Bowel Movement!

I'm on day 13 of my recovery from having a TVH & bladder repair, unfortunately, it's not a very pleasant subject/question that I would like to ask, but it is something that I'm concerned about and I'm wondering if I should contact my DR. I'm not to sure if I can explain how I feel but I will have a go! I'm eating an healthy diet and I'm regular go at least one or twice a day, but it seems as if I have no control when I'm there. I have the feeling that I want to go but when I'm there if I try to push I don't feel as if I'm connected to anything! if I push I just feel a tighting to my stomach and nothing else, so it's just a case of sitting there which can sometimes anything upto 45 minutes!! Sometimes I can get the feeling that I want to go but once I there nothing happens!! which can be uncomfortable because I keep feeling that I want to go but can't do anything about it and then I start getting wind!! Can anyone tell me, is this normal? am I worrying about nothing? will it all start getting back to normal in it's own time?

Hope someone can put my mind at rest, thanks

Jackie

You sound like you are going through some of the exact things I did right after surgery. I am now almost 9 weeks post op. I had TVH and bladder repair also. While I was in the hospital, I was given stool softeners, but nobody said anything about continuing with them.

I told my friend, who is over 10 years post op about some of the same things you are describing. She told me that it was very important to continue the stool softeners until my bladder and bowels began working properly again. I don't know if it will help you, but once I started using the stool softeners daily for about 2 weeks, everything started functioning properly again. I had been scared to death to push, but after using the stool softeners there really wasn't much need for pushing and I no longer spent enough time in the bathroom to read a short novel.

This worked for me, but when in doubt, call your Dr.

Best wishes to you!

Hello. I'm 20 days today. My main problem right now is my bowels. The first week home I went everyday and thought WOW this is great because I expected problems. I wasn't taking stool softeners either. So the second week was a different story. I'd feel like I had to go and I'd sit there trying to push without hurting anything and I'd sit there forever. My stool was so hard it was like trying to push rocks out. So I did some fleet enema and boy was I sorry I did that. I went and got some stool softener and that hasn't helped yet, but I'm preying it will. I only went to the bathroom 2x last week (not countying the day I took the fleet) and it hurt like crazy. I've been eating really well. Lots of fruits, drinking prune juice which I hate and avoiding cheese like the plague! And I love cheese. But yesterday I couldn't take it anymore and I ate some cheese at lunch and then for dinner I had a slice of pizza. Do you know an hour after I ate that pizza I had the most horrific gas pains I have ever had. I mean they blew (no pun intended) the ones after the castle away! I was in tears. And then finally RELIEF! I went and went and went. I have never been so happy to go in my life. The only problem is I went from nothing to diarrhea which is just like the day I took the enema. Today I'm going to buy some Aloe Vera Juice. I heard it is very good for your colon and helps to keep you regular. I hope it doesn't taste bad. You should see me drink a glass of prune juice! I gag! Well now that I have completely shared way too much and embarassed myself I'm going to go. I just wanted to let you know I'm going through the same thing. I know that feeling you are talking about when you say it feels like it's not connected to anything. I hope things change for both of us soon.

I had a TAH-BSO w/repairs and I was on Colace every day for 3 mos - Dr's orders. I took it twice a day for most of that time, but then cut to one a day for the last few weeks. It worked beautifully. No back and forth between not going and going too much, which I know can be a problem when your bowels are in a bad mood. Of course, I also drank tons of water. Add a slice of lemon or a bit of lime if you like. (Be careful w/the lime as it can cause gas if you drink it often). Any bit of walking you can do might also help, especially when you feel like you need to go, but can't.

You really shouldn't be sitting for 45 mins. and of course, NO STRAINING! Ask your Dr. about taking Colace. I didn't become dependant on it. If you're going to take any "natural" remedy, I would talk to the Dr. about that, too.

If you've had repairs, it is especially important to have everything "moving" along nicely. Best of luck to you all.

Ok, I'm sure y'all have heard it all.........but I'm going to try to put this in terms that I can understand...lol Anyway, after surgery, my doc told hubby that everything was fine, that the surgery took longer due to the uterus growing into the bladder. He also told the hubby that I was really full (of crap basically)! Now mind you, I have never been a person that goes every day, and some times when I confess this, I get the look of death that if I didn't have a BM everyday I was going to hell. Sorry but my body doesn't work like that. Anyway, during my hospital stay they gave me a suppository and it helped a lil with the gas, and basically gave me 'runny air diahrea<sp>....if that makes sense! I get home and told the hubby that I wanted some stool softners and they really don't do much except make me go more often, but the B/M isn't soft, it's like lil rocks. I drink alot of fluids and maybe it's the meds, but I'm also moving around alot more than I was. Sometimes I even have to push it out, because it just doesn't seem to be coming out on it's own. So is this normal for anyone? And what is a hemeroid <sp>??? Are they usually painful? I have something, not sure what it is, and maybe it's my problem, but after surgery I noticed it upon wiping (totally embarrassed here, but figured, I could talk to y'all) that somethin was not right. I didn't say anything to the doc upon leaving, because I thought it was from the suppository or something. My surgery is now 2 weeks post op and I feel drained, but am getting back to feeling a lil more normal. Just wanted to ask y'all if this is 'normal' or if anyone else has gone through it!
Thanks in advance

Garden, excellent point about the water. I did drink a lot of water.

Thanks to everyone for your help, it's so reassuring to know that I'm not alone with this problem!! after reading some of your suggestions, I've decided first of all to increase my water intake for a few days to see if that improves the situation!! if not, then I will try some Prune or Aloe Vera Juice and then as a last resort I will go for the stool softners

But I will stop sitting there for 45 mins, straining and/or pushing because I'm sure that I'm not doing myself any good because today I've noticed that a small lump has appeared.

Once again, thanks for all the advice.

Best wishes,