Hey everybody. You are the ones that can truly understand, offer helpful tips & advice. Have any of you been told in a ct report that you have fecalization in your pouch? I know sounds gross. Apparently I have had this for quite a while and no doctor in Nashville has been concerned. I went to see Dr. Church to discuss the upcoming surgeries he will be doing on me over the course of the next couple of years due to an open wound/infected abdiminal mesh. He commented right away about the fecalization. He thinks that I may not be emptying my pouch because of a stricture or something. He will check during surgery. He also said that this is probably why I go to the bathroom many times during the night. So I am sleep deprived. After this appt. I was put on 500mg of tetracycline 4 times a day because of mrsa in the open wound. I lasted about a week on the medication before I was so deathly ill I couldn't function. I stopped taken it 5 days ago and today is the first day I am starting to feel a little better. While on it I stayed nauseous constantly, had trouble going to the bathroom, abdomen hurt even if not touched, extreme fatigue and so on. I was suppose to take it another week but there was no way possible. The only other thing the mrsa is receptive to is iv vancomycin. I am not looking forward to all the surgeries but if it will eventually close this open wound and help with this fecalization in my pouch then I guess it will be worth it.
So any advice, thoughts, helpful tips, or anything would be such a blessing to me. I try to stay positive and upbeat, sometimes I just have a little tougher time with the smile...it's a little slower to shine some days. But almost 2 years with an open wound will do that to a person.
Thank you so much,
Stephanie in TN

First of all, I have never heard of fecalization, I cannot find any reference to it in any published medical journals, nor was it in my medical dictionary. So this is either a new word, or the radiologist made up a new one. Is it possible that he is referring to a fecolith, which is a fecal concretion? That basically just means stool that has become very hard and difficult or impossible to pass. That would make sense if you have fecal retention from a stricture or other structural problem in the pouch.

Intolerance to tetracycline is not too uncommon, especially GI complaints. The MRSA must be resistant to more than methicillin, if tetracycline and vancomycin are the only antibiotics it is sensitive to. It is very important to do what is necessary to get rid of this infection, even if it is IV antibiotics. I imagine the surgery proposed involved debridement of the wound, where they will remove the infected and unhealing tissue and attempt to repair the area. When the mesh becomes infected, particularly with antibiotic resistant bacteria, it becomes a very deep-seated problem.

Have they tried combination antibiotics to knock this down?

In any event, I am sorry you are having to go through this. Usually, the infection is handled in the end, but it can be a long road. I hope you have some family and/or friends to help distract you from your problems. Make sure to keep coming here, if only to vent. I am sure that you also have a lot to offer to others in the way of advice, since you have so much experience.

Jan