Adhesional Bowel Obstruction

[georgialocksss]

Hi ladies

Could really do with some advice re my Mum. Her full history is in my bio, but essentially she’s currently halfway through Caelyx treatment (which is going really well) and is struggling with a bowel obstruction.

We’ve actually been raising these symptoms with her team at Guys for a good month — but unfortunately it wasn’t really taken seriously enough. She was admitted to hospital last Sunday and an obstruction was confirmed — although thankfully scans show the obstruction isn’t caused by a tumor, but more likely by adhesions from surgery.

She was in hospital for 3 days, and treated with NGT dye and IV fluids — and there was some progress. She was able to ‘go’ a bit, and she her sickness was slightly reduced. But then i just feel like she was let out too early!

It doesn’t seem like the obstruction has cleared as she can barely keep any food down, and her tummy is in constant pain.

We are going to speak to her consultant tomorrow, but would appreciate any insight from you ladies! It’s really getting her down and she seems so defeated by it — and we are just so annoyed that something that isn’t even cancer is limiting her life so much!

Could just really do with hearing some good news/advice. I’m so angry that she’s having to deal with this when the treatment is actually working. Would just really appreciate hearing from some friendly faces.

Thanks a lot,

Georgia xx

[Carpediem68]

Hi Georgia

So sorry to hear your mum is going through this. I had this a couple of times in the months after I finished chemo. I had surgery in Nov 21 and finished chemo in April '22. Then in June I has a couple of days of sudden bad sickness and stomach pains which resolved itself after two days of not eating. Then in the September it happened again but much worse. I was being sick with green/brown fluid every hour for three whole days. I ended up in A and E as I was so dehydrated. After 3 days of not eating followed by iv fluids I started to eat micro amounts of zero or low fibre foods like clear soup, ice cream, white bread, scrambled eggs etc. Eventually after eating a low fibre diet for several weeks it resolved completely and I haven't had a repeat since (touch wood!)

I had scans and barium meal to check for blockages but none was found (but this was all done AFTER it had resolved annoyingly ...). They told me I had an incisional hernia in my epigastric region from surgery and that they think the bowel must have got trapped or twisted. Or it may be adhesions from surgery. Or it may have been gastritis. To be honest they said they didn't really know ....

But what I would say is that following a very low fibre diet for a while after is super important. I think the reason it came back was that I hadn't fully resolved the blockage in the June. I would ask for advice on diet. Perhaps eat soups and low-fibre smoothies until the blockage is completely resolved? You definitely need more advice from your team though as it doesn't seem to be completely resolved. Good news is that it sounds as though your mum's blockage is a partial blockage at the moment. Don't suffer in silence though as a total bowel blockage can quickly become an emergency if left untreated.

Sending you and your mum best wishes. Good luck!

[Inguc_is in reply to Carpediem68]

my mom is also in hospital with some asicte she also have hernia whenshe stand up it became with fluid , but doctor said that there is not much fluid. But my mom is very bad she has very painfull burp which come eveey 2-3 min sometimes more time between. She cant it as all came back, now she vomiting with dark green something doctor said probably old food. I am so scared as she said if there is bowel obstruction they cant to anything :(((

[organicinna]

Hi.They kept me for 11 days in the hospital with same obstruction. On tubes, fluids and nil by mouth, till its all cleared nicely and never come back in the ladt 2 years...Wish you all best...Inna

[novice2018]

Hi Georgia, I am so sorry about your mom's pain. I only had debulking surgery and no chemo for my cancer(s) and so my bowel obstruction is definitely due to adhesion. When it happens, the only indicator seems to be one's own sense of pain/comfort that matter, no matter what the doctors say. It is very difficult to convey the seriousness of this pain to an oncology team as their mission is really to spot cancer and remove it and anything beyond that is rather minor to them.

When it happened, neither the oncologists nor the GP were helpful, but somehow the receptionist at the GP clinic sounded much more concerned, and told me to buy a macrogol-based drink sachets at Boots or wherever I could buy them without prescription (in my case a nearby Boots had them) and I took the dosage for "most serious blockage" for a week and it finally worked. After that, I would try different supplements and just see what works best. Chinese herbal medicine worked quite well but it is difficult to get them here.

Anyway I now see that you wrote a week ago and I truly hope that your mom is feeling less pain and discomfort. Even if it is OK for now, can she get a colonoscopy? That may be informative and can be useful for determining what supplement/medicine would work to keep the symptoms under control. Wish very best wishes xxx