Constipation

Dec 26, 2010

Sorry if this is a bit of a faux pas to speak about, however, I feel it's absolutely nessesary to give information to others to aid them in the decisions they make before and after surgery to keep misery a little farther from them. :)  And boy, talk about misery. 
Last Sunday, the day before my surgery, I experienced for one of the first times in my adult life and total life that I can remember, the worst constipation... honestly, I had no idea how terrible it could be.  I did get thru it, however, in about 30 min and vowed to drink more water and hoped it would go away as soon as the surgery was here.  I decided it was because I wasn't eating very much (I usually have had at least one bowel movement per day all my life and never any trouble really)  I was suprised I had anything in my intestines to be constipated about because of my lack of any chewable food.  Now fast forward almost a week, to yesterday, Christmas Day... my gift from Santa(LOL)  just kidding.  I was feeling great, hadn't had a bowel movement since the previous Sunday-the day of horror, but didn't really think anything of it because, after all, I just had surgery and I was barely eating anything at all, much less actually food.  Only liquids and at best , mostly water at that point.  Around 11:30 I went to the bathroom just before taking a shower, thinking I only needed to urinate.  I had no urge to do anything else,  (excuse me) as I was urinating, I realized that my body was trying to elimate something else and I commented to my husband, oh good, it seems my bowls have reawakened!!  The excitement soon vanished as I realized that it wasn't going to go anywhere, it was just .... THERE.  I was in so much pain and after trying for a solid hour, my sweet husband rushed to the only store that, Thank GOD was open on Christmas day and bought suppositories (sp?) I was near tears by the time he returned... I had tried taking a hot shower thinking it would relax my muscles..  The entire time, I didn't have any discomfort in my tummy, just my poor sphincter(sp?)   I place one of the supositories.  The instructions said it would work within 15min to an hour, so I went, with all my pain to lay on my bed.  An hour passed and I went to try again.  I barely had a small movement, but not enough for relief.  I could tell it was working, but it was still so so miserable.  We were due to leave to go to some friends house to celebrate Christmas, but that was not happening... not right then.  My husband suggested I try another suppository and even though the instructions said to only use once per day, I decided this emergency called for extra measures.  I put another and laid down for an hour, got up and tried again.  Again, a small amount came out, but it was much better than before.  The decision was easy to put yet another in.  I laid down another  hour and FINALLY, but with a lot of strain and pain I was able to complete the task.  I was so exausted after that nearly 5 hour ordeal that I realized I should have taken some precautions prior to getting myself into that situation.  Unfortunately,  it either didn't register or I never saw any posts regarding this potential issue, and was the worse for it.  Let me just say to anyone reading this blog...... TAKE YOUR PRECAUTIONS!!!!!  Even if, or especially if you have never had issues with constipation before surgery.  Your life has changed.  It could be a minor issue if you follow a few simple, but extremely important guidelines.  Put some sort of fiber powder in your liquids.. my husband found one that is from walgreens.  It's a generic.  It doesn't gel like Metimucil does and it's not flavored, so it's very easy to sprinkle it into your food, or beverages and not feel any difference.  I'm finding Metimucil difficult to deal with, even if it says it's unflavored, I can taste it and the texture (similar to snot or a hawker..sorry) is terrible.  That being said, if that was my only choice, I would take that over what I experienced yesterday without hesitation.   Talk with your doctor about what he recommends and do it.  My doctor mentioned getting some Metimucil or similar product on the day he came to see me after surgery.  It was a brief comment which registered enough for me to have my husband get some that night.  I put a little in occasionally, but not the 3 times a day, like the instructions say and most of the time, I didn't even finish what I was eating so not much made its way into my body.  I do thank my Lord that I was finished being sore from surgery.  That morning I had noted that it didn't hurt anywhere to take my deep breathes or to cough or move or go over bumps in the road while riding in the car.  I haven't had a pain pill since Friday morning at 10 am.  Had I still been sore and going thru that, I may have passed out or had to be taken to the hospital.   The end of the story (well, to this point) is that we got to our friends house about 5 hours late, they welcomed us with open arms... my story was that I was just exausted from all of the Christmas activities and needed to rest longer.. my husband -who thinks he is a comedian threatened he was going to say that we had a slight emergency involving concrete and a cork screw (seriously, I was  about to get a spoon to start digging (so so sorry) but thank goodness it didn't come to that.  He was so supportive and helpful throughout the entire ordeal, but when it was over, he could hardly contain his laughter.. I have to admit, in hind sight (pardon the pun) it was rather comical.... but not really.  I don't want to every experience that again.  Tomorrow I will be able to try eating smashed beans, which I believe will help tremendously if I can tolerate them, but I will continue with the fiber powder until the coast is clear. 
Now, all of that being said, my recovery has really been as good as I could expect.  Every day I feel better and better.  I'm almost back to my normal comfortable feelings when I walk or sit etc.  I have noticed being just a little more sensitive to smells.   We got a hand soap as a gift from someone from Bath and Body called Twilight Woods that I am really having trouble with...not sure why.  My husband really likes the smell.  Smelling some foods that my husband cooks for himself have caused me to have a bit of a quezzy (sp?) reaction, but in general, I feel much much much better.  I have another week before I need to return to work and I feel that by that time, I should be back in full swong, although I really enjoy being home with my little doggie and being able to see my husband thru the week.  He works from3:30 to midnight and my sched is 7:30 to 5pm so we don't see each other until Friday and Sat and Sunday morning normally.  Kinda wears on me and has been a contributor to my emotional (loneliness) eating in the evenings for several years.  Well, gotta deal with it because that's how it is.  
Alright, enough rambling for today.  I hope this was helpful to someone.  It was therapy for me to be able to right it. 

Love to all

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