I'm mainly just venting. I've had several partial obstructions in the last year and a half, after having none since having my ileostomy. Other than 1 visit to the ER, I have not required hospitalization for these blockages, and they pass on their own after 12-24 hours. I'm not always fully blocked during these periods as I do pass small amounts of stool and gas, but the cramping is awful. I've had x-rays and an MRI which didn't reveal much, so the likely culprit is adhesions, which we already know I have given the fact that my 2nd surgery was prolonged as my surgeon had to "take down" some adhesions to form my pouch.
I have obviously been more careful about what I eat, but what I HAVE noticed lately is that some food might not show back up again for 2-3 days - although I am still continuing to pass stool in between. So I'm thinking that these partial obstructions, when they do occur, are actually a cumulation of things eaten over a few days (like a bottleneck scenario), rather than one or two main "problem foods" that may be contributing. My stool can also be quite thick at times (though this isn't really a new problem) and I'm sure that's not helping. My frequency hasn't slowed or changed otherwise, so I don't think this is a motility issue. Rather I think the larger particles are getting temporarily hung up along the way, and after a certain point it becomes difficult for stool to pass around, hence the partial obstruction. But in between the obstructions I feel great and things are otherwise status quo.
I am seeing my surgeon for my 6 month follow up on Thursday. I will certainly discuss these issues with him again, but apart from regular exercise (which I do anyway), and from switching to a long term low residue diet and keeping prune juice handy (both of which I cringe at - reminds me of my horror story early ostomy days), I'm not sure what else can be done, since I know I pretty much have to live with the adhesions and it occurs to me that this might be my new normal.
Anyway, mostly I'm just frustrated. Anybody have other fancy tips for managing adhesions? I've been around the block enough to know what I need to do, like it or not, but any suggestions are welcome in case there's something I haven't tried yet.
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