Is my son going to be okay? He's "backed-up"?

Question

I took my son to the Doctors last night for X-rays of his stomach because he is unable to do #1 or #2 and saw in the X-Ray #2 throughout his whole upper and lower body. He is soo backed up it is to the top of his rib-cage and he complains of chest pain. The doctor gave me some at home enemas to give him and another med. to take by mouth. I have a few other concerns though. Can he have damage to any of his organs or bladder from not being able to urinate or from all the pressure of this stuff pushing against his insides? Is there any kind of illness he can get from toxins? Is it too late for an enema to work? Any info you can give me good or bad please let me know. Thanks

For those of you who are going to tell me to call the doctor.... I have but they have 24hrs. to respond and I am a worried mother.

Thanks for your answers! Looks like we're going back to the doctors!!

Answer 1

Call the ER and ask to speak with a Doctor or Nurse. When I worked as a CNA we only let people go 3 days without "going", and that was only for the BM problem. The urine problem is a different story. There is a blockage in that part of his body. Actually, I would just take him into the ER . The other doctor sounds like a quack. I'd bet he wouldn't treat his OWN son like that!

Answer 2

Lets firstly deal with the pronblem of the constipation.
Enemas will if they are oily enemas help soften the stool in the lower regions of the bowel and allow them to pass freely. This will in turn allow for the mass to move downward through peristalsis (wave like motion of the large bowel)
One thing you didn't mention and is imperitive to the mass being cleared without pain is hydration.
Your sone needs to increase his fluid intake. In fact if he is so impacted he should be on Intravenous therapy and possible having manual removal of faeces from the lower bowel.
Impaction right up to the stomach is serious business and I cannot accept that all you got was a few enemas. get the child to the hospital for a second opinion and some active treatment.
The bladder dysfunction is also not consistent with constipation unless there are other matters present.
Don't wait or treat this condition lightly if it is a s bad as you say.

Having said that it is not unusual to see dark lumps on xray of the large bowel as this is wherr faeces are formed. The large bowel removes water from the matter and redistributes it. If left in situ without bowel movement that is how constipation occurs.

Hydration= elimination

seing faeces in the large bowel all the way up is not always impaction. But the chest pain and urinary deficiency are not normal
Get him to the hospital now!

Answer 3

If your son hasn't had a bowel movement that follows his usual pattern then he could have what is refered to as an "illeus" or paralytic illeus. This is when you have no peristalysis or movement in your intestines to move waste through. If you have a cheep at home stethescope listen to his belly and see if you can hear anything. Divide his stomach into quadrants by going from the belly button across and the middle down. If you listen to each quadrant for five minutes apeice and don't hear anything that means he has no movement and should be taken to the hospital so he can be treated. If he doen't have any movement then there is no way for anything to get through so therefore he shouldn't be eating anything. If he isn't eating he needs to be monitored in the hospital so that he can have IV fluids and possibly parenteral feedings. I hopes he gets well soon!

Answer 4

You said that you took him to the doctors last night. What did they tell you? They should have put him in the hospital if hes that bad. Maybe you should take him somewhere else. I hope that it has not effected his organs or bladder just keep an eye on him and if he doesn't go soon make you sure you get him to the hospital. good luck

Answer 5

If they sent him home, he'll be okay. Just do what the doc told you to do. There are some risks, but you'd just have to take those as they come. If he starts feeling really nauseous or sick, get him to the docs.