Blockage

Hi All, I just wanted to share my absolutely worst night in my life, just in case some of you experience it, at least you may have an idea of what the problem is. I had a great day on Thursday with my food and water so on Friday's lunch I decided to add a little turkey lunch meat to my scrambled egg. Well, per my RN, that is what led to what happened next. About 2-3 hours later I started getting gassey. Long story short - 1 Gas-x, 4 hours of heating pad, lots of pacing, and 2 Rolaids, all I wanted to do was die! My intestines where one huge gas knot, someone kept stabbing me in the stomach and just about the time (3 AM) I was going to go to the ER for the pain, I got the dry heaves. That seemed to be the turning point as the pain all over eased off. When I called the RN this morning she said that what it sounded like a piece of the turkey didn't get chewed quite enough ("since the exit hole is about the size of a dull pencil") and blocked the exit and since your body can't figure out exactly where the issue is in the intestinal track everything was screwed up. The dry heaves must have dislodged the blockage. I'm back on liquids today to be sure I give everything a chance to recover and to be sure the blockage really is cleared. So far, lots of grumbling, a little gas, but very liveable. Moral to the story I guess is chew, chew, chew, chew, and chew some more. I most certainly hope NOT ONE OF YOU have this happen. A very sore , Dawn

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm thinking puree sounds better than having that happen. Glad you feel better. Lynne

THANK YOU! FOR THE INFORMATION!

Dawn, you poor thing! My thoughts and prayers are with you for a speedy recovery! I'm scheduled for 8/29, and very thankful for the information. My surgeon told me that you almost have to chew your food 20x or more so it's almost pulverized in your mouth to assure that it will go down and not block anything along the way. I'm going to have to stick a Post-It to my head to remember to do that, because I'm certainly not doing that now! That, and I'll certainly remember your story above...not fun. Take it easy! Wendy

Hi Dawn, I am just starting on some soft foods and getting off the clear liquids... I hope you feel better but I am glad that I know the signs to look for... I am practicing to chew my soup... lol Fell better! Bridget

I guess things are different with my surgeon. I don't get to real food until 6 weeks. One week clear liquids, 2 weeks full fluids, 1 week pureed, 1 week soft foods then onto the real thing. They figure that this way it gives the stomach lots of time to heal. Im in no rush to push anything. Hope you're feeling better Dawn Take care Joyce

It's amazing how different each doctor's program is. It's part of the problem with all of our suggestions. I'm not supposed to take Gas-x, which last night I ignored, but it's dangerous I think for us to suggest to someone else to take it as we don't know their doctor's orders. My 1st week was clear liquids. This week was 2 shakes and one meal of soft protein. Next 3 weeks is 1 shake and 2 soft protein meals. The turkey was allowed, and though I thought I had chewed it enough, obviously I hadn't. To add insult to injury, it looks like I've developed the very common lactose intolerance and may have to shift to soy based protein drinks. Ugh...

I am sorry to hear of your major discomfort! I hope you never have to go through that again!! Take Care. ~Shannon