No one can tell you for sure how long this will persist. In the meantime, some context might help, at least a little bit.

1) There’s a big difference between a complete obstruction and a partial obstruction. They are both unpleasant and have a large impact on your life, but a complete obstruction is a much bigger deal, and it’s probably what the surgeon is talking about when he describes this as “not blocked.”

2) After an obstruction clears (assuming it clears completely)  things can be swollen and sore for quite a while. I don’t know that your husband has even gotten to that point, though - he may be stuck, for the moment, at a partial obstruction.

3) Obstructions are most often caused by the intestine getting kinked or twisted where an adhesion attaches it (to the abdominal wall or another loop of intestine) instead of letting it slide freely. They usually untwist themselves, but not always. Sometimes obstructions are caused by a stricture (a narrowing around the circumference of the bowel). These may not clear up on their own. Presumably the imaging studies ruled this out, though.

Good luck! Be patient!

Thank you Scott, but if I might ask:  can he safely go back and forth from clear to full liquid?  If he stays on full liquid with less output would it correct itself or should he go back to clear?  Right now he is trying to mix the two - like breakfast is full liquid (cream of wheat); lunch would be creamy soup; and dinner back to clear broths and juices.  Any idea how long this can take?  I hope he can eventually go back to eating in a restaurant and enjoy time at holidays.

He also has output during the day wavering from 3 times to sometimes 8 times.  Lots of brown liquids and some stool.  No pain.

If he has no pain then why do you think he’s still blocked? A liquid diet will often yield a liquid output. Not going as much isn’t by itself a sign of a continuing blockage - it could just be that as stool gets more solid it moves more slowly. Is it possible that things are fine, but you’re both still worried and his diet is strange?

We think he is still blocked because of the stool output not like it was before this happened three weeks ago.  The images saw blockage, but he also has hiatal hernia and GERD which may be making it worse as his hernia is 5cm.  He wants to continue the full liquid/clear diet for now but sporadic output is causing him the stress and anxiety.