L5-S1 Charite Revision Surgery 8 day post op

[Blairsara]

Hi everyone.

Thanks for all of the posts! It has been very entertaining and has helped me get through each day.

Well, here is the newest update. The past weekend sucked. I had major problems with my bowels and actually thought I had to go back to the hospital. I was in the bathroom Friday night for 5 hours straight. My mom ended up calling the hospital to get the internist's number that saw me while I was in the hospital. We called, but that bastard didnt call back. This was around 5am. So we fell asleep and when we woke up at 7am we called my internist. Since he wasnt on call we talked to someone else who said that I had to get a sepasotory (spelling?) and if I couldnt go then than I had to go to the hospital. Well, I didnt really go but it was enough where I didnt feel like I wanted to go to the hospital. Saturday sucked, and it was only until Sunday where everything was back to normal.

Now I'm doing ok. I'm eating a very high fiber diet, more so than before, and I am walking farther in the same amount of time. I set a goal for walking distance last week and I met it yesterday. I'm still only walking 20 minutes at a time, not doing anything crazy. And I don't feel like I'm overdoing it. I also think that I won't have to use the walker by the end of this week. The leg pain that I had is gone. But I still have really bad pain at the incision site on my stomach and my back hurts like hell. Oh ya and the laxatives dont do anything.

Now, to the most important part of this discussion... Dr. Apostle! He's adorable! those pictures definitely don't do him any justice!! Actually they are terrible pictures.

Maria, I dont know if it's common to have Dr. Apostle meet with every patient. I went to him because of my sleep issues. But I do know that when it gets really crowded that he'll come in and talk to the patients before Dr. Regan does. I know that he is great with medication - in terms of his knowledge and trying to find the best fit.

Anyways, I just wanted to say hi and give you guys an update. Hope everyone is doing well. And thanks for posting comments, and please continue to do so because it really does help me get through the day! So thanks you guys

Blair

[sahuaro]

Hi Blair:
Glad you are doing so much better; it sounds like the difficulties you're experiencing are part of the recovery process. My GI doc recommended citrucel which is a megadose of fiber (one of the pleasures of aging is "irregularity" associated with travel ).

I have to say I read this thread backwards last night (most recent first) and thought the pain meds were having strange effects on some of the posters--Dr. Apostle! what a name for a shrink! I didn't get to meet him when I saw Dr. Regan but I'd guess if you're going to proceed to surgery, he does get involved (which means I will meet him).

Hope everyday brings more progress for you, Blair!

[Maria]

Ok Blair,
This is going to be a bit graphic but here goes..

On Methadone the gut seems to want to stop working. In order to get it work, I take the laxatives as I mentioned, which would be 17gm. of Miralax a day in cup of coffee and 2 Senakot-S in the nighttime.

I'd like to have normal bowel function the a.m. and sometimes I do but sometimes I'm just really *tied up*. When getting badly so after a two days of no you know what.. OMG.. I mean, my stomach is really a mess~

So I can see how you'd spend 5 hours in the bathroom (easily, unfortunately) and almost end up in the ER for relief.

Enemas can be a helpful thing.. the ones you buy at the store. I recommend having a few on hand just because to empty the lower part of the colon is easy and really doesn't require much work at all. It's when you want to give a high enema you should either know how or head over to the hospital for help with this..

This is not a pretty topic but I must say in nursing I gave my fair share of enemas and one thing I can manage is giving the lower colon one to myself if necessary (and probably rigging higher colon one as well) .. it's nasty work but someone's got to do it!

There are serious issues such as an ileus which of course would not be addressed with a simple enema but what I try to do is not let myself go without 3 days of having a bowel movement (after this my stomach is in fits anyway), and make sure you have active bowel sounds (all the gurgling and so forth)

Continuing god luck with this issue and of course, recovery which is ever prominent!!! Hopefully you don't mind as women (middle aged for me) the attention span has shifted a bit for *good looking treating doctor recall*!!!!!!

take good care!!!!

[dshobbies]

Blair,

I'm glad that you're walking better and will hopefully get rid of the walker soon. Once I no longer needed it, I kept it in front of the toilet to hang my head on during those marathon 'sessions'. Sometimes I was just so tired. All I can tell you is that it does get better, it just takes a lot of time. And though I don't think I tried an enema, I did use Ducolax suppositories as needed. I personally found this part of the healing process to be the most diffiuclt. You can deal with incision pain with meds, as you can with other pains, but those damn bowels wouldn't cooperate for some time. Take everyone's suggestions and try them all.

So hang in there... it will get better.

And on that other topic, hey guys, where do your tastes lie? Whose your #10? Read my new joke!

Dale

[Maria]

Blair..
RE the enema ~ even administering a fleets might be difficult by self in terms of revision surgery and positioning ~ had temporarily forgotten this. Agree about the suppositories as a first line measure in terms of lower colon removal of fecal material altho they are similar w/self placement.. watch yourself should you be in the position (no pun) of utilizing either.

Tom Selleck's mustache..

[fortitudine]

Blair,
This is my first time on the forum since the end of April when I had a total knee replacement. I have been on 60 mg MS-contin for 3 months now and I know what you've been going through, gut-wise. I was taking 4 senokot-s - 2 in the am and 2 in the pm, which was a bot too much. It's damn difficult to figure out the right dosage as it's affected so much by the rest of your diet. I'm trying 2 or 3 a day right now, and I'm also finding it a challenge because of the 2-hour window you need forthe senokot before or after other meds. Sounds like you are doing well, I hope things continue to improve. By the way, I hope you did well on your finals!

[Maria]

Hey Blair,
how you're doing and hoping it's well~