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  • 9 days post op/belly issues

    Hi all,

    I'm more a reader than a "poster" but I wanted to let you all know that I am now 9 days post op. I was fused T10-L4 in a 7 hour posterior surgery. I feel taller and straighter. It was worth it!!

    I used the information on this forum to prepare emotionally. Thank you to all who have gone through this.

    I am wondering if anyone suffered from a distended belly post op. I was put on light solids - toast and broth one day post op and it was too early. My belly swelled up with gas and I looked full term pregnant. The discomfort was worse than the back pain. It took 6 days and no eating for this time for it to get back to normal.

    Best,
    Jody
    surgery 5-31-07
    Dr. Wood, Mass General
    Fused T10-L4
    Had 55 degree curve now 6 degrees

  • #2
    Jody,

    It sounds like you had an ileus. I had one after my first surgery. It is very painful. Usually you get it because food is introduced before the intestines have completely woken up from the surgery. When I came home I kept some Gas Relief pills and laxatives close by for a little while.

    Congratulations on a successful surgery!!!! Just remember, to take it day by day, little step by little step!!!!
    Theresa

    April 8 & 12, 2004 - Anterior/Posterior surgery 15 hours & 7 hours
    Thorasic - 79 degree down to 22
    Lumbar - 44 degree down to 18
    Fused T2 to sacrum
    June 2, 2005 - Pedicle subtraction osteotomy @L3 7 hours
    MAY 21, 2007 - Pedicle subtraction osteotomy @ L2, extended the fusion to S2 and added pelvic instrumentation 9 hours

    FUSED T2 - SACRUM 2

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi Jody,

      After my surgeries, my lower abdomen swelled so bad and was so painful, that I finally asked to be taken off the fluids they were pumping into me at the hospital. I didn't even recoginize my own genital area. I thought I had grown a furry softball.

      As soon as they took me off those fluids, the swelling slowly went down as well as the pain it caused me.

      I had pictures taken that I only had developed last month, and I was amazed at how swollen I was. I think it's normal for some of us.

      Just keep up your good attitude and I hope your healing process continues to go so well.

      At 9 days post op, I think you're doing great!!!

      Shari
      Last edited by Shari; 06-10-2007, 12:26 AM.

      Comment


      • #4
        I didn't have the gas swelling too bad, but ended up with a post surgery hernia, which will need surgery (again!) to fix! At first the doctor thought it was just normal swelling, but now 2 months post op, another doctor looked at it and diagnosed it. It's on my right side lower abdomen only and I looked hernias up online and they can be caused from surgery. The muscle wall split some and my intestine has bulged between. This also could have happened because I've had surgery for an intestinal twist and the same scar has been opened up 3 times. (My surgeon went down the center for the anterior part of my surgery.)
        Boy..... there seems to be post surgery complications a lot!! If it's not one thing, it's another! I sure don't look forward to another surgery, but need to face it at some point.
        Berta in Hawaii

        Comment


        • #5
          Interestingly enough, my wife Anya (for whom I'm filling in/writing) is having exactly the same problem right now, 6 days post op. Her belly's been distended and inactive since after the surgery, and the nursing staff also introduced liquids and Jello too early (day 1) because of an apparent miscommunication between doctor/nurses/cafeteria. She's been subsisting on ice chips the last five days, and is only now having enough movement to have liquids. I'm not sure if this is common, but we sympathize. It's caused her a great deal of pain, especially as her stomach starts working again and creating cramps and sharp pains. Not sure how practical this is for you right away, but a friend of ours recommended Senokot-S for constipation/stool softening, and the medical staff at the hospital says that as much movement as possible will help loosen the digestive system.

          Best,
          Chris
          "You must be the change you want to see in the world."

          Previously 55 degree thoracolumbar curve
          Surgery June 5, 2007 - Dr. Clifford Tribus, University of Wisconsin Hospital
          19 degrees post-op!

          http://abhbarry.blogspot.com

          Comment


          • #6
            Hi Berta...

            Sorry to hear about the hernia. Just an FYI, what you have sounds like an incisional hernia, which is not the same as a plain hernia. I have an incisional hernia as well. I had it repaired once, but the repair didn't hold. Hope yours does.

            --Linda
            Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
            Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

            Comment


            • #7
              I had the same problem. I am now 3 1/2 weeks post op and my stomach is finally feeling better - not like it was. I ate ice chips for 6 days. I was put on medication for my upper intestines which seemed to help. I needed medication to move the gas out and wake up my stomach up. Hang in there! I had a really bad ileus in the hopital, which was extremely painful. It hurt more than my back!

              It will get better!

              Kari

              fused T-4-L-3 on May 14th

              Comment


              • #8
                The gas worked itself out and now I am feeling "regular." It is quite amazing at how quickly the body bounces back.

                I hope Anya is better soon. After a week of no food I am now famished. I seem to crave milk products and comfort food.

                Berta - When will you have to have your surgery? Are you feeling well otherwise?
                surgery 5-31-07
                Dr. Wood, Mass General
                Fused T10-L4
                Had 55 degree curve now 6 degrees

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by berta@aloha.net
                  Boy..... there seems to be post surgery complications a lot!! If it's not one thing, it's another!
                  Hi Berta, Sorry to hear about your hernia but hope that otherwise your recovery is on schedule. I was cautioned that about 20% of adult patients experience a need for unplanned surgeries. That is significant and I certainly hope you were enlightened to this possibility by your surgeon.

                  Chris

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hi Linda, etc. Well, when my surgeon first checked me out, at my consultation before surgery, he felt the hernia at my previous incision that I had for my intestional surgery. I didn't even know I had it, so it must have been small. So then after this surgery, when they went thru the same scar for my anterior surgery, is when the hernia appeared, and NOT at my incision!(?) So who knows if it is the same hernia..... maybe it just spread from my incision out to my right side abdomen, IF that's possible!? Now it's larger and a big bulge to the right, like my right side stomach muscle wall split apart. So I don't really know if it stems from the same hernia or it's just a new one. Maybe when they stitched me up, because of the first hernia, some muscle had retracted, and it didn't all get included with the stitches!! This is all me guessing what happened! I'll know more once I get it checked out again.
                    ...very weird, huh? just my luck!
                    Berta in Hawaii

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Hi...

                      With incisional hernias, I think the swelling is never right on the incision. According to Dr. Berven at UCSF, the hernias occur because the individual layers of muscle aren't sewed back together separately. He says that if the surgeon is patient, and the layers are sewn correctly, the bulging can be avoided. Wish I'd known that before my surgery!

                      --L
                      Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
                      ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
                      Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Thanks Linda for the info. At least I have an idea what's up now. It makes sense, especially since I've had my incision opened up 3 times, maybe the layers were already stitched back up wrong. (or NOT stitched back up correctly, layer by layer) Whatever, I know that this last surgery "lost" some of those layers of muscle on my right side since when I try to tighten my stomach, that side only won't do anything! It just stays pooched out.

                        Do you know anything about that kind of surgery and if it can be done microscopically(?) I wonder how long after this surgery I'll be up for it.....
                        Berta in Hawaii

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Hi Berta..

                          I had my incisional hernia corrected about a year after my spine surgery. I thought it was a pretty easy surgery. Mine was an open surgery, but I think they're commonly being done laproscopically.

                          --Linda
                          Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
                          ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
                          Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Hi Linda,
                            About how big and where was your hernia located? How big is your incision and where is it? I've been looking hernias up online and yes, many more repairs are being done laparoscopically now, but often IF you've had several previous abdonminal surgeries (me), they have to do the open method. Thanks for all your info. and help!
                            Berta in Hawaii

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Hi Berta...

                              My incision is probably about 18-20" long and runs from about 2" to the left and 1" below my navel, to the outside and just below my left scapula. The incisional hernia is above the incision and is approximately sausage shaped and sized.

                              I looked into having it repaired a second time, and was told it could not be done laproscopically because of the previoius surgeries.

                              Regards,
                              Linda
                              Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
                              ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
                              Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

                              Comment

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