September 9th surgery

[jackieg412]

It seems as if this a common problem{or could ne a common problem}. When it was found on my second surgery--the Dr ordered a medication in the IV and it did indeed help. Lets hope it is the same for Melissa

[Susie*Bee]

I thought when I had my ileus for 5 days that they were giving me some sort of super IV solution. And I wasn't experiencing any pain or hunger-- just thirst. I "thought" I should be feeling hungry, but I wasn't...

I was just reading some articles online and came across a link on ileuses on allnurses.com where they were trying to figure out ways to prevent or get rid of an ileus-- with this interesting thought:

"There is one small study on spinal surgery that showed a definite improvement in the gum chewing group. I think this is a good nursing intervention as long as someone doesn't get bent in the NPO department."

[Pooka1]

n as long as someone doesn't get bent in the NPO department."

LOL!

I can say that when our surgeon thought my one daughter might have been drinking something he appeared on the verge of getting bent. He was VERY strict about this (not even ice chips for the first kid) so that the kids didn't have pain if they ate/drank before gut sounds were heard. He told me he considered pain upon eating/drinking with an ileus as a set back and wouldn't have it on one of his surgical cases. :-).

Pain is completely avoidable.

[Susie*Bee]

I couldn't have any ice chips either. NPO. No food or drink, period. Not until the first little sounds of gas... hooray! It just must be one of those things where some doctors say one thing and others say another... Ours were apparently aligned on this.

[JenniferG]

I think that's why I had such a bad constipation problem in hospital - 9 days without a bowel movement. I woke up hungry on Day 2 and mentioned it to the nurse in conversation. I didn't expect to be brought food, but I was. I questioned was it wise to eat so soon out from surgery. They told me the doctor said it was fine. But my doctor had gone on holidays that day, so I have my doubts. I only ate small amounts for the next few days but experienced the great discomfort of not having a bowel movement for 9 days. If I could go back and speak to the staff, I'd question the giving of food the day after spinal surgery.

[jrnyc]

called tonite... got voicemail...
i left two messages for Melissa's husband...
i mentioned to him that people on forum on this thread were
discussing different post op experiences of the same nature...

also....Melissa didn't say anything about constipation...
it was mentioned in a post here by someone else...
the pain Marc mentioned was from the spinal surgery....

jess

[jrnyc]

tried again at 1 a.m. east coast time, which is
10 p.m. CA time...got voice mail again.
i left another message...
will try again Monday (later today)...

jess

[JenniferG]

Thanks Jess, for doing your best to find out Melissa's condition. Fingers crossed all is going smoothly.

[mabeckoff]

Here I am. I am alive and happy. Yes I did have an ileus . (sp?). Thanks you Jess for trying so hard to reach me and Marc.

Marc did not return your calls because he lost your phone number.

I had a very hard time last week, starting on Thursday, I guess ? I had very bad pain because of the ilues. I had enemas every day. Yesterday I felt up to getting in touch with you but I could not find your phone number and I could not figure out how to access the computer here at the hospital.

Now, my blood pressure is very low, under 100. I have been given IV Fluids and it goes up but then ,under several hours, it drops again.. Nobody seems to know why. So I am still in the hospital

Thanks to all of you

Melissa

[Irina]

So good to hear from you, Melissa. Did they do a CT scan or how did they diagnose illeus? I had abdominal hematoma that was not diagnosed on time because nobody did a scan. Pain from hematoma was way worse than spinal pain, so I understand how painful illeus could be. Hope you feel better soon.

[Susie*Bee]

Yes, Melissa-- it's wonderful to hear from you. Now just rest up and let the recovery phase begin. Sending my best -- and prayers. And yes, Jess has been great at trying to update us. Best wishes for resolving your blood pressure problem.

[jrnyc]

perfect timing....my land phone and computer will be off due to phone
company working on line and interference from our trees....
the storms have created problems....long story short, i won't have
computer working for a while....

so glad you are back on, Melissa...
i got your phone number from Marc....will call tomorrow to see how
you are feeling...

be careful with the blood pressure....easy to pass out upon standing
up when you have low pressure...

hope you feel better every day
jess...and Sparky

[JenniferG]

Great to hear from you Melissa! We've had you in our thoughts and it's good to hear you sounding so well. Hope the remainder of your recovery is bump-free!

[jrnyc]

Melissa...
i got my computer/land phone reconnected...
phone company is dealing with tree problem a different way...

got your phone number from Marc...
will call you Tuesday...
please be careful if you stand up with low blood pressure...
you can pass out easily from it being really low...

feel better...
jess

[rohrer01]

Melissa,
It's good to hear from you. I hope your pain from the ileus is gone. When mine resolved it was almost instant relief. Funny in my case, I had bowel sounds and the ileus developed a few days later. Hopefully your blood pressure will stabilize so that you can get out of the hospital. On the other hand, you probably get better treatment at the hospital, yes? My mom had to spend some time in a rehab facility and I wish they had just kept her in the hospital. The care was better there.

Anyway, every day is a step toward feeling better. Do you feel that you are looking forward instead of head down? I can't imagine the change that one must feel after posture altering surgery. I hope it worked and you are done with surgery for awhile.

Gentle hugs.