Wellness

[PodyPo]

John, I wonder if you can please describe a little more about the endoscopic procedure your wife recently had for a blocked small intestine?

I had cancer and lots of radiation which resulted in scar tissue in my small bowel. I am cancer free now, TYG, but over the last 4 years I have had 27 episodes of the worst pain in the world (3-4 days of gosh awful spasms followed by vomiting down to liver bile, then finally relief). Lots of scopes, CTs, X-rays and tests. Finally the Gastro doc kind of laughed and said “sometimes pain happens and we really can’t determine the cause.” I became fairly depressed about it. 

Long story but I finally connected with a surgeon who did a CT interography which showed a partial blockage. He recommended a low fiber, meat and potatoes diet, which is awful for me as a vegetarian but better than horrible pain and ER visits.

Surgeon says surgery is not recommended because radiated tissue does not heal well, and surgery would just cause more scar tissue. He says it has about a 30 percent chance of becoming completely blocked and then surgery would be inevitable.

I ate a little tiny bit of arugula last week and ended up back in the hospital for 3 days. Surgeon says it might not have been caused by that and that it can spontaneously happen, but I am being pretty hard on myself about possibly slipping up. I have a follow up visit next week with the surgeon and want to ask him about the endoscopic procedure you mentioned. Did they remove bowel, or what precisely was done?

I hope your wife is better now and all recovered. My sympathy to her and to you, as this stuff is H-E-double-hockey-sticks. Any info you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

[mzlg]

@hckynut

[PodyPo]

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@mzlg wrote:

@hckynut

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Thanks @mzlg

[hckynut]

Hi @PodyPo,

My wife is away pet sitting and so far this month she has been gone every day but 2 in June. When she had her last issue it was a "stone" in her bile.duct. This was found first by a CAT Scan, and then through her liver reading numbers after a blood test.

They(her Gasto Doctor and Bariatric Surgeon) were consulting to figure out the best treatment. During this time she was restricted just "ice chips" by mouth. They had scheduled a specialized type of Endoscopic Procedure, and if that could not correct(remove the stone), the Surgeon was going to remove it by internal surgery.

As it turned out, while on the Morphine, she must have passed the stone. Her pain had diminished after a couple days(this was over the Holiday Weekend), and doctors and surgeons were only doing Emergency types of procedures. During that weekend time, since her pain was gone, they kept her a couple extra days to be sure her liver blood readings stayed in the good range, which it did, and she was released.

Next week she is going to see this Gastro doctor that specializes in this specfic type of Endoscopic Procedure for a follow-up. I don't recall hearing any name mentioned for that type of procedure which fortunately was not necessary.

My wife has had, I believe, 6 surgeries for blocked intestines, but again fortunately no intestinal removal needed. Wish I could tell you more specifics, but since it was not necessary, that is about all I can tell you. 

I am very sorry to hear the problems you have had with cancer and the resulting issues and pain associated with it. When I talk with my wife I will see if she remembers the name of the Endoscopic Procedure that was not necessary for her at this time.

Wishing you the best, and if I learn more I will post it.in this thread. Stay strong and optimistic,

hckynut(john)

[PodyPo]

Thank you @hckynut John I really appreciate the time you took to answer.

I had gallstones in my bile ducts back in 1972 when I was 22. Back then all they did was remove the gallbladder. That pain was about as bad as this blocked intestine thing, so again my sympathies to your wife for all she has been through.

I will add if I get any better information next week.

Thanks, PodyPo