• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

Small Bowel Volvulous

It's been a while since I last posted. Here is the deal. I was supposed to get my 5th tysabri infusion a couple weeks ago, but a few days before my appointment, my small intestine got twisted! For a couple days I was vomiting anything I put in my mouth, so I called my doctor and she said to go to ER because she thought I had a stoma blockage. They ran a cat scan and said I had "small bowel volvulus". 8 feet was twisted. I had my surgery (May 4th) and then my incisions got infected so they had to cut them open. I have seen a home health nurse but now my mom has been packing my wounds the last 2 weeks. I have 2 wounds and one is tunneling which is a huge pain. I had to drop all my classes this quarter for college which is a bummer as I was already behind, but that can wait. I also have lost 21 pounds. I am just under 5' 10" I was 162 before and was working out a lot, but now I am only 141 and look pale and bony it sucks.

Anyone have their intestines get twisted before? How long does it take to gain weight back typically? And anyone have experience with packing wounds and have tips? I was told to eat a lot of protein and vitamin C because that helps it heal. The tunneling is a big issue and my skin turned purple in an area. I saw my surgeon friday and he said its okay though.
This whole thing is very frustrating, right when my Crohn's symptoms were getting better, something completely unrelated happens, my luck I guess :eek:
 

PsychoJane

Moderator
Hello!
Sorry to read you are going through all these unfortunate events. I won't be able to help you much regarding the volvulus, I've had blockage before but volvulus per say... that I don't think so :S.

I am not sure to understand precisely what tunneling wounds may be like but I get some sort of idea. I had to pack and get packed for about 2 months last summer and found out that specific dressing would benefit me. Are you packing solely with mesh and saline water? What kind of packing did they suggest you so far?
 
I had volvulus surgery as an infant, now I am considered to have a non-rotation and I have to be prepared in case it twists again. Did you have the Ladd's procedure? The way my intestines are structure now is my small is on my right side and my large is on my left. My advice (over 25 years after surgery) is eat small portions, I find when I eat large amounts because of the way my intestines are structured is causes pain.
 
Top