Emergency Surgery For Total Intestinal Blockage

[ENF]

My wife started throwing up bile two weeks ago, and had to go to the emergency room. We were told that immediate surgery was necessary to remove an intestinal blockage - probably caused by adhesions from previous (non-intestinal) surgeries including hysterectomy, appendix removal, ovarian cyst, and myomectomy. There was no time for second opinions - a few more hours would have meant gangrene and then death. The operation was a success, but recovery was very difficult. She spent about ten days in the hospital, mostly hooked up to an IV, and had to receive potassium intravenously. During the administration of the Potassium, they popped a vein and she underwent excruciating pain because the material leaked under the skin near her wrist - which is still swollen. They also found and removed a golfball-sized fibroid, or some kind of tissue, when she was being operated on for the intestinal blockage.

I encouraged her to take the Enterolab test about five months ago, although she had no suspicions of Celiac Disease, the results were (as the notes below indicate) positive for gluten intolerance, and she's been gluten free since.

Could the sudden change in diet possibly have helped caused the blockage due to not enough fiber, or something like that? She now has to take off for many weeks to recover from this surgery. The pain is terrible, but she

[Ursa Major]

I have never heard of the gluten-free diet causing that kind of problem (or any kind of intestinal problem for that matter). Even though I am generally not too fond of doctors, this time I believe what the doctor told you was the truth. That the blockage was truly caused by adhesions from former surgeries.

Make sure your wife keeps being on the gluten-free diet, so that she will heal as quickly as possible, and feel better soon. I hope they didn't feed her gluten in the hospital, as that could set her back in her healing.

I hope she'll be well very soon! That must have been a scary ordeal to have gone through for both of you.

[gf4life]

I have a friend who recently was hospitalized due to an intestinal blockage, and he was told that most intestinal blockages are caused either by some structural problem (such as the scar tissue problem with your wife's intestines) or by a bacterial infection. They didn't find anything wrong structurally with his intestines and so they figured it was bacterial. He is very concerned about that because he is afraid it is going to come back. I had never heard of bacteria causeing a blockage, but I have heard of parasites causing them. I wonder if that is what he meant.

Coincidentally his wife has Celiac Disease and is gluten free, and while he eats many of the same foods as her at home, he himself is not gluten free (but their dog is!).

I have never heard of an increased incidence of intestinal blockage in those with celiac disease. I would think the risk factor would be the same as for the general population. Although I do have to say that I have heard of two other cases recently here in my town and that concerns me. Why would suddenly a bunch of people start having this same problem. There are 10,000 people in my town and at least 3 in the same month have this somewhat obscure intestinal problem?! Maybe it isn't all that obscure and it is only that I have heard about it more recently as happening to people I know...

I am glad that your wife's surgery went well. I hope that she has an easier time with recovery from now on. Surgery is so hard on your body. She is very blessed to have you, it is easy to see how much you care about all of her needs.

[ENF]

Thank you for your replies and encouragement.

She got sick within a few days of the operation, presumably because food was introduced too fast. Gluten was never a digestive problem for her in the past, and she's been 100% gluten-free for five months, but she ate a few things that contained it in the hospital- not out of weakness of will, but because it seemed that the vast majority of people are eating the same things with no apparent problems. Most of what she ate was juice, Jello, broth (possible gluten), etc. The only really "bad" things she ate was a bowl of Cheerios and a small piece of white bread. This may have been a mistake, but the jury is out on it. She has always had to introduce foods very slowly after surgery, pre-gluten-free, and this may have caused the reaction. This entire incident was handled without the advice or direction of a personal physician, specialist, etc., so we were unsure about the priority of the diet in the larger scheme of things. Again, that may have been a mistake but it was difficult to handle.

The problem today is that she has not had a BM in two or three days*, and is uncomfortable. She's been walking (indoors) since coming home last week, eating gluten-free grits, fresh fruit juices (limited to 6 oz. a day), fresh carrot juice, turkey sandwiches on gluten-free bread, hard boiled eggs, BUSH'S baked beans, Glutano breakfast bars, and last night I brought her some prune juice. This morning she requested a multivitamin after the Grits.

We have an appointment at the hospital's clinic on Tuesday with the surgeon who performed the operation. He has an excellent record and is well respected in his profession.

Thanks again.

*Edit: Constipation ended Sunday morning!