Thanks to @DDream idea about mushy food diet to relieve constipation and @MalStrom advice to not blindly follow Internet advice, my Dad decided to go to new Colon Rectal surgeon to get his opinion. One thing leads to another, leads to another - it could literally save a life! This Surgeon is at the same hospital where my Dad got TAVR Heart Operation.. Appointment is in a few days and practically every day I am asking my Dad what do we ask Dr to get some relief (Dad is still suffering horribly) I have few ideas. Can you comment. Can you recommend other ideas 1. Constipation was bad before Heart Surgery. It is worse now. How to soften stools so Dad doesn't have to push so hard. 2. How to perform at-home enema safely. Give step-by-step instructions 3. Here are the Heart Medications Dad is taking. Which of them are likely to constipate? What alternatives can the Cardiologist (who is in a different hospital, but close to where we live) give 4. Dad wishes to go for knee replacement surgery and he is scared that the pressure he is putting to eliminate bowels will tear apart the stitches. How to resolve this? Can you give something to drink, etc that will loose the stools?
These are good questions. One thing to be aware is that anesthesia and pain medication given during surgery can cause constipation. Even for a normal healthy person it can take a while for the system to become normal after surgery. Don’t scare your dad, this is just for you to be aware of. But if he goes for a second surgery before resolving this issue you don’t want to make things worse.
Oh my but after how long will the constipation be there? I mean how long after having the anesthesia? How long is a while for the system to become normal after surgery? Almost 4 months ago - Mar 22 2023 he had Propofol anesthesia for TAVR. It took him hours to come out of it and I was terrified he suffered stroke. Almost 3 months ago - Apr 24 2023 he had lower doses of Propofol when he was being electrocuted (Cardioversion) to get normal heart rhythm and had lower doses of Propofol. Luckily he recovered sooner Definitely definitely need to resolve this issue and discuss with Colon Rectal surgeon Thank you so much for bringing this up I really don't want to scare Dad. He is already having negative outlook on life.
Also ask if his water pills are causing his constipation by removing water from stools that in turn make the stools hard. If yes, what is the solution
I really hope Dad can stop water pills (and any other medication after he was re-hospitalized due to A-fib. I cannot understand why Cardiologist says he must take forever. When I said that Dad has worse constipation he simply lowered the dose and see primary care physician or Specialist.
From what I have seen people who are generally prescribed water pills take them for the rest of their lives because without it, water accumulates in their bodies putting that much extra pressure on heart to pump that much extra blood. So now if the stools are hard because the water content in them is out, we have to find a way to manage the constipation that comes with it. Interestingly, those same people also are given a cap on how much liquids (including water) they can consume in a day. So that makes constipation worse because the basic rule of not constipating is drink a lot of water!!
Plus my Dad has low sodium levels when he does blood test. But he has to keep drinking water I hope the Colon Rectal Surgeon can help Dad He says horrible things that he wants to leave world Only reason he did Heart Surgery was to do Knee Replacement surgery but now the Constipation has gotten worse and has overtaken Knee Replacement surgery in priority
