Anybody have this??

Adhesions
watch out and be weary of Adhesions. an 'Adhesion' is when the healing from abdominal surgery of any kind causes a connection of tissue most of the time attaching itself to the abdominal wall. if per say the connection of the intestines instead of growing toward each other have also started growing toward abdominal wall. the other type of 'Adhesion' to look for is if your husband has any nodules and or tumors in his abdominal wall. then what can happen is the nodule/tumor can grow and connect itself to the intestines. now, if any of this happens then the digestive tract becomes compromised. where these connections take place can cause the diameter of the intestines shrink and hence you get a blockage. of course there could be many other reasons your husband is experiencing all he's going through and it can pertain to diet and just getting use to choosing different types of food but since you have another 4 weeks to heal maybe you can request a PET and CT scan so they can see if this is an issue. hope this helps.

ed

Hi! Yes it took my bowels a
Hi! Yes it took my bowels a little while to get back to normal after my LAR. I had about 50% of my rectum removed along with some colon. And I lost quite a bit of weight. Doc said that was due to the stomach being bruised during surgeries. I had the LAR about 8 weeks after liver resection. And eating was the last thing on my mind. But alas...I found every one of the pounds I lost within 6 months! :-)

Oh and oddly enough, I also developed small knots on the back of my neck. Right at the hairline. Two of them. Turned out to be nothing.

Sheri

Okthen
Did they send you home with a list of foods?

At 3 weeks he should probably still be just introducing certain foods into his diet. It takes a while for everything to settle down. I'm not sure what he is eating now but, maybe if you try to go back, diet wise, to what he was eating when he was in the hospital or when he first came home. Try that for a while see if it helps and then go slow with introducing more foods.

At 3 weeks I certainly wasn't eating what I ate before. Ican tell you I got sick of cream of wheat, rice, mashed potatoes, apple sauce and that sort of stuff. I found that in the early weeks/months that if I started to feel a bit full or like things were starting to back up a glass of apple juice worked for me. Seems that you know that prune juice works for him so he should feel better knowing that he can always try some food and go to the prune juice if he feels things aren't moving.

Make sure also that he stay hydrated because it goes a long way to helping with elimnation with the type of surgery he had. He still has most of the portion that pulls the water out so he needs to have water in there so that the remaining colon can work its magic.

Good luck to you both!

okthen said:

Nope....Regular diet
We asked and asked and were told Regular diet....whatever he ate before he could eat again. I thought "not" and he stayed on soft for about a week longer. My mom gave him some ensure, he thinks that is what caused the constipation, so he is staying away from it. Not constipated any more but feels all the time that he has to go. From what I've read here, that sounded normal.

Try to push water at him, but he hates it so, no, he is not drinking enough. He does drink apple juice.

His birthday is Sunday, I was really hoping he would be up and around a little better so we could do something to lift his spirits...not looking to good at the moment. )o:

Thank you Lori for your input!

Low Residue/Low Fiber Diet
Take a look at the Mayo Clinic low fiber low residue diet for after surgery. It has some really good tips. Remember he doesn't have to just drink water to keep hydrated. And since he has lost weight he's lucky that he doesn't have to worry about the sugar content in juices. Here is the link: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/low-residue-diet/MY00745

It will give you an idea about what to give him, how much and how often. Maybe if you just tell him that you guys are starting from scratch it will help his mental attitude towards food and he won't be so opposed to eating. I had a terrible attitude about eating too since I was so sick before surgery and unable to eat due to a total obstruction. I developed a real adversion to food too so I can sympathize with him on that.

When I felt ready and my system seemed ok with the diet, I slowly added more fiber (really wanted whole grain breads again) and fresh vegetables (have them well cooked at first). When you add foods only add one new food at a time especially if they might be gassy or constipating types of foods and give the system time to see how it is received. If there are problems with a particular food then leave it out and maybe try it again at a later time maybe in a smaller amount with foods that are already well received.

I absolutely still can't eat any kind of beans. I found that out first with baked beans at a BBQ. And no matter how I've done it or what kind of beans I just can't seem to eat them without seriously painful cramps and gas. It's so funny because I always had a stomach of steel and could always eat anything without any problems before. I also had some problems with milk/diary at first but I backed off and slowly added small amounts until now I can drink 4 oz without any problems. I've heard other people say that some foods that didn't give them problems before do after their surgery. I'm so glad that I was able to work milk back in because I just wanted to cry a the thought of never having ice cream again.

Just have him be patient with the process and tell him that if there's something he really likes that seems to go through too easily or causes any problems that he can always try it again a little later after things readjust. Check out the link and maybe it will help. I hope so.

KathiM said:

Try 'sports' water....
Propel was my fav....I hated water, also!

Tell him we all went through this time when it seemed hopeless...but with patience and time, it DOES get better!!!!

lol....I now, once again, have to watch what I eat so I don't gain weight...and with all of the lucious Dutch goodies around me (and our leaving in less than a week to go to America), it's hard to say 'No, Thank you'....

Hugs, Kathi

Neck lumps
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003098.htm

Neck lump

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003098.htm

A neck lump is any lump, bump, or swelling in the neck.
Considerations
Considerations

There are many causes of lumps in the neck. The most frequently seen lumps or swellings are enlarged lymph nodesenlarged lymph nodes. These can be caused by bacterial or viral infections, cancer (malignancymalignancy), or other rare causes.

Enlargement of the salivary glands under the jaw may be caused by infection or cancer. Lumps in the muscles of the neck -- almost always in the front of the neck -- are caused by injury or torticollistorticollis. Lumps in the skin or just below the skin are often caused by cystscysts, including sebaceous cystssebaceous cysts.

The thyroid gland may also produce a lump, multiple lumps, or swelling in the neck as a result of thyroid diseasethyroid disease or cancer. Most cancers of the thyroid gland are extremely slow-growing and often curable by surgery, even if they have been present for several years.

All neck lumps in children and adults should be checked immediately. In children, most neck lumps are caused by treatable infections. However, treatment should start quickly to prevent complications or the spread of infection.

As adults age, the likelihood of the lump being a cancer increases, particularly for people who smoke or drink significant amounts of alcohol. Fortunately, most lumps in adults are not cancers.

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I had shingles and they hurt like hell and look like little blisters.....
Vicodin caused me great pain, i.e., constipation