what about BM's?

Hello sisters,
I had my TAH last tuesday and returned home from the hospital yesterday. I have not had a BM yet and im starting to get worried. I was told to take colace to help and I have been eating foods to help the process but still nothing yet. Is this normal? When should I expect one?I am in alot of pain just from gas in my stomach! Does anyone know what I am going through and have any suggestions? Thanks. email me ........melis

Yes, I understand what you are going through as I had the same thing and lots of gas pain. It took about 4 or 5 days for me to have a BM. It wil happen just keep taking the colace and eat some yogurt this helps with balance in your bowels. Good luck.

I also had surgery Tuesday and am awaiting the first post-surgery b.m. I'm taking colace, eating yogurt & fruit, and generally trying to be as healthy as I can. I tend towards constipation so am not surprised to be slow at this. Am glad to not be alone but hope we're all successful sooner rather than later. Back to bed. Holly

It took me about 5 days before I had my 1st bm after surgery too. Keep taking the colace to help. When it finally hits, it will hit big time. At least mine did. It was a big relief too. I had horrible gas pains and that awful feeling from not going for so long.

And good luck!

Melissa, I had surgery on Wed, the 15th and I know exactly what you are going through. Here are some things that have seemed to help..... walking around and around the house (slowly), drinking a bunch of water, drinking baby juice (apple/prune combination), taking stool softener at night and using Gas-x throughout the day. In my opinion the gas pains are far worse than the actual soreness of the surgery. I finally used the restroom today and feel some better. I was pitiful yesterday and the day before. Hope you get to feeling much better soon. Emily

Melissa,
A daily cup of coffee w/cream and walking got me going.

Toni

Hi Melissa and everyone new post-op
I've survivied the first week post-op and yes, first BMs are the worst. I've been using Colace twice per day, prune juice, lots of water, Shredded mini-wheats, grapes and hot drinks. My first BM wasn't much relief on Monday(day 3) as everything got stuck. DH went to pharmacy for glycerin suppositories. These were suggested by my nurse (former surgical nurse) and one of those managed to help me pass the backlog (sorry TMI) . Now everything is moving along better but I can still feel horrible gas pains just before and walking up and down the hall (near the bathroom!) really helps. Good luck and keep restful music playing while sitting and waiting - it is hard not to push but let nature take its course!
Kendo

Hi, Please keep a close eye on that. I had the same problem and gas pains were like labor pains they were so intense. I started having bowel movements and thought everything was good, but then the day after release from the hospital I started throwing up a lot and my "gas pains" were going in "waves" just like contractions. They would start out and then intensify to horrible pain then go away. Well I ended up calling an ambulance because I felt so bad and it turned out I had a small bowel obstruction and was in the hospital for another 3 days. If you start to feel sick to your tummy and throwing up go to the emergency room right away! I went from feeling bad to not being able to get out of bed to let in the ambulance (thank God my neighbor had a key) within 10 minutes and threw up at least 9 times in the first hour - probably 25 times before they put in the ng tube. The lesson I learned is that even though you may be having bowel movements you can still have an obstruction and watch for the other symptoms.

I had my first bowel movement when I came home from the hospital on Friday. It was not too bad, so I guess I was lucky. My belly still felt tight and full....I guess the swelly belly syndrome was at work. I take 2 FiberAll tablets every day, eat fruit and fiber, drink hot tea and coffee, and lots of water. I make myself get up and walk around too. I avoid bananas, peanut butter and cheese, because they always give me trouble.

I did not have any problems the first week after but going into the second week starting to feel very behind lol lol. Sorry. The first week I took fiber pills and they worked too well ,now I am not sure what to do seems I am one extereme or the other UGGGH!