Post-Hartmann Procedure: Dealing with Abdominal Swelling and Complications

Can anyone help.  Had an emergency Hartmann procedure in October where they found cancerous tumours in my bowel.  Have had 15 inches of bowel removed and now have a colostomy bag but no cancer thank goodness.  I went back to work after three months as was feeling fine.  However in the last six weeks my stomach has really swollen and I now look six months pregnant.  Turned out that my bowel had compacted from the stoma all the way back.  After various medications that did nothing to relieve the swelling I am now on laxatives twice a day, and have now been on them for nearly four weeks.  Although I am now having bowel movements my stomach is still distended and showing no signs of going down.  Also when I touch the bottom of my stomach I can feel a mass of something (almost like an internal organ).  Has anyone else had this experience..........am desperate for some advice on whether this is fairly normal.



Thanks

Oh my! What you describe sounds like it is probably painful, as well.  Have you talked to your WOC nurse?  What has your doctor told you?  It sounds like you might benefit from irrigating.  I recently experienced something similar with pain on the left side of my stoma.  There's more to it than that but my doctor gave me pain meds and sent me for an ultrasound.  By that time it was dissipating and now all is normal again.   Irrigation really helps to keep everything moving along on a schedule, though.  Maybe you should look into it.



Good luck,

Tamarah

Greetings! ....please keep your Doctor or Osty Nurse informed.......my own personal suggestion you can try is maintain more liquid diet for awhile, three doses of codliver oil per day, stay off caffine, drink de-caf green tea and more water, prune juice (even if you need to drizzle a little prune juice over vanilla ice cream in a cup....stay away from highly acidic or spicey foods, warm compresses on tummy along with gentle tummy massages and wear loose clothing..........just a few tidbits anyway........let us know how you are doing, I hope you are feeling better!

Thank you very much for the responses and the advice.  Wounded Doe, I already drink quite a lot of green tea but have to admit that I am not very good with the water, but will try, and you might have a point about a liquid diet for a while, as when I have not felt like eating and have only had soup my tummy has gone down a little.  My Doctor is already aware of the problem and it was he who prescribed the laxatives, but I am due to see the consultant in a week so will hopefully have a few more answers then.

I am not sure if this applies to you however, I was having pain and swelling in my abdomen and was told that I was impacted and constipated.  I was sent home from the hospital with various instructions as to how to get my bowels to move.  After a couple of more weeks of pain, I went back to the hospital and was told I had an abdominal abscess that needed to be drained.  They did a CT scan and saw the abscess.  I would really press the doctors to find out what is going on as it seems strange that your abdomen is still swollen.

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister