Post Surgery

[glennon]

My wife is seven weeks post surgery and occasional vomits gunge. More like mucus that food. Does anyone have any idea as to the cause and how to prevent it?

[Magpuss]

This was a persistent problem that I had after my op, so your wife has my sympathy - it's very unpleasant, and also worrying. In my case it ceased to be a problem the same day that my jej feeding tube was removed. My consultant didn't think the tube was causing the problem, and I certainly hadn't experienced any problems or discomfort with the tube itself but - the day it was removed I just stopped producing the jelly like gung, so I 'think' it was related to that. I became very dehydrated during the three months that this was going on so had to be admitted to hospital for another nine days. I'm now four years post op, eating more or less normally, relatively fit (for a 76 year old) and the only time I get any mucus now is if I eat a little too much. Sorry I can't give you a definitive cause of the problem or suggest any way to prevent it, but if she has a jej tube, it may be worth speaking to her doctor/consultant about it. My good wishes to you both.

[jay2908]

Hi, if your wife has a runny nose then it could be what is called post nasal drip. Some medication like sudafed could help, but please check with her doctors. Also cutting out dairy, especially milk will reduce the amount of mucus being produced.

I hope that helps,

Jay

[Hidden]

This is one to ask the specialist nurses about.   It is not uncommon, and there may be medication that will help (eg Domperidone, but you have to be careful about taking it long enough before eating for it to work).

[Laurat03]

Hiya. Sorry to hear your wife is suffering with this. My partner also had this what you describe also the same time post op, we tried all sorts to try and help but nothing seemed to work, it just gradually got better in time. We discussed it with our surgeon who wasn't too concerned & said it can happen. He's now 8 months post op & eating well with no vomiting, things do get better, keep going. Hope your wife is feeling much better soon. 

[Lorry13]

I am nearly five years post op now but did experience the mucus like vomit.  It does get better but I still produce quite large quantities of phlegm like mucus at certain times of the day - no bad symptoms but just bringing up the phlegm.  Believe this to be a fairly normal happening. Hope that helps.