Through Thick and Thin #15 (March 1, 2003)
Blocked!
It was a very scary and uncomfortable episode when my reconstituted and diminished stomach became blocked. Has this ever happened to you? How did you deal with the problem? With help from my doctor's staff, I was finally able to dissolve the blockage by nightfall, by which time I was exhausted, famished, remorseful and grateful. I learned a few useful strategies I want to share with you.
My problem started soon before bedtime when I tried a new brand and kind of chewable calcium supplement. I ran out of my supply of Nutrition Now's "Natural Chocolate Flavor Calcium Soft Chews Dietary Supplement", which provides 500 mg of calcium plus vitamins D and K. Besides using it as a convenient source of calcium, I had found this product worked well to neutralize the bitter taste I experience when I crush SAMe-e tablets and mix the powder with mineral oil to ease its way down. SAM-e (S-adenosylmethionine) is a naturally occurring compound found in all living organisms. I've found that it helps my joint mobility and comfort, and boosts my mood and spirits (especially in the winter, when days are short, dark and wet in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.)
Anyway, I had to order a replacement package from my local health store, and in the meantime bought, without a sufficiently careful inspection of the package, another so-called chewable chocolate calcium supplement. I should have known better, but when I slipped the new product into my mouth I found it to be hard, not soft, and had to chew it forcefully to get it down. Soon thereafter I had the warning signs of upset stomach, nausea and imminent vomiting. The worst of the wave of discomfort passed and I went to bed, although the discomfort continued and I felt on the verge of vomiting for a few hours until I finally fell asleep.
I should have known better. I should have paid closer attention. I should have remembered and linked the prior night's discomfort. However, when I awoke in the morning and downed my SAM-e powder and mineral oil cocktail, I grabbed another of these new calcium supplements and chewed it near to death. Later that day, when Kari and I went to the Olive Garden for lunch after a shopping excursion, I compounded my mistake. I ordered what seemed to be the most healthful soup on the menu, without really registering that it contained bits of sausage. I had only a few slurps, and one well-chewed piece of sausage, before my stomach sent me the now unmistakable warning that my stomach was very unhappy with my choices. Soon I vomited up the soup, and for the rest of the afternoon and evening I couldn't keep down either liquids or solid food. And my discomfort grew ominously to the point where I called my doctor's "advice nurse" for help. I was terrified that I was going to require a surgical intervention to remove the blockage.
The nurse explained that the combination of a heavier, denser calcium supplement and the fatty sausage were probably resisting digestion and blocking the exit from my stomach. She suggested that I limit my intake to more mineral oil Ð to lubricate the remaining contents of my stomach in order to ease its evacuation. She also suggested walking, so that gravity would help the elimination process, and I did so, although I felt so poorly that walking even a short distance was a trial.
Within a few hours, the blockage was broken, the food moved on into my intestines, and I was able to sip some chicken soup broth to ease my hunger.
Throughout this episode, I continued to beat myself up for not paying attention, and for failing to learn from my mistakes. For failing to conduct an immediate investigation and analysis after I had trouble with the first "chewable". For failing to discard the supplements after my first difficult episode. For failing to notice that the soup had sausage. For failing to dish the sausage out of the soup and avoid it. I am so quick to abuse myself when my learning curve is slow or impaired. I guess this is a habit nurtured throughout decades of morbid obesity, blame and shame.
What I have learned (or more precisely re-learned) from my first blockage is the vital necessity of my staying aware, conscious and vigilant about absolutely everything that I put in my mouth, and to stop immediately and figure out what's wrong at the very first signs of a problem. Just as I have learned to stop eating Ð IMMEDIATELY Ð when I feel full, and to avoid water during meals, and to avoid raw vegetables and fatty foods, I have now learned that if I fail to pay attention to my body's early warning system, I do so at my own peril, and I will pay a high price in pain, discomfort, and disruption of my normal life activities.
I have also remembered that blame and shame serve absolutely no useful purpose and have no positive effect. So I've resolved to take the energy I've used in blaming and shaming myself when I err, and to reinvest that energy in staying aware, conscious and vigilant, ready to heed my body's early warning system.
Glenn
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