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Small bowel intestine nightmare

my story is my wife has small intestine obstruction that comes and goes. which puts her in the hospital every 10 days. they think she has an adhesion to the small intestine due to scar tissue. there really is no cure for this except it going away bt it self or surgery which they are reluctant to do since she had so much radiation treatment from uterine cancer.. at a loss here hate to see her pain and at the hospital with a tube stuck in her nose living on morphine. i guess the question is thats othering me is will surgery reqire her o have to have a bag outside her body.
 

SarahBear

Moderator
Location
Charleston,
Welcome to the forum sirgolfalot!

I'm really sorry to hear what your wife is going through. That must be very hard on both of you. :(

I don't have an answer for your question, but hopefully someone with more information will come along soon. In the meantime, you might want to check out the forum's Surgery section.

I hope things improve for the both of you soon! :hug:
 

DustyKat

Super Moderator
Hi sirgolfalot and :welcome:

I am so very sorry to hear about your wife...:hug: What a difficult time for you both.

Does you wife have Crohn's or are the issues she is facing directly brought on related to the radiation treatment she received?

It is difficult to say if your wife would require a stoma (bag) without have some idea of the extent of damage that has been done...

Do you know how much bowel has been affected and its exact location?

Has imaging been done?

Surgery may involve a bowel resection or if it is chronic scar tissue alone then a procedure called a strictureplasty may be able to performed. A strictureplasty releases the scar tissue without the need to remove any bowel. If this was a possibility then the risks may be reduced.

For some people with Crohn's a stoma may be permanent or if there is a large amount of inflammation at the time of surgery they will create a temporary stoma to allow the bowel heal and then reverse the procedure 3-6 months later.

I understand your fear and hesitation with the thought of your wife perhaps needing a bag but to be honest she sounds as if her quality of life right now is very poor. For many people here a stoma gives that person back their life. It can be the first in many, many years that they have been symptom free and they again have freedoms that had become a long forgotten memory.

Good luck and I hope more than anything that your wife is able to find lasting peace and relief.

Dusty. xxx
 

SandyUte

Wife of Chronie (with my own health challenges)
Location
Kaysville, Utah
I don't know how I ended up tagged for this section but I'm glad I did. I work for a lady (very part time) overseeing her special needs daughter and her housework. It sounds like your wife is in a similar situation to this lady I work for. She had cancer (only this was intestinal cancer) awhile ago and ended up in the hospital every few days due to her scarring from the radiation. the thoughts of even trying to eat were beyond comprehension around these times. She would end up in the hospital on a liquid diet and a lot of pain killers until things settled down, then she would go back home. the quality of life was really horrible. She finally opted for the surgery, and although she will always have “issues," she is so much better than she was. The doctors warned her that she could end up with a stoma also, but even if she did, she has so much less pain and her quality of life is next to normal. wouldn't that be worth it to see your wife going through less pain? I know very little medically however, and don't even have an IBD myself, my husband does, but I think you should discuss this as a couple and with your doctor(s). I am just speaking from an outside perspective, but you need to weigh all involved, including the quality of life for your wife. Good luck and God bless.
 
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