Turns out that's when he wanted to call the surgeon, who had a six month wait list just to be seen. All this when I am barely able to function. The wait list for surgery after any tests would likely have been another six months at least. I couldn't wait for it to happen, couldn't put my life on hold any more. Basically, I ate some food that I knew had a strong chance of causing the obstruction (tacos were great for that!). Sure enough, into the hospital I went, clearly diagnosed, but not ruptured so my surgeon could get me on sched, and four days later I had it done. I know - seems a little dishonest and painful way to get it done. I paid for it, and would have paid more if I hadn't. The bowel was extremely weak due to about a year on pred, sutures tore through and resulted in me getting a bag for half a year, and another surgery. I can't help but think that had I waited, the result could have been far worse. In my book, everyone knew I needed the surgery and it was just a matter of making them do something about it. Maybe there's a chance that your circumstances require a bit of uncomfortable queue jumping too.
 
Tks Angrybird, I'm going to keep chasing.

Shamrock 15, that sounds a bit drastic to me. The thing is that in obstructing you are putting yourself @ risk of rupturing & that is life threatening. Fair play to you for doing it but I think I'll just keep hammering away @ the hospital. Pleased you came through it well though.
Best wishes
Grant
 
It was drastic, but I felt in my case it was necessary. I had a failed balloon dilatation, missed 5 months of work out of the previous 12, severely reduced capabilities at work that I was getting penalised for, incapacitating bloating, weight loss, malnourished partial obstructions and almost a complete resistance to pred. As it was, I ended up in hospital for 40 days after this because of the poor general health I had. The waiting that "the system" wanted me to do really would have been detrimental to my health. It still took me half a year to get back to work from this one, and another 4 years to get back to decent health. There were no non-surgical options available to me at that point, and a wait wasn't going to help me get better. In my opinion, I didn't have a choice. Keep hammering away, and I hope you have more success than I did!
 
For the past three days I'm getting diarrhea that is just flowing out of me, seemingly unrestricted by the stricture! I've lost a few pounds in weight & have had to take some Immodium, I didn't want to because its dodgy with a stricture but I was aching all over & generally felt awful. Feeling brighter today, no pain either.
Whats going on??
Grant
 
Ok, now this is getting a bit weird. I'm getting a lot of diarrhea with this stricture. And a lot of Mucus. If I didn't know better I'd say that the Mucus is lubricating things to a degree & helping things on their way.
I would love to hear from anyone else whose had this because this is a bit strange for me, its still very sore @ times but its lasted a damn site longer than I thought it would.
Rgds
Grant
 
Hi Grant,
Sorry to hear this is still not resolved for you. I had diarrhea with my stricture in fact I still had it when I had a blockage. It can get around the blockage sometimes. I think it may have to do with where it is and how complete it is.

Still no date from the hospital?

-Barbara
 
Hi Barbara, no date as yet. Without being too graphic some of my BM's seem to be "fizzing" a bit if that makes sense. A new one on me. I'll keep chasing the hospital, tks for the comments.
Grant
 
Hi All, well I'm still waiting for a date. But things are now getting a bit strange. The sharp pain I was getting daily appears better, things appear to be moving. Now this is obviously good news, I'm now off Entocort totally :ysmile: & I'm giving serious thought to going back to my Specialist & asking him to have another look @ this, because the last thing I want is more surgery if its not required.
I'm a tad confused though, surely I haven't bucked a medical trend. I'd be very interested to hear from any other stricture sufferers whose symptoms appear to have eased without any great change in medication. My last dilation was Oct last year & the ultrasound I had in feb showed a very tight stricture approx 1cm in length.
I dont know what to think really, I know crohns can be a fickle thing but suddenly I do feel a good deal better-long may it last.
Best Wishes to all
Grant
 
Terriernut, I've been off Entocort now for a month. Took me an age to get off of it but finally managed it.
Rgds
Grant
 

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