| Many DS/BPD patients
complain of loose bowels and flatulence with a bad odor. What does
this really mean on a practical level? As seen below, it can devastate a
patient:
The DS
is most similar to the JIB. I assure you there are many 'bathroom' issues
too embarrassing to ever be talked about. I've read it though on that DS
list when I used to get their digest. The gas is horrible. You're
constantly bloated and the smell is like nothing you've ever experienced.
People will talk about you if they go into the bathroom after you've left
or worse while you're in there. I'll tell you a story about my experience
with having most of my short bowel bypassed.
We had planned a family weekend to canoe down a long river here in
Michigan. It was a 4 hour canoe trip. At the end you're picked up by a bus
and driven back to the beginning. My husband and son were excited about
doing this.
It was a beautiful day. We started out canoeing and I got the most awful
gas and cramping. They had to canoe over to the shore where I went behind
a bush and had a huge BM the constancy of thick mud. Nothing to wipe with.
I guess I wasn't thinking well before we started the trip not to come
prepared. I was hot and flushed and crampy but I tried not to complain as
I didn't want to spoil everyone else's good time.
At least once every 45 minutes I had to pull over and repeat the same
scenario. I was miserable :( I couldn't wait to get to the end and get to
a real bathroom and clean up. My bottom was burning because a bypass's
stool is more acid or something and just galls you to death if not cleaned
right away. I was tearful but I paddled on.
My son and husband knew I was suffering which made them feel bad. Once
again my WLS was spoiling what should have been a wonderful family memory.
Finally we got to the end and I boarded the bus. I thought for sure I was
going to defecate in my pants. I tried my best to hold it all back. It was
about a 20 minute drive back to camp........maybe more. It seemed like an
eternity. I tried not to breathe hoping I could hold back the BM I had
come to loath.
Finally, we were at camp. I ran for the ladies' room. As soon as I sat
down there was an explosion of the most foul stool ever..........and the
God awful smell took over the whole bathroom. Some other campers started
in and took one whiff and screamed and ran out. It was that bad. I sat
there as tears rolled down my face. Their disgust stung deep to my soul.
The day was ruined. I was humiliated. I was still crampy and my bottom was
raw and painful. I cleaned up the best I could and walked back to our
campsite and told my husband I wanted to cut the weekend short and go
home.
We left. No one protested. My husband and son had gotten used to my being
sick all the time and not being able to participate in life as other
normal wives and mothers could. I became reclusive and only felt at home
where I could be near my own bathroom and all my various 'preparations' to
take care of my bathroom issues. If I had to go to some function I just
wouldn't eat that day so I'd be 'cleaned out' and hopefully not have to
have a BM while there. It was the only way I could cope and function
socially. I could never have held down a full time job. I spent many days
resting and laying around because I'd be cold or tired or crampy or
dizzy..........you name it. The worst days were when I'd be in pain from
the multitude of kidney stones my body kept forming as a direct result of
the small bowel being shortened.
It is all like a bad dream that I've come out of thanks to my WLS
reversal.
B. L. of Michigan |