Did I do something wrong?

OK, here is my latest problem. I was in the hospital for 2 days back on June 9th and 10th (2 weeks after my surgery) I was there for dehydration and malnurishment. At the time I couldn't keep anything down and everything made me sick. I had lost 26 pounds at the time and when they admitted me to the hospital they immediately hooked me up to IV's. They fed me soup broth and sent me home after I did good for 2 days. I am now convinced something is wrong with me. I cant poop. I am going on 8 days now, and I eat... a lot. (grazing) I drink at least 45oz. of water a day, I eat in small portions every few hours or when I feel like it. I have so far tried chicken salad, egg salad, baked ziti, cottage cheese, crab dip and crackers, and hull less popcorn. I got brave eating some things just to see if I could go potty. No luck. I was instructed by my dietitian to drink regular juice not cut with water to induce dumping. I drank a 16 oz. bottle of apple juice 6 hours ago and have had NO problems... no pain... no cramping... no poop. That juice had 2 servings at 26g of sugar per serving. Am I defective? Did the surgery not work on me? Most everything I try, I try in tablespoon quantities... but I still have no problem keeping it down. The odd thing is that protein shakes make me vomit and so do vitamins. (which is also why I tried more food, I rationalized it as trying to get in protein) I am supposed to be on full liquid diet until June 27th and I fell off the wagon... I ate real stuff not blenderized. Did I sabotage myself already? Did anyone else go through this? I was in such bad condition the first 2 weeks and I hated life and now I am scared I have screwed things for myself even though I am "doing better". I know this whole poop thing is probably too much information, but I really don't know who to talk to about this and I need some feed back! Thanks for letting me get it off my chest. Clogged up and confused, Kathy

Sorry to hear you're not doing well. Have you tried Hagen Das? Perhaps with the fat and sugar you will get a case of the trots? I had two salad forkfulls and I was busy with the current Readers Digest for about 40 minutes! I hope you and the porcelin god become intimate; and soon. Best to you -- CQ

Have you tried colace for the poop issue? Many folks use that to get things going. There is also herbal tea "Smooth Move"...not joking on the name. I don't know what in the world a nutritionist or doctor would encourage someone to dump. Makes 0 sense to me. Apparently, you are one of the ones that doesn't dump. If you chewed your food very thoroughly as opposed to pureeing it. There is no problem. I've had to eat out a few times and had to just eat very slowly and deliberately and do the work the blender would on my own. Feel better! Kathy

I agree with Kathy......Wal-Mart sells colace dirt cheap and you can take 100 mg BID. This will help the stool become soft so you can pass it. Are you still taking pain medications? This can cause constipation in the worst way. Other than that, take in lots of fluids, even more than the 42 ounces you are currently taking, helps to lubricate the colon. Can you toelrate prune juice or warm mushed prunes? You'd be amazed what warm prunes do to the geratric patients. As for hurting yourself, you have had surgery just a day after me and I have been eating solid foods since I returned home from the hospital. I probably should not have, but the surgeon I see told me at my two week interval to get to phase 5, full solids with increased protein. I am not to have any more protein drinks or snacks between meals having three meals a day by the 4th week. I believe every surgeon has their own way of doing things, and most likely we should be following their directions but human nature is always going to be factor. Here's hoping you get past this bump quickly! Dawn

I was stopped up also. The only thing that worked for me was to put whole fruit (1 cup frozen strawberries) in my blender w/ 1/2 cup apple juice and 1 cup water. I blended it and it came out to be aprox. 20 oz. Drank it before bed Saturday night and Sunday morning after a cup of nice hot tea,(((((KABOOM)))))!!!!! No more consipation!!! Now I'm all better! I think any fruit will do, just don't skimp. Hope it works!

As far as the poop thing, if your taking your Iron like your supposed to, it will constipate you pretty bad. I got a funny system, Im constipated by the iron most of the time. I also have nervious bowels, so every 2nd or 3rd day, something causes me stress and poop goes the weasle. Not sure if we are allowed to take it, so ask your surgeon, but good ole MoM works too if your as constipated as you say. Milk of Magnesia (Sp)

I had the same stopped up issue last week. I ate 2 servings of baby food prunes and the next day voila! I have started adding benefiber to my diet in the hope that it will keep me more regular. Hang in there, J

Kathy, I was so tired of water I had to try something different. I drank a small amount of V-8 and it did the trick. I did have a little cramping, but not bad. Cindy