Post Surgery pain and diahrea - what is normal?

[mattarse]

Hello all,
I am hoping someone can tell me if this sounds normal or should we be concerned.
My wife has had her appendix removed by laparoscopy on Tuesday night. It is now friday night.
Since the surgery she has been on antibiotics, and for the first day she was vomiting alot. That calmed down sometime Wednesday evening, however she then began to have diahrea which has been getting worse.This afternoon she has been going to the toilet several times an hour, then she will have a couple of hours break.
She has not been allowed to eat, and in fact has not had anything solid since Monday afternoon when she went to the hospital. She has been given broth twice a day since thursday. Accompanying the diarrhea are severe stomach cramps.
She is able to walk, albeit painfully. Her stomach is still tender, however not generally in pain.
At this point she is starving, and the doctors are not being very communicative. They seem surprised that she still has a fever - although it is about 37.9c (100.22f) so not a very high fever.
I am growing concerned that she is not being allowed to eat and from I read this does not seem normal, and I find people mentioning diarrhea but am not sure what frequency is normal. From the pain etc she has not gotten much sleep and is growing more distraught.

[Kenneth ©]

The diarhea could be the result of the anitibiotcs. Many antibiotics kill the good bacteria in the gut along with the target infection. A simple solution is to eat a pro biotic type yogurt with active cultures. You see them on TV all the time now (like Activia). That and perhaps some oral rehydration therapy. The kind they give to babies with diarhea. You can find that bottled as a juice or the like at most pharmacies.

As to the food restriction. That should only be in place if the bowls are not functioning. Usually they don't let you go home until they are, so that is a bit confusing. The test for functioning bowls? ...if you fart they are working.

If you can't get straight answers from your cuurrent medical team go to another. A trip to the ER may be tedious but it can expedite things and at least act as a second opinion.

Good luck.

[mattarse]

Kenneth,

Thanks - however one downside of having first posts previewed means that some of the concerns we were having have been resolved now.
On Saturday she was allowed to eat again (it is Tuesday now). Up to this point however she is eating very little. Almost immediately after eating she gets very bad cramps that leave her curled up until they pass - which takes up to 10 minutes.
The diarrhea is almost completely gone.
Of course now we have another thing to worry about - she still has the fever (around 37.8) and the doctors are not sure why. She had an ultrasound this morning and the person giving the ultrasound did not find anything too apparent, however did say she might have water in her kidneys. I'm not sure if that is exactly right (we live in Central Europe and English is not the native language - my wife is from here but sometimes has trouble translating medical terms). She has not been let out of the hospital yet - it is now 1 week since the surgery, and I don't think they will let her out until they figure out what is causing the fever.

So this leave me with a couple of questions. First about the cramps, from what I read this is fairly normal and shouldslowly resolve as she heals more and is able to eat better. Any suggestions on what we can do to minimize the cramps?
Next - any ideas about the fever?
Thanks,
Matthew

[mattarse]

One small note about the cramps. After she eats they come 3 or four times an hour for several hours and are pretty freuest otherwise - atleast hourly.

I'm not finding anyone saying how frequent is normal -so is this normal?

[Kenneth ©]

The first post screening was a necessary evil due to the horrendous spamming by the viagra, porn and penis enalgement peddlers. This despite registration requirements that include security measures to screen out the automated bots. Even now the spammer posts outnumber the legit by a 50:1 margin.

As to what is normal... I would not characterise your wife's case as normal. Fever is normal after any surgery, cramps are as well for abdominal. Frequency and severity varies from person to person. However, still being in the hospital after a week is quite unusual, but given the idications it is likely the best place for her at this time.

[Dracle]

You can usually tell an idiot from a couple of posts despite their post count. I see people with crazy counts other places who just post crap like two word responses and dont know anything. I can honestly say that most of the guys here with high post counts have been around a while and know what they are doing and talking about.

[virginiamr]

[QUOTE=Dracle;10802]You can usually tell an idiot from a couple of posts despite their post count. I see people with crazy counts other places who just post crap like two word responses and dont know anything. I can honestly say that most of the guys here with high post counts have been around a while and know what they are doing and talking about.[/QUOTE]

Okay, I'm new here and I can just see how I may become unpopular but is there any need of posting something like that against another member? Have you considered messaging the member who you think is an idiot and discuss issues that way? I just hate forums where people just bash each other. Not many of us here are purporting to have medical training, and for the ones who don't (including myself) I think it would be nice if we didn't get taken as gospel but not bashed either.

[alexjoan]

Infection is believed to be the second most common cause of appendicitis, right under fecal obstruction. What happens is the bacteria invades the appendix, resulting in an entourage of white blood cells trying to attack it. When things are functioning normally, the white blood cells will win, and any by products produced will get drained out. But when they lose, they will die, resulting in a mixture of pus and the bacteria, which has grown even stronger.

[ScreamoonW]

Hi all,

My finance is in the hospital and he has had a PCA pump since yesterday morning with .5mg every 20min of doloted spelling?? but his pain is only ranging from 10 to 9 to 8 then back up to 10. It just doesnt seem to be working. I hate to see him in so much pain. The pain is in both his knees on down. Has this every happened to anyone one else? Are there any special techniques that get you to relax

Thanks

Delisha

[ScreamoonW]

Hi kdevine, I hear you. Keep trodding one foot before the other, one day at a time. If youre spiritual, ask for guidance.

Love and light
D
Try this single