my 19 year old son had jpouch surgery for UC. this past june was the last of the 3 part surgery. he was doing great. but recently in last 3 weeks has had 3 bouts of partial obstruction. (vomitted and crampy) then relief. one hospitalization. xray, ct couldnt pin point obstruction, but couldnt rule it out either. he is going for a upper GI tomorrow. my GI scared me in suggesting it could now be chrones. anyone experiened these episodes? I know he does have alot of adhesions. I emailed his surgeon who said intermittent blockages can occur.

Hi Sharon,
You might want to post this in the general discussion forum as well...it seems to get the most attention. My daughter (also 19 at the time) ended up in the hospital 3 times with partial bowel obstructions and it too was suggested that because of the obstructions, that it may be crohn's. It scared the heck out of me at the time. Of course I'm no doctor, but I would suggest that the adhesions are probably playing a huge role in these episodes. Hopefully the upper GI will shed some light on this for you. Hopefully others will be along to chime in on this. Hope all goes well tomorrow!
Elise

thankyou Elise.
how is your daughter now? were her obstructions close togeher? did they finally stop? ryan had a small bowell Gi series this morning. He told me that the radiologist "didnt see anything" so I am waiting to talk to his Gi dr. but if this is true than that rules out inflammation such as chrones. thankyou for your reply
sharon

Try not to jump to the conclusion that these obstructions are signs of previously undiagnosed Crohn's disease. Small bowel obstruction is associated with any abdominal surgery and the more extensive the surgery, the more likely they will occur. There is no way to predict who this will happen to (unless there is perforation and/or peritonitis, which will greatly increase the likelihood that adhesions causing obstruction will occur).

Every one of us is at risk for adhesion related obstructions. They occur most often during the first few months following surgery, but can occur at any time, and many years or decades later. They are difficult, if impossible, to see on x-ray, unless the obstruction is complete.

Jan

Hi again Sharon,
My daughter is doing great digestively...is now facing complications from the Prednisone in the form of osteonecrosis, but we've sought out the best care for her and feel like still, it could be worse.

She had the three SBO's while awaiting takedown, but <whisper> has not had one since <knock wood>. And, yes, they were pretty close together...she was getting darn tired of them and was actually quick PO'd that they kept happening to her. We emailed her surgeon and she told us that it was a phenominon that for some strange reason, young thin women seemed to have more of them, but once they had takedown, they don't happen anymore. I'm hanging on to that for all I'm worth and hopefully all of this positive thinking is paying off.

Please feel free to email me anytime you have questions or concerns from a Mom's perspective. Take care!
Elise