Been away a loooong time ...

Hi PollyGirl,

Congratulations! You have been busy getting married and being healthy :-)

It happened to my father. He had a heart procedure, ablation, done out patient. The next day at home the visiting nurse told him he needed to go to the hospital as he was bleeding too much. She was coming for after care after hip surgery at another hospital, not for the ablation.

I called 911 as I could not get him in the car. He went back to the hospital where he'd been the day before and his, I forget what it's called, blood count was 6.5 instead of 12 or whatever is normal. He only had half of his blood left and was still bleeding. They put him on an IV, typed his blood again and ordered blood to transfuse him. The head ER doc came in and found out he'd had his hip surgery an hour + away at a University hospital. He transferred him there. I thought they were transfusing him in route down the interstate but all they did was give him fluids.

Everyone is so afraid of lawsuits they could have killed him by delaying the needed transfusion. What about that potential lawsuit?

I'm glad they admitted you. Did they at least give you some chocolate :-)

I drink V-8 juice for veggies and make plant protein powder fruit smoothies with either frozen strawberries or blueberries and a banana plus use coconut water. The strawberry seeds come through but are so small they don't bother me. I couldn't eat them before the surgeries. It is very filling and the mix provides 42% of the daily recommended protein. Tomatoes are ok when you peel them and squeeze out the seeds - just eating the meat. I also eat green beans and cooked carrots and baked beans, I chew a lot and don't eat too many.

I know how it is to be 100 lbs overweight. I gained 60 lbs with prednisone that I could never diet off. Plus I gained some more on top of that. I've lost 75 lbs since the surgeries, my take down was 18 months ago. I'm not hungry and nothing tastes good but the smoothies and ice cream. I still should loose another 20 but just don't care about that now as I'm still having pain and problems.

I asked my Internist about gastric by-pass surgery 6 months before the j-pouch surgery decision. She said no one would touch me.

If this was the only blockage you've had in 16 years I don't understand why you have to change your entire diet. Did you figure out what it was that caused the blockage?

Take care

If you cannot tolerate fruits and vegetables, even canned, then try reducing your portion sizes, eating more lean protein and exercising. Exercise is key to weight loss.

Sue

quote:

If this was the only blockage you've had in 16 years I don't understand why you have to change your entire diet. Did you figure out what it was that caused the blockage?

Yes, I was wondering this as well. Unless your surgeon has identified an issue that may lead to future blockages (such as an adhesion or scar tissue) it seems odd that you would have to completely change your diet for one isolated blockage. It's good advice to be careful what you're eating after you've had an obstruction, but generally such restrictions are not permanent. You could certainly cut down on raw veggies, pulpy fruit, popcorn, nuts and seeds, but otherwise I think you should still be able to go back to eating most things in moderation. I had several blockages with my ileo but I was never permanently placed on a low residue diet. I was always told to gradually reintroduce things back in over 4-6 weeks. Maybe you could discuss this with your surgeon?

Yes, I had to go to an expensive medical weight management program to lose weight, as eating "healthy foods" did nothing in the weight loss department. Turns out it was all about portion sizes, not about fruits and vegetables. The main weight loss was when I had no regular food at all, but only protein shakes and bars, neither of which had much fiber.

They must have identified a very tight stricture or area pinched by adhesions to tell you you cannot have anything but low residue from now on.

Oh, and no, I've never been told to return to my original surgeon, but all my records are in the same local medical center. My surgeon doesn't even do this surgery anymore. An emergency is an emergency by definition, and you are supposed to go to the nearest hospital. Maybe they meant you should have called your surgeon before it became an emergency, so he could advise you.

Jan

Thank you all for your helpful responses. I appreciate the time you took to answer my questions.

I am not aware that any of the scans identified any narowing. However as the j-pouch surgery was the 5th abdominal surgery for me, I imagine I am full of adhesions.

My insurance covers the services of a dietician so I am planning to make an appointment with one very soon. Perhaps she can help me.

I was on prednisone for 18 yeqars and know part of my weight is from that. However I have been told that it has been out of my system for many years and is no longer a factor. I am determined to lose this weight as between us my DH and I have 14 grandchilddren and I'd like to see them married and giving us great-grandchildren.

Thank you all again!