Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 1 Location: SLP Minnesota
Severe Constipation Posted: 01-17-07 22:44pm
My friend had surgery on her butt cheek
(superficial to remove excessive scar
tissue from a traumatic injury that should
have been stitched but wasn't) about 3
years ago. The surgery went great and all
but afterwards she had severe
constipation. Never had a problem with
eating/digestion before in her life! Days
and then weeks went by until her legs
started to go numb from not going. She
kept having to go to the er & they'd
give her golytly (sp?) & co. But
nothing really helped. Finally saw the
guru of gi in mn & he said she has an
ideopathic paralytic colon & all she
could do was have her colon removed. At
28 yrs old she didn't want to do that so
went to a naturopath. He helped a little
but is way expensive & all the pills
she needs just to be able to go at all are
sucking her dry financially. We can't
find anything out there on this condition
except in geriatric populations. Has
anyone ever heard of this happening to
someone? Why would a minimally invasive
surgery do this to her? Why is it so
rare? If you have heard of anything like
this please reply!!!!
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What-to-do?
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 26 Location: Scotland
Posted: 01-19-07 13:55pm
I think that her condition could have
stemmed from a psychological condition
that is common in women who have just had
episiotomies to have babies ie when they
are cut to assist the passage of the
baby's head and are stitched up from
vagina to anus. They are afraid to pass
a stool because they believe it could hurt
or rip their stitches so they hold on and
hold on until they can't go. Due to the
overstretching of the colon with the
impacted faeces the nerves get damaged and
the colon is no longer able to function
correctly. Your friend should have been
advised about this at the time she had
surgery and been given counselling so that
she was reassured that no damage would
occur if she had a bm. Ask your friend
about this, whether this could be the
case. If so I would recommend she seek
some psychological counselling such as
hypnotism to overcome the problem. Hope
this helps.
