Home, but Not Home Free

Whenever there's a blockage the doctors like to wait until you start passing gas or having bowel movements before doing a clamping test and letting you eat again. On Monday, after four days of no progress, Karen asked for a suppository - hoping to start things from the other end. We were told it doesn't work that way, and any stool passed like this wouldn't count as it would have been trapped on the other side of the blockage. We insisted and they let us try. The suppository gave her diarrhea - this was Monday night. But the next morning she had more diarrhea. At this point no one could say if it was more of the same, or if things had begun to make their way through past the blockage.

We came in on Friday, so by Tuesday Karen hadn't had anything of sustenance for five days. Combine this with the liquid diet she was on for two days before we came in, and she hadn't eaten much in over a week. She decided she was going to try and talk the doctor into a clamping trial despite the doctor's insistence that her bowel movement didn't count. And almost as if the doctor knew what Karen was going to ask, she didn't stop by the entire day Tuesday. When evening came and Karen realized the doctor wouldn't be by, she was upset. I hadn't known she was waiting for the doctor to ask for a clamping trial, and told her all she had to do was ask the nurse to ask the doctor for her. The night time doctor must have been hesitant however. Karen was given an 8 hour clamping trial - our longest yet. She passed, and was allowed to start on clear fluids Wednesday morning.

By thursday they had advanced her to full fluids. But she seemed to keep getting uncomfortably bloated after a liquid based meal, so they stopped advancing her diet. Normally by Friday we would have been on soft foods, but even now she's on a liquid diet. For some reason I thought the only possible results were releasing Karen on solid foods with her bowel obstruction cleared, or releasing her with a venting tube so she can spend her last days comfortably at home. But today, Karen was sent home on liquids. I'm not sure why this possibility hadn't crossed our minds. I guess the doctors only ever really discuss best case and worst case scenarios.

Her intestines seem to have opened up enough to let liquid through, but not much more. The doctors are unsure if she will be able to eat solid foods again. We've been cautioned to go slowly. Karen decided she wanted to try some soft solid food for dinner, and had soup. Her stomach grew painful and she threw it back up. So we certainly aren't there yet. Actually, I feel this isn't much of an improvement over when we went in. I'm worried that with the NG tube trouble preventing her stomach from decompressing for the first few days of our stay, and the suppository causing a bowel movement, that we've moved too quickly this time around. That said, I'm not sure how much longer we should have waited - her arms are so thin now. I hopeful things will still resolve completely, but I fear this might be our new normal.