RPLND & adhesions & bowel obstruction

[Jay68442]

ok, i am reading sooooo much about these obstructiona
do they almost always happen? because ALOT of people on this site ( as far as i can see) have experienced and adhesion or obstruction. this too now is scaring me is there anything that can be done to prevent it? besides not having surgery?

Dawn

No Dawn, it doesn't happen to everyone. I didn't have any problems after my RPLND.

[DAWN82]

No Dawn, it doesn't happen to everyone. I didn't have any problems after my RPLND.

THANKS JAY - I KNOW SLOAN KETTERING WILL WATCH HIM CLOSELY
DAWN

[mstlyn]

Just to clarify the difference, for anyone that doesn't know.
Illeus and bowel obstruction share the same symptoms, but are not the same thing.

Bowel obstruction is an actual blockage in the intestines, and illeus is where the intestinal wall does not contract like normal; like it is asleep. After surgery it can take several days for the bowel to "wake back up" and start to function normally, and until it does, anything that goes in (by mouth) is going to start backing up, causing a LOT of pain, and vomiting.

It happened to my son after his RPLND. The doctors told him he could start slowly drinking liquids on either day 3 or day 4 after surgery. It wasn't pretty, and was heartbreaking to watch. He thought he was dying, and I had to convince him that he wasn't.

Just a few weeks ago Anthony was in the ER with abdominal pain. I knew it was bad when he wouldn't eat the breakfast I made him. There was no nausea, but he kept forcing himself to vomit because he said it gave him some relief, for about 2 minutes; then it was on again. This lasted all day into the night, and finally started letting up.

The ER doc ordered CT's and found everything looked good. He did say that these adhesions that people get, can grab onto the intestines/colon, and let go, grab on and let go, causing symptoms of a blockage.

So he said things were calming down, looked good, and he sent Anthony home.
He did say that if it happens again, to bring him in and tell them at the nurses desk that Dr. Weber said he is to be admitted.

[Manny]

MSK sent me a packet today about RPLND and followed it up with a call. I discussed bowel obstruction with the nurse-practitoner that called. And I wanted to post what she said.

She said they wait till the bowels get going, and pass gas. They listen for bowel movement. This happens sooner for patients that get active, walk, cough (apparently this hurts the incision), etc. For most people it takes 3 - 4 days, after which they start the slow process of fluid intake, mushy foods, etc. And for some patients, they have seen it take much longer. Her guidance was to not worry about it - they will not push me to do anything till they are sure my body was ready.

[dadmo]

It may sound extreme but your inside are recovering you really won't be all that hungrey. Thirsty yes hungry no. Do you have someone who can be with you?

[Manny]

Yes, my wife will be with me. I am assuming they will let her stay if we get a private room.

[Margaret]

At Sloan, we did not have a private room...none were open but I still stayed with my husband. Ask for a pull out chair, it will help her get more comfortable.

[mstlyn]

Anthony didn't have a private room, and,
I slept several nights on the floor beside his bed when he had his RPLND.. I didn't ask if it was ok, but no one complained.

[nskene]

I had the surgery on a Friday and my bowels woke up Wednesday. I did a liquid diet that day then ate food on Thursday. I was walking around the hospital halls 3-4 times a day everyday after surgery. The ice chips helped wet my mouth and chapstick is nice too. But I did lose a lot of weight and energy till I started eating again.

If you can swing it, I hope you can get a private room. I tried but ended up with roommates the whole time. 5 different roommates in 6 days and some of them were hooked up to loud machines that would make noise all night. It was really a relief to go home because I finally got some rest! With the orchiectomy I had a roommate who snored like the abominable snowman but it didn't matter because they were giving me a lot of morphine (I was in the cardiac ward since urology was full and the nurses didn't know better) which was nice. But with RPLND they probably won't be going all out on the narcotics because they cause constipation and they want to get your bowels moving.

[RTC]

soft tissue mobilization or scar mobilization

I told one of my female friend about how scared I am about the RPLND I am going to get, she told me not to worry to much as C-section females get isn't all that better than RPLND.

so I did a bit of research online about c-section recovery and I found something called "soft tissue mobilization" or "scar mobilization"

"A manual massage technique was used to literally move my scar and 'break up' this tissue from the outside. These techniques can be taught to a mom in a few sessions by a trained physical therapist. Ask your doctor for a referral to a physical therapist if you are healing very slowly or are feeling pulling in your abdomen when you move. "

Maybe this would help to prevent bowel obstruction?

[nskene]

so I did a bit of research online about c-section recovery and I found something called "soft tissue mobilization" or "scar mobilization"

I haven't heard of that but my belly button is shifted over to the side. My stomach is a different shape now too. But they used stitches and the incision is healing up great and I swear my bowels move better since the surgery. Youre prob going to want to be really careful for awhile. I had the surgery October 12th and am not walking hunched over anymore but still tender. It's weird but I'll wake up and find that my body was stretching out my incision w/out me knowing it during the night. About three weeks ago, I woke up one morning when I felt myself stretching my incision and felt something pop. There was a small bump on the incision after that and it was really tender in that area but it seems better now. So that was about a month after surgery. It takes awhile for soft tissue to heal.

I wanted to wish you luck on your surgery. I was apprehensive too but things worked out for me and I’m sure they will for you.