has anyone else developed illeus??

Hi Ladies!
I am home from the hospital for a second time! I had a LAH/BSo kept cervix one week ago. Stayed in hospital til sunday afternoon and was discharged, even though I was not passing gas and very nauseauted. My doc said bowels were slow but he felt like once I got home and moving around all would be well. Noticed right away I could not tolerate foods well, caused me lots of pain and nausea. By Tue am was back in hospital dx with illues, condition where bowels did not restart. Was then kept on sips of water only, IV, suppositories, laxatives and enemas!! for the next day and half. No pain meds at all for the first 12 hours as they did not want to mask my pain!! Upon discharge, I was told to follow up asap with my GI Doc, stay on a clear liquid diet and SLOWLY add real food back. I am still suffering a fair bit and this is definitely slowing down my recovery. Just wondering if anyone has had this problem and how long before you felt better!?? I should mention that I do have a long histroy of IBS, Gerd and endometrious with many adhesions.

Thanking you all for any replies!

Desal

Hi Desal:

I had my TAH July 9th and was discharged on the 14th. My intestines were moving and all was normal. Then I decided to start at home with Vicodin and took 4 consecutive doses without really knowing I needed a powerful narcotic for pain. Well, Vicodin pretty much stops the digestive system and everything stayed in my stomach (1.5 days worth of real food), and after that all came up and I learned about what powerful pain meds can do, I totally stopped ALL pain medication for about 2 days until things got back to normal. My sister is a dietician and she made sure I was getting plenty of fiber, liquids and yogurt to stablize my sytem.

This episode DID slow my recovery that first week, so you're right on track. Diet makes a difference and each day gets better.

Hope all is improving, and hang in there.

Bugtwin TAH

Thanks so much for your reply!! when you yourself are in the situation you feel so alone and frustrated, it helps to know this has happened to others too!

I had a call from my regular GI doctor and she is going to see me on Tuesday and gave me some good instructions to get me thur the weekend. Lots of walking, water and gradually add solid soft foods back in. Has me doubling up on my prevacid for my acid reflux which she says should help my nausea bouts and pericolace 1 tablet daily to keep things moving. I can also resume my pain meds which is tylox but I am scared to take it for fear I will be right back at square one!! I am still in pain from surgery which was a week ago, not horribly but swollen and tender by afternoon. Both Gyn and GI doc says ok to take it just use it sparingly so I broke down and took one at noon today.... feel like I need some pain relief so I can rest alittle!

Thanks again for sharing!

Desal

Hugs!! Sorry you are having such a hard time getting everything going - good you are seeing the doc on Tuesday - I was really nauseous for about the first 2 weeks and only now have I started back on solid foods - just wanted you to know you are not alone....

Hugs!

Shauna

Thanks! from what I

Thanks! from what I am hearing, we are not alone, some have said they felt this way for weeks after!! hopefully like you I will improve by week two!! I will continue to take it very slowy with the food.....

I did chicken based soups and scrambled eggs for the first few days and that was it- oh - and a piece of buttered toast with the eggs... some digestion systems just take longer than others to wake up I guess... I am also getting a stool sample tested to make sure there isn't an infection there... when I do go it is really soft and watery... better safe than sorry I guess...

Hugs!

Shauna

desal26,

I had a TAH on 6/13/05. On the 3rd day post op, I was feeling nauseated, and lost all appetite. I only had one episode of vomitting.I had passed very little gas, however, I was having very runny bm's. They decided to do an x-ray, and came back saying they thought I had a partial bowel obstruction and that the bowl was distended. (the hospital record said possible illeus)They took me off of food and water for 3 days. I ended up staying in the hospital 10 days. They put me on a clear liquid diet, and when I could tolerate that, they put me on a regular liquid diet. My doctor thought the problem could be that a spark had landed on my intestine when they were cauterizing some veins, and that it looked very thin so she put a stitch in it. I did not take any pain meds after my 3rd day because I was so afraid that it would cause me additional problems. They finally released me on the promise that I stay on liquid and soft foods for a week or two. I am now on a regular diet. When I have pains, I am not sure if it is from the hyst., or from the bowel. I still have some pain after I urinate. My incision has healed very well, but it is still numb. I know the pain you are going through! It is sure a slow healing process. I wish you the best!

Glad to hear you are doing better! I too have pain and don't know if it is from the surgery or the bowel stuff.... I am one week out from my surgery so I suspect it is alittle of both!! I have started to add some soft stuff back into my diet like boiled potatoes, carrots and green beans, oatmeal and the such but it is a SLOW PROCESS!! still battling the nausea which is the worst!! but one day at a time as they say! Thanks for sharing!
Desal

I found that mint tea was GREAT for the naseua - I keep it stocked in the fridge for when I am thristy... easy on the tummy and was great for my thrush as it didn't hurt my mouth....

Hugs!

Shauna