J-pouch problems after open heart surgery?

Its hard to say but it could be surgery trauma, typically that can last about a week or two weeks. I would give it some more time and see what happens. Its not a bad idea to talk things over with his Gastro in the mean time.

Hmmm. It’s been a week. He did not have abdominal surgery. So probably not surgery related.

Diarrhea can be a side effect of furosemide, so worth mentioning to the surgeon. You don’t want him getting dehydrated, so be sure he is drinking plenty of fluids. Another thought is if he had antibiotics, it could be a C. difficile infection.

Regardless, if this persists, discuss it with the surgeon.

Jan

Thank you Mary & Jan for your replies.

His abdomen was puffy and swollen (like it was before he had his j-pouch surgery), but it seems to be less today. Things may be getting better.

His heart surgery was 8 days ago.

While his surgery wasn't abdominal, they did have "drains" installed (2 of them) at his diaphragm area, and any surgery can impact all areas of your body.

He didn't eat anything solid from Thursday evening, Feb. 6, until Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9; nothing sounded good (hospital food was soggy and flavorless) and he hardly ate anything while there. His appetite is increasing since he's been home.

I'm guessing by now the surgery medications and whatever they were still giving him in the hospital are out of his system (mostly). I don't know if he ever had an antibiotic; it would make sense, but I don't know. (I have IBD and I have had C-diff; it wasn't fun.)

He's drinking plenty of fluids: water (more than anything), Ensure with Protein, apple juice and grape juice, orange juice, decaf coffee. Keeping an eye on amounts, since I know that drinking too much water can cause diarrhea and flush minerals out of your body & cause problems.

@Wen25 posted:

Thank you Mary & Jan for your replies.

His abdomen was puffy and swollen (like it was before he had his j-pouch surgery), but it seems to be less today. Things may be getting better.

His heart surgery was 8 days ago.

While his surgery wasn't abdominal, they did have "drains" installed (2 of them) at his diaphragm area, and any surgery can impact all areas of your body.

He didn't eat anything solid from Thursday evening, Feb. 6, until Sunday afternoon, Feb. 9; nothing sounded good (hospital food was soggy and flavorless) and he hardly ate anything while there. His appetite is increasing since he's been home.

I'm guessing by now the surgery medications and whatever they were still giving him in the hospital are out of his system (mostly). I don't know if he ever had an antibiotic; it would make sense, but I don't know. (I have IBD and I have had C-diff; it wasn't fun.)

He's drinking plenty of fluids: water (more than anything), Ensure with Protein, apple juice and grape juice, orange juice, decaf coffee. Keeping an eye on amounts, since I know that drinking too much water can cause diarrhea and flush minerals out of your body & cause problems.

Thank-you for saying "and any surgery can impact all areas of your body." That is exactly what I was referring to, so happy you said it! Thank-you!

I am glad things are better today! Hopefully things will keep going in the right direction. Please keep up updated!

I spoke (wrote?) too soon: stomach/gut still puffy, but doesn't feel as bad internally, he says.

He also told me this evening that the giant oval coated potassium prescription pills he is supposed to take every morning came out... whole... this afternoon. It's the second one he's seen in the toilet. So, in addition to the gut-woes, he's actually not getting the potassium through the prescription.

We have over-the-counter potassium gluconate that he could take to replace some of the potassium (it is a lower dose) he may be losing through the watery stools, but we're unsure if the different potassium format would interfere with anything else. Doc's offices closed now, tomorrow is Sunday... I told him to eat a banana tomorrow morning... :-) That'll slow things down in his gut and give him potassium.

@Wen25 posted:

I spoke (wrote?) too soon: stomach/gut still puffy, but doesn't feel as bad internally, he says.

He also told me this evening that the giant oval coated potassium prescription pills he is supposed to take every morning came out... whole... this afternoon. It's the second one he's seen in the toilet. So, in addition to the gut-woes, he's actually not getting the potassium through the prescription.

We have over-the-counter potassium gluconate that he could take to replace some of the potassium (it is a lower dose) he may be losing through the watery stools, but we're unsure if the different potassium format would interfere with anything else. Doc's offices closed now, tomorrow is Sunday... I told him to eat a banana tomorrow morning... :-) That'll slow things down in his gut and give him potassium.

That is too bad about his stomach, glad it does not feel bad internally though.

The good news about the potassium, that is perfectly normal to see potassium pills in the toilet. I take potassium pills 4x a day and there always floating around in my bag. I read the papers about potassium and it is normal to see them come out full fledge! So do not worry about that, you are still absorbing the medication.