Update on my progress after emergency surgery: Managing pain, diet, and gas

It has been 5 months since my emergency surgery after my lower bowel died and was removed. I am feeling so much better now. I had about four visits to the ER due to severe pain issues and one full blockage which landed me in the hospital overnight NPO. When they were taking me up to my room, my stoma finally opened and cleared so I did not have to have an NG tube inserted. I stayed overnight just to make sure everything was working well. It has been over a month now since I was at the ER. The doctors and I have found a good medical plan to use along with my list of actions to take when I start to experience pain. I have a long list of actions that I take before I consider going to the ER for help. The medication plan that the doctors and I settled on is one Compazine tablet chased by 4 tsp of liquid Ibuprofen. It pretty much takes care of the issue with one treatment. I have only had to repeat it one time, so I am very happy that I have this to fall back on. The food issue is a much more difficult problem. At this time, I cannot eat any form of vegetables or fruits except for canned peaches. All others are on the no-go list. I have attempted to try them several times, but each time I have tried to eat them, I have become very sick, so for now, it's a huge no-go for me. I basically have been surviving on hot and cold cereals, eggs, toast, and pancakes for breakfast, soups and sandwiches for lunch, and lean meats and mashed potatoes for supper. I was able to eat some Elk steak the other day and digested it well. The dietitian has been no help to me in regards to putting together meal ideas, so I have been on my own with this. I did cook a fairly decent Thanksgiving meal, so I was pretty proud of myself for that. The issue I suffer with the most is I suffer from a great deal of gas. The doctor states that I have an unusual anatomy flaw that is fairly rare and cannot be fixed. My intestine goes from fairly large to a very narrow opening. It has nothing to do with how the doctor fixed me but rather how my body was built. Therefore, when I eat certain things, it won't pass through the stoma into the bag. Then, when it keeps trying to pass through, the stoma spasms shut and the gas and matter build up and cause severe pain. If I can determine that I am headed in this direction, I can head off the problem with my medication protocol. If I am too late, I am often up all night trying different strategies until I can relax the stoma enough to allow things to pass. The gas is the worst, and I could use some suggestions on how to deal better with it. The bags that I have are supposed to let the build-up of gas out, but these are not working, and I don't know if there is something that has to be removed from the bag to allow the valve to work. I actually have never seen them work yet. However, the biggest issue is the internal gas. The Gasex does nothing for the internal issue, but my medication helps some. It can be very, very painful when it has no place to go. So other than these areas, I have made good progress with this new chapter in my life. I have come to accept my condition and not be so negative toward my situation. My depression is lifting more and more, and I have had more good days than bad. Sometimes I don't even notice "Maxine" by my side. I am coming along nicely and am very happy about the progress.

Hello freedancer.

Thank you so much for sharing in such an informative and encouraging post.

Knowing more precisely what is causing the problems is half the battle to sorting it out!. 

It sounds as if you have found a reasonable management  plan for a difficult problem and I hope that things continue to improve for you in the future.

Best wishes

Bill 

Thanks, Bill!! Hope you have a nice Christmas!!

I tried peppermint tea without cream or sugar and that helped with the gas pain.

I use Coloplast bags with a gas release valve and they don't seem to work once I've laid down and the bag contents get up to the top of the bag where the valve is. I'm not sure if any other brands have a better valve, but I basically have to just empty the gas every few hours if I don't want a balloon bag!

Osto EZ Vent is a product that you can purchase and stick to your bag. It has a good sticky tape on the back and always outlasts my pouch. The directions are easy, but you do have to do some prep work before you can get started using it.