Help!!! Adhesions after APR surgery -anyone have experience?

mamalea333

I'm so worried and upset...feeling like things will never get better for my husband. He had surgery (APR-w/perm.colostomy) on May 23..8 weeks today..by now we thought things would be better. He sailed thru 6 weeks of chemo/rad & did well thru the surgery & recovery process (except for a UT infection) & now he is having a horrible time with cramping & pains from adhesions in the small bowel. He will go for days & be fine & then all of a sudden it starts hurting again. Will this ever go away? It is so hard to see him in pain. I feel so helpless. He has tried all of the movements to "unkink" everything(stretching, etc.) and has had little luck. I keep praying things will get better. He is 47 years old. (a very young & inshape 47 year old). He is supposed to start adjuvant chemo, which keeps getting pushed back due to the cramping & pains..Our Chemo dr. wants to give him time to heal completely. Please tell me about your experience with these adhesions & hopefully give me some hope to be patient & know that they will get better.
thanking you all in advance for any light you can shed on this subject.
mamalea

Grace14

I had APR surgery with
I had APR surgery with permanent colostomy back in 2010. It took me a long time to recover I had an abscess and had to have a drain in my but for 6 weeks! I don't think I had adhesions but due to the access I think I waited almost 2 months for chemo! My Onc was not to concerned but did not want to wait any longer than 2 m

Grace14

Grace14 said:

I had APR surgery with
I had APR surgery with permanent colostomy back in 2010. It took me a long time to recover I had an abscess and had to have a drain in my but for 6 weeks! I don't think I had adhesions but due to the access I think I waited almost 2 months for chemo! My Onc was not to concerned but did not want to wait any longer than 2 m

Sorry I pressed post comment
Sorry I pressed post comment before I finished! My Onc did not want to wait more than 2 months. It took me a long time to completely recover from this surgery! Tell your husband to hang in there.

Grace14

Grace14 said:

Sorry I pressed post comment
Sorry I pressed post comment before I finished! My Onc did not want to wait more than 2 months. It took me a long time to completely recover from this surgery! Tell your husband to hang in there.

You wrote that your husband
You wrote that your husband was stage 3 did they see suspicious lymph nodes? I sometimes wonder what stage I was. The first surgeon I saw said I was stage 2 how did he know this it's not like he tested my lymph nodes. Final pathology tested 16 nodes and they were all clear so in the report according to my PCP I was t3nomo which I think is stage 2a but who knows I did have radiation so that might have killed any cells! They said I had an 85 percent chance of beating this only time will tell!

steved

similar
Had similar bumpy recovery post apr. I was 31and cramps often only relieved when i vomited for about 3 months. It did slowly improve and postop vhemo went ok. Hang in, it seems hardrr when the first part went so well but in truth it is a bumpy journey and he is doing eell. Keep focused on long term aims and be patient.
steve

mamalea333

Grace14 said:

You wrote that your husband
You wrote that your husband was stage 3 did they see suspicious lymph nodes? I sometimes wonder what stage I was. The first surgeon I saw said I was stage 2 how did he know this it's not like he tested my lymph nodes. Final pathology tested 16 nodes and they were all clear so in the report according to my PCP I was t3nomo which I think is stage 2a but who knows I did have radiation so that might have killed any cells! They said I had an 85 percent chance of beating this only time will tell!

grace, they said his tumor was stage 3
proir to rad/chemo & 26 of 26 lymph nodes tested negative after surgery, in which they removed the rectum, anus & sphinter. they said his tumor was now considered stage 2. he had some treated during radiation, which looked suspicious, but the onc dr. told us that they did not think they were active, but treated them to be sure. He had a team of dr.'s who worked on his case & they took a very agressive approach with his very advanced & large rectal tumor. I don't have the actual "numbers" with me right now regarding the official staging, but things miraculously turned out way better that we had originally planned for. God answered our prayers. I will pray for you, along with everyone here

steved

steved said:

similar
Had similar bumpy recovery post apr. I was 31and cramps often only relieved when i vomited for about 3 months. It did slowly improve and postop vhemo went ok. Hang in, it seems hardrr when the first part went so well but in truth it is a bumpy journey and he is doing eell. Keep focused on long term aims and be patient.
steve

Sorry for the typos
Above was written on phone while at gym waiting for family to arrive- fingers to big for keys,

steve

John23

mamalea333 -

Re:
"now he is having a horrible time with cramping & pains
from adhesions in the small bowel."

Did the physicians determine that adhesions were the cause
of the pain and cramping? Does nausea and/or fever accompany
the pain duration?

Obstructions can "go away", but adhesions do not; they get worse,
not better, and they are the primary reason for intestinal obstructions.

Hernias can also cause an intestinal obstruction, and are considered
the second most common reason for an obstruction.

Both adhesions and hernias are common after any abdominal
surgery, and surgical efforts to repair the condition usually cause
more adhesions and hernias.

The important question right now, is who informed you of the
cause of the pains and cramping! You may be worrying about
something that is not related to his symptoms.

Hoping for the best,

John

mamalea333

John23 said:

mamalea333 -

Re:
"now he is having a horrible time with cramping & pains
from adhesions in the small bowel."

Did the physicians determine that adhesions were the cause
of the pain and cramping? Does nausea and/or fever accompany
the pain duration?

Obstructions can "go away", but adhesions do not; they get worse,
not better, and they are the primary reason for intestinal obstructions.

Hernias can also cause an intestinal obstruction, and are considered
the second most common reason for an obstruction.

Both adhesions and hernias are common after any abdominal
surgery, and surgical efforts to repair the condition usually cause
more adhesions and hernias.

The important question right now, is who informed you of the
cause of the pains and cramping! You may be worrying about
something that is not related to his symptoms.

Hoping for the best,

John

what the drs have told us so far
they have done 2 exrays of his abdomen & told us they saw "stricture" in the small bowel. he has not had any nausea/vom. This is why i'm confused..the dr. told us he suspects he has a slight blowel obstruction, but that it wasn't bad enought to hospitalize him...he told us that it would hopefully work itself out in time...he also said it could be adhesions, which we don't know for sure. I have a call into the dr. to investigate furter..We feel like it's strange that things are fine for several days, and then he has bouts of cramping & pain. He has had action moving through the stoma, so if there is a blockage, it's not a total one. He has a lot of "noise" in his abdomen..sounds very liquidy, if that's a word. I want them to do a ct scan, which I cannot believe they have not done yet. I don't believe the xray can tell them what they need to know. We have a highly sought after & respected surgeon, but I find you still have to be very proactive in dealing with these situations. I bet if it were their family member, they'd be on top of the problem!
I appreciate everyone's response so far..and I'm sorry if i left some facts out (like what the dr. told us so far)..I'm just very frustrated at seeing him suffer & want to get help for him. I am aware of the fact that adhesions don't go away, but our dr. told us they would loosen in time. I hope that is not a lie...he also examined him closely for the presence of hernias, and found nothing to indicate this either..