> Janet, thank you so much for your info on diets. I had my dr appt last
> night. The results from the barium enema showed most of the colon was
> ok. Where it empties into the small intesting is twisted so the opening
> in turned 180 degrees but he doesn't think that is my problem. He is
> making an appt for another exam, the barium you drink - and they look at
> the small bowel.
Sheila,
The test is an upper GI series with small bowel follow through. I think it is the easiest of all the stuff they do. There is no nasty bowel prep, just nothing by mouth after midnight. You swallow a large cup of chalky tasting barium which I had no problem with.
Then they watch it as it fills the stomach and enters the small intestine. Since it takes several hours for it to get through the twists and turns of the small bowel, you are freed up to walk around, read torn magazines with all the good recipes clipped out, and wait. Every hour or so, they re-x-ray the abdomen to see how far the barium has moved.
When it finally fills the entire small bowel, they do some more views on camera. (That's when I saw my poor guts twisted into a tight mass in the middle of my belly, caught in adhesions.)
Partial obstructions show up as dilated sections, like balloons. Narrowed openings will allow only a thin stream of barium through.
One time when progress was very slow, they sent me to eat breakfast in the cafeteria which reminded the small bowel that it needed to get to work!
I have had serious problems with partial small bowel obstructions for at least 7 years now, since colon cancer surgery. I've had three surgeries for partial obstruction and unknown masses, and one surgery for complete obstruction. My current goal is to manage the partial obstructions with diet and try to avoid more surgery.
Kate
-- Kate Murphy katemm@mindspring.com